Transit’s Crucial Role in Society
What’s the legislative outlook for transit in 2025?
The 2024 U.S. election is over and we now know who will be in the White House, House of Representatives, and Senate. Every campaign has its rhetoric, not all of which comes to pass post-election. So what’s in store for transit for the next two years (until the U.S. midterms in 2026)?
We’re excited to bring you the South West Transit Association’s (SWTA) post-election update hosted by Rich Sampson and Becca Green. Rich is the Executive Director of SWTA (and frequent guest on the podcast) and Becca Green is the Legislative Committee Chair plus the Chief Communications Officer at Rock Regional METRO in Little Rock, AR.
Rich and Becca lead us through an in-depth, pragmatic, and non-partisan review of how things might shape up with the new White House Administration and Congress. In addition to taking a few questions from the audience, Rich and Becca gave some stellar advice on how to engage with your elected representatives–no matter where you are.
Make sure you don’t miss this episode.
Speaking of deep dives…
Want a more in-depth look at what’s going on with transit in Los Angeles? Check out our uncut, long form interviews with the leaders who make it all happen with our “Behind the Scenes” episode. This long-form video podcast brings you the entire interviews we recorded while making Transit Unplugged TV in LA.
Hear more from:
- Andre Colaiace, Executive Director, Access Services
- Toby McGraw, Chief Revenue Officer, Beep
- Nat Ford , CEO, Jacksonville Transportation Authority
- Conan Cheung, COO, LA Metro
- Seleta Reynolds, Chief Innovation Officer, LA Metro
- Anthony Crump, Executive Officer, Community Relations LA Metro
- Stephen Tu, Deputy Executive Officer Station Experience, LA Metro
- Brian Hale, Chief of Enforcement, LA Department of Transportation
- Suheila Haider, Customer Success Director, Trellint
- Peter Ahlstrom, Program Manager, Trellint
Now you can really get the inside scoop on transit in LA.
TriMet + Instacart = accessibility & savings
If we told you that you could save tens of thousands of dollars by giving paratransit customers Instacart accounts to buy groceries instead of taking paratransit, I think you’d tell us to check our math. How can paying for a grocery delivery service possibly save a transit agency money?
It’s pretty simple.
It costs $150 for a round trip paratransit ride to the store. And you have to book ahead. And you can only bring two bags of groceries home. Giving people an Instacart Plus membership, with unlimited deliveries, the ability to shop at more than 55 stores, and be able to get more than a couple bags at a time, Portland’s TriMet saves $1500/rider/month. If they roll out the program to all 6,000 people in their paratransit program, they will save $9 million per year.
It should be no surprise that returning guest Eileen Collins Turvey won this year’s American Public Transportation Association (APTA) award for innovation for this program.
In this episode you also hear her own personal connections to paratransit and her belief that the basic rules are just the floor. We can, should, and need to do better for paratransit riders. Listen to Eileen and Paul talk about what we can do to get there.
And sometimes, it’s as simple as helping people get their groceries delivered.
Follow or subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube so you don’t miss this special episode.
This Week in Transit News…
Congestion charges are back in NYC and will take effect in January 2025. The Canadian Urban Transit Association held its annual conference in Toronto this week. And Jacksonville Transit is closer to buying autonomous transit vehicles.
Make sure you tune in every Monday for your fresh dose of transit news from Julie Gates.
Watch or listen for all the details.
