Transportation Choices Coalition is hosting a three event series to discuss how our transportation needs are changing, how we can do things differently, and where we’re already going.
The first will be next Friday, May 1st, Noon-1:30pm, in the Bertha Knight Landes Room in Seattle City Hall. The guest list is fantastic:
Jan Drago, Chair, Transportation Committee, Seattle City Council
Kevin Desmond, General Manager, King County Metro
Chuck Ayers, Executive Director, Cascade Bicycle Club
Carla Archambault, General Manager, Zipcar Seattle
Eric dePlace, Senior Researcher, Sightline Institute
Carla Saulter, Seattle P-I Bus Chick, transit advocate
The guests cover a wide range of pro-transit options and viewpoints – from streetcars and buses to cycling and building walkable communities, even carsharing as the last step many need to consider getting rid of a car entirely.
The idea is to create a vision for what we want transportation options to look like in the next 20 years – I think most of us have clearly defined values in this regard, and we might be able to benefit the end result by going to these town halls. As a lot of us are thinking about how to serve Ballard and West Seattle with transit, what station areas should look like around Link, and how to better mesh our bus system and our new rail spine, this seems like a great time to start talking about where we should make our investments to enhance mobility for everyone.
Sounds like a good forum to bring up the big-bore viaduct tunnel project, the one where the Legislature is today voting to saddle Seattle taxpayers with any and all cost overruns.
With friends like this in the Legislature, who needs enemies?
You should go, and bring it up!
Might not be a bad deal if we get to keep the toll dollars in exchange. Would be a great opportunity to fund more police in the Rainier Valley so that Light Rail will be safe. Unfortunately that’s not a priority for Seattle.
The toll dollars for the Viaduct won’t even make up their funding gap.