Tell Rep. Schrader to Kill the Bill; Cherriots starts Long-Range Plan

Transportation for America sent out a note yesterday about the House Transportation Reauthorization.

"Kill the bill," they say. It's true: It's lousy.

Take a moment to send Rep. Schrader a note. Or call or write snail mail.

Salem District Office
494 State Street, Suite 210
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 588-9100
Fax: (503) 588-5517

Let Rep. Schrader know you support robust transportation choices with safe facilities for people who walk and bike.

Here's the note and a script from T4America:

It’s time to kill the House transportation bill.

This bill would eliminate dedicated funding for public transportation and the tiny amount of funding that helps make dangerous streets and roads safer for children and others on foot or bike; and it does not go far enough to fix our bridges, to provide people more options for getting around, or to put Americans back to work at this critical time.

With the House planning to vote on this bill any day now, we need to send a message loud and clear that the House must scrap this bad bill and start over.

We’re joining with other groups and thousands of other people today for a national day of calls to defeat HR 7. Take a moment and call to your representative! It only takes a moment and will make a big impact.

Hi, my name is [NAME] and I live in Salem. I’m calling to ask Representative Schrader to vote “NO” on HR 7, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.

This bill would eliminate dedicated funding for public transportation and deprive my community of the tiny amount of funding that helps make our dangerous streets and roads safer for children and others on foot or bicycle. It does not do enough to fix our bridges and roads or provide people more options for getting around. It also does too little to put Americans back to work at this difficult time and create the jobs we desperately need.

We desperately do need an updated federal transportation bill, but this proposal advanced by the House is not it. Thank you for your time.

Cherriots Starts Long-Range Regional Plan

News came out that Cherriots secured a TGM grant to do a long range study. TGM grants are also funding Bike and Walk Salem and the North Broadway Parking Study. The path between plan and becoming actual reality is not always straight, and too often plans are simply "shelf studies" that just gather dust. But still it's nice to see these transportation planning efforts follow one another - hopefully they will start to gain traction and strength.

More specifically, hopefully support for transit will gain traction and strength! It's crazy we lack weekend service.

From Cherriots:

Project Overview

The purpose of the project is to provide strategic guidance to Salem-Keizer Transit (SKT) for transit services for the next 20 years. This project will examine how transit service can be improved to meet the needs of citizens living in the mid-Willamette Valley today and 20 years from now. This plan also will serve as the basis for the transit element of transportation system plans adopted by local jurisdictions, such as Salem, Keizer, and Marion and Polk Counties within Salem-Keizer Transit's service area, and provide guidance to these jurisdictions for their efforts to increase transit use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Project Objectives

The objectives of the project are to:

• Expand and better integrate public transportation services throughout the mid-Willamette Valley;
• Preserve the function of the state highway system by expanding regional public transit availability and reducing the number of single occupancy vehicles on the road;
• Encourage transit-supportive land uses along future transit corridors;
• Encourage multiple travel options for students; and
• Contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the mid-Willamette Valley.