The campaign "Yes for Cherriots" looks to have a
website and
Facebook up now. Check in with them and
help Salemites get evening and weekend transit.
A broad base of support will be important because the Chamber of Commerce says they will oppose the measure and "likely lead formal opposition."
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| Chamber's opposition to payroll tax for transit |
The campaign for weekend and evening service may not be argued on the merits and bringing debate back to substance and fact may be an uphill climb.
You may recall earlier this summer a note about a "sizzle" video.
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Why support transit when you can commission
a "sizzle video"? |
And over the weekend there was also an interview.
If the Chamber really wants to be interested in a healthy community, they should give more consideration to structural things like better transit and show less interest in ephemeral things like sizzle and image. (It's also concerning they want to make Oregon more like Texas and Oklahoma. The optics on that really aren't very good!)
Whether you lean R or D, good transit is a good investment for business
and employee recruiting and retention, and a good investment to reduce congestion and
ease freight - what's not to like?
Bike Theft
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| Salem PD early this summer |
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| This weekend |
Early this summer the Salem Police Department sent out a press release on bike theft, and you might recall the bike lock program informally run at Willamette University last year. Last month there was a letter to the editor about theft, and over the weekend the paper ran a wire story about Bend. And if you read BikePortland, you'll know that bike theft is an increasing problem and priority for Portland.
Right here, a little over a week ago The Northwest Hub lost a bike to theft, and a long-time Salem commuter and lost her bike on Edgewater Street to theft.
It's a problem, and seems to be getting worse.
Be sure you take appropriate personal measures to protect your own bike, and this is another reason to insist on high quality and more-secure bike parking in city code, at new construction, and with changes of use that trigger new bike parking requirements.
2 comments:
Vox has a timely explainer - "The real reason American public transportation is such a disaster"
http://www.vox.com/2015/8/10/9118199/public-transportation-subway-buses
"European, Asian, and Canadian cities treat it as a vital public utility. Most American policymakers — and voters — see transit as a social welfare program....Nowadays, many local politicians don't see transit as a vital transportation function — instead, they think of it as a government aid program to help poor people who lack cars."
Here is what looks like the "sizzle" video
https://www.facebook.com/AlliedVideoProductions/videos/10154220031143474/
"There's something about Salem"
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