A few short weeks ago I told you about ROC Transit Day 2013 
. The idea is simple… pedestrians make for a vibrant city. The more people Rochester has walking the streets instead of driving, the stronger our community will be; and the stronger our local economy will be. ROC Transit Day is a holiday from our cars. It’s a day to celebrate local businesses. And it’s a day to cast a symbolic vote for a stronger transit system…
A year and half ago I managed to convince RGRTA to try something new. I said, “let me give away free bus rides for one day.” I imagined most people would say “no thanks, the bus isn’t for me.” But I also knew my mom was right when she said, “try it, you might like it.” That year I think maybe 200 people participated and left their cars at home for the day.
What began as a fun little experiment, has turned into ROC Transit Day – a full blown Rochester holiday from our cars. This year ROC Transit Day will be on Thursday, June 20.
In this, its second year, the volunteers at Reconnect Rochester are giving away 1,000 special edition RTS fare cards – designed by yours truly. And we’re asking Rochester’s business community to get involved too…
Notes by: Howard Decker
Where: AMTRAK Station
When: 10:30am, 12.10.12
Who: Congresswoman Lousie Slaughter, NYSDOT Commissioner Joan McDonald, AMTRAK representative Bill Hollister, Mayor Richards, Councilman Miller
What:
Bill Hollister, Principal Officer Policy & Development at Amtrak:
AMTRAK will be owner, operator, and maintainer of the new station. This is a bit of a deviation from our policies nationally, but we have been convinced this is the correct course of action in Rochester.
National annual ridership is currently at 31.2 million, 11.5 million (one third of all national traffic) in NYS, 1.8 million on the Empire line, and 145,00 passengers per year in Rochester, up from 76,000 five years ago. This represents a very substantial increase.
Funding is in place. AMTRAK is ready to move forward.
![A shrink-wrapped bus advertisement on Main Street, Rochester. We asked RTS about these advertisements on behalf of one of our Facebook followers. [PHOTO: Google Maps]](http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-rts-wrapped-bus.jpg)
RGRTA holds bi-monthly Town Hall meetings to answer customer questions and comments and to keep the public updated the latest Rochester Transit Service news. Reconnect Rochester tries to send at least one representative to every meeting to take notes and to bring questions from those who can’t make the meeting. Below are the notes from last week’s meeting and answers to two questions raised on our Facebook page, about solutions to overcrowding and shrink-wrapped buses… Read more
Reconnect Rochester will be hosting an informal happy hour event with the Rochester Improvement Society .
Come hang out with us on Wednesday, October 24th from 5:30 to 7:30 at Abilene Bar & Lounge (153 Liberty Pole Way ). If you get there early enough, the first round will be on us!
Reconnect Rochester supports the expansion of transit services including pedestrian, bike, bus and rail facilities, into a truly multimodal transportation network. Our volunteers work hard to support Rochester’s existing public transit system, shape regional policies to enhance it, and reconnect our community in ways that improve personal mobility, urban vitality, environmental sustainability, and economic development.
If you’ve been following us over the past two years and like what we do, come out, meet us for a drink, and hear what we’ve been up to.
PS: After the happy hour, at 8pm Sammy Naquin and Big Easy Zydeco will be playing at Abeline ($8 cover). And how can anyone not like zydeco?
Posted by: Mike Governale
Reconnect Rochester loves September. The weather is typically gorgeous making it the perfect alternative transportation time of year! And now, with Greentopia coming up (September 10-16) it’s feeling like holiday time for us.
Maybe you saw how we celebrated at Greentopia last year? How about a giant recyclable flying saucer ? Heck yes. Now THAT’S a party.
Posted by: Mike Governale
The City of Rochester, NYSDOT, and Federal Railroad Administration will hold a public meeting to present draft concepts for Rochester’s new intermodal transportation center (NOTE: This is the Amtrak/Greyhound/Trailways station, NOT the RTS Bus Terminal). A presentation will be made at 5:30pm. Some of the key points will be around site selection, the functional requirements of the station, architectural style, and expanded site plan.
Attend the Public Meeting & Presentation:
See which site is being recommended and comment on
the station design, layout, and amenities:
5pm, Wednesday, 5/30/2012, at Rochester Riverside Convention Center
RSVP on Facebook
Some more details & diagrams after the jump…
On Monday, February 27, two mayors of two very different cities will share their experiences in leading their communities forward to meet 21st century challenges.
Rochester Regional Community Design Center presents “Getting It Done,” a presentation and discussion with William Fulton, Fmr. Mayor of Ventura CA., and Mark Mallory, Mayor of Cincinnati, OH.
Facing issues similar to Rochester including public safety, economic development, the environment, educationand youth employment in an era of reduced funding and resources, both leaders have been effective and instrumental in making positive changes and spurring collaborative efforts in their cities, succeeding in producing nationally recognized results.
William Fulton specializes in urban planning, metropolitan growth trends, economic development, TDR and policy projects with a focus on government agencies, land conservation organizations and developers as clients. He quite literally wrote the “Guide to California Planning.”
And just last week, Mayor Mark Mallory and city officials broke ground on Cincinnati’s new streetcar .
Details:
7pm, Monday, 2/27/2012, at Gleason Works
Buy tickets here ($10)
On Tuesday, January 31, the Rochester Regional Community Design Center will present “Transformation: Don’t be Afraid of It,” a talk by Peter Park, planning director for Denver. Peter Park will take us through a genesis of the transformative process in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during the 1990’s where he was a key player in planning and implementing the creation of the River Walk, a downtown revitalization project , for more than a decade.
Posted by: Carlos Mercado
![The populations of Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and Toronto are closer than we realize. With good, high speed transportation links we become an economic powerhouse. [Flickr Photo: Calori & Vanden-Eynden]](http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/acela-train-platform.jpg)
Rochester, NY has about 1,035,000 population in its metro area; Buffalo is slightly larger with 1,124,000; and Syracuse has about 646,000. The combined metro population for the three major cities along the old New York Central Water Level Route is 2,804,000.
In terms of rank, Buffalo is 50th, Rochester is 51st, and Syracuse is 81st. As a combined area, we would become 19th largest, edging out Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, FL and just behind St. Louis. Nice, eh?
Riders with a “UFO” pin will be able to ride local buses for free all day on October 20, the first Critical Mass Transit Day. The UFO promotion is part of an ongoing campaign to raise awareness of the $1.5 million in gasoline money that is ‘abducted’ from our local economy every day.
Critical Mass Transit Day is a joint effort by Regional Transit Service (RTS) and Reconnect Rochester, a transit advocacy group that suggests by using public transit as an alternative to driving a car, Rochesterians have the power to reinvest those dollars back into Rochester’s economy.
RGRTA even announced a fun photo contest today on their Facebook page in honor of the big day. So post a photo of yourself on Critical Mass Transit Day!
Even if you just go for a joy-ride down the street, the idea is to learn about our transit system and show your support for the future of public transit in Rochester. And as you’re riding along on Thursday, remember that by making smart transportation choices we can all save money, and help grow our region’s economy over the long run.
Download this Commuter Resources sheet [PDF] for handy RTS transit tips. You can also call RTS at 585-288-1700 for help planning a trip or contact the volunteers at Reconnect Rochester—they can help you decipher the routes and schedules.
Sorry if we caused a mass panic last week with all of the reports of UFO’s and abductions. We staged the whole UFO thing. But we can’t apologize for the adbuctions. As it turns out, every dollar we spend on gasoline, over $1.5 MILLION each day*, leaves the local economy never to be seen again. Vanished! The numbers are real. The UFO’s are not. We can do something about the vanishing resources.
Did you know every $1 invested in public transportation generates approximately $4 in economic returns. It’s true. Households that use public transportation and live with one less car can save on average $9,000 every year.[1]
The volunteers at Reconnect Rochester find these numbers downright frightening. And we’re doing something about. We’ve organized a ‘human resistance’ movement have been getting the word out this weekend at the Greentopia Festival about Critical Mass Transit Day.
ON THE 3RD THURSDAY OF OCTOBER, AND EVERY MONTH THEREAFTER, WE WILL LEAVE OUR CARS AT HOME & JOIN TOGETHER FOR A “CRITICAL MASS” TRANSIT RIDE. EVERYONE IS INVITED! NO ONE IS IN CHARGE! LOOK FOR YOUR COMRADES ON RTS BUSES WEARING THIS PIN…
ON OCTOBER 20 SHOW THIS PIN TO YOUR RTS DRIVER AND RIDE FREE ALL DAY!
THAT part is no hoax. RTS has kindly agreed to honor our NO-UFOs pin as free entry onto any RTS bus all day on October 20. Just flash this pin at the friendly driver. Even if you’ve never ridden RTS before, now is the perfect time to give it a try. If only for one day. To get to work, or for a leisurely trip around the block.
Visit Reconnect Rochester at the Greentopia Festival (High Falls, vendor area, booth 55) and grab your FREE pin today… before they VANISH.
![Greentopia Festival gets ready to kick off this weekend. Workers in the High Falls neighborhood were invited to a picnic lunch today on the newly 'green' Commercial Street. [PHOTO: VJ Ortiz]](http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-greentopia-ufo-sighting.jpg)
The Greentopia Festival is getting ready to kick off this weekend. Check out the photo above, snapped earlier today on Commercial Street. Ain’t that something?!
The two-day, interactive fest in historic High Falls will reveal what the region is doing to help the environment – and envision a greener Rochester of the future. The volunteers at Reconnect Rochester are VERY excited to have a booth at this brand new event to help promote the green movement and alternate forms of transportation.
I won’t give away the surprise, but we’ll be featuring an out-of-this-world exhibit highlighting some “green” benefits of transit you probably never knew.
Reconnect Rochester is using this weekend’s event to get the word out about the first ever “Critical Mass Transit Day”—taking place on the 3rd Thursday of October (10/20/2011) and every month thereafter.
Similar to the cycling version of Critical Mass where cyclists take to the streets on human-powered modes of transport, Critical Mass Transit will be a celebration of greener, more social forms of transportation. The rules are simple: on the 3rd Thursday of every month, leave your car at home and walk, bike, or roller skate to the nearest bus stop. Take the bus to work (or where ever it is you go during the day) and then take it back home at the end of the day.
To make things a little more interesting, we’ve teamed up with the Transit Authority to offer you a FREE day on RTS. You heard me right… The first Critical Mass Transit Day can be absolutely FREE for you… No strings. All you have to do is visit our booth at the Greentopia Festival and say hello.
So come visit us Saturday or Sunday in the High Falls overlook area (where Browns Race and Commercial Street meet) and get green with us.
On Thursday, June 16 Reconnect Rochester and the people of Rochester NY, will join the rest of the country for National Dump the Pump Day. We will leave our cars in the driveway and instead use public transit. Share this on Facebook and let your family, friends, co-workers, and employers know.
Use Google Transit to plan your trip.
Find RTS schedules & route maps .
RTS Fares:
Adults : $1.00
All-Day Unlimited Freedom Pass : $3.00
Adult 5–Day Unlimited Freedom Pass : $14.00
Adult 31-Day Unlimited Freedom Pass : $56
Children age 6-11 : $0.50
Children age 5 and under : FREE
Senior/Disabled : $0.50
Senior/Disabled 1-Day Unlimited Pass : $1.50
Senior/Disabled 5–Day Unlimited Pass : $7.00
Senior/Disabled 31-Day Unlimited Pass : $28
For more information: www.rgrta.org/CommuterResources
or leave a comment below with any question you might have about riding RTS. We will get you an answer.
Let’s ride!
This Thursday evening Reconnect Rochester will be at the Sierra Club’s 13th Annual Environmental Forum, “Sustainable Production: Rochester’s Cutting Edge”. Come out and see us at our table and hear two nationally recognized leaders on sustainable production and manufacturing. Happy Earth Day!
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair John Mica will visit Rochester and Cortland on Thursday as part of the field hearings and listening sessions being held around the country by the Committee on the next federal transportation bill.
While the hearings are open to the public, testimony is via invitation only. Members of the public will be allowed to bring written testimony to share with staff at the hearing, or mail in their testimony directly to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. The Rochester hearing was originally scheduled for February; local advocates held their own transportation town hall to get more inclusive input, and delivered it to Rep. Mica.
Thursday, March 24, 9-11am
Rochester International Airport [map]
Rochester, NY
This past Tuesday evening Reconnect Rochester co-sponsored a Mayoral forum on issues related to land use, neighborhood urban planning, transportation, development and revitalization. Bill Johnson, Tom Richards, and Alex White went toe to toe and Rachel Barnhart (WHAM 13 News) moderated.
In all, well over 200 people turned out and submitted questions ranging from planning to poverty. The event was the first extended, in-depth forum of Rochester’s mayoral campaign and was covered by several local news outlets including YNN, WROC, and the D&C.
Now, in the famous words of sportscaster Warner Wolf, “Let’s go to the video tape!” And let us know what you think of the candidates’ responses in the comments section.
A potential threat to the preservation of rights-of-way for a light rail line between downtown Rochester and the University of Rochester is the City of Rochester’s plan to convert the bridge into a bike/ped-only bridge.
It’s important to note that creation of the bike/pedestrian link itself will not preclude transit; on the other hand it is important that the project be treated as a rails-with-trails project rather than a rails-to-trails conversion. This will ensure preservation of the right-of-way for possible future transit.
A rails-to-trails conversion will make a later conversion to rail transit difficult, whereas a rails-with-trails project specifies that an adequate dedicated right-of-way (strip of land) be specifically preserved for future rail transit use.
Time: February 16, 2011 from 7pm to 9pm
Location: Phillis Wheatley Community Library
33 Dr. Samuel McCree Way
For more information, contact Holly Barrett (428-6384) or barretth@cityofrochester.gov
New Yorkers’ transportation needs are changing, but our transportation policies are stuck in the past. Come join New York State Transportation Equity Alliance for a forum on how federal and state transportation policy impacts New York. Learn how we can shape these federal and state policies to create faster, cleaner, safer, healthier and more equitable transportation choices for all New Yorkers.
Rep. John Mica, Chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a Field Hearing in Rochester on February 18, 2011 regarding reauthorization of The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient ransportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), enacted August 10, 2005. SAFETEA-LU authorized $286.4 billion for Federal surface transportation programs for highways, transit, and bicycles and pedestrians for the 5-year period, 2005-2009. The latest continuing resolution for extending funding will expire on March 3, 2011.
Presentation and Roundtable with members of:
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
UPROSE
Empire State Future
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
February 17th, 2011
Rochester Central Library
Kate Gleason Auditorium
115 South Avenue
6-8 PM
(RSVP to the Facebook Event and tell a friend!)
AND…
Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-FL) & members:
Tom Reed (R-NY)
Richard Hanna (R-NY)
February 18th, 2011
Greater Rochester International Airport
3-5pm
Check updates at:
http://NYSTEA.net
and
http://ReconnectRochester.org/take_action.php
For Information & RSVP:
Ya-Ting Liu
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
(212) 268-7474
yating@tstc.org
