Tina Griego’s Sunday Story this past week is a look at the disconnect in Richmond’s public transportation coverage and access to employment:
It cited a Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program study of the mismatch between jobs and transit in the top 100 metropolitan areas. That study found that in 2010 only 31 percent of working-age residents in the Richmond metro region lived in a neighborhood within three-quarters of a mile of a mass transit stop. (The top 100 metro average was 69 percent.) The same study looked at the share of jobs a resident can reach by public transit within a 90-minute ride. In the Richmond region, that share is 27 percent, which hewed closer to the Top 100 metro average of 30 percent. Take these two measures together and Richmond ranks 92nd out of 100 in public transportation coverage and access to employment.
[sep]
From the routes map above, it looks like our area is at least well served by transit stops, though there been complaints that last year’s move to a new transfer station on 9th Street has unfairly impacted East End riders. The transfer station cut most east-to-west routes in half to increase on-time arrivals; passengers who used to take one bus through town now have to make a disembark on 9th, wait to transfer, and pay a 25-cent transfer fee. “It takes over an hour to get anywhere: doctor’s office, Carytown, etc.”, says one neighborhood bus rider.
27 comments
Too bad there wasn’t a plan to develop a significant parcel vacant land right on the bus route with…oh I don’t know…say a hotel, grocery store, entertainment venue and residences so there were more jobs right in the location they’re needed most.
Evelyn Zak liked this on Facebook.
Christine Greenberg liked this on Facebook.
Tina Bujno liked this on Facebook.
Frank Pichel liked this on Facebook.
Kathy Robins liked this on Facebook.
Kristen Paynter Kaplan liked this on Facebook.
RT @chpn: You can only access 27% of the region’s jobs in a 90-minute bus ride http://t.co/koZRtKDMm3
I think one key point of the article hit the nail on the head, the bus routes stop at the county line. All things considered GRTC has pretty good coverage within the city, but in Chesterfield and Henrico counties it is almost non-existent. This isn’t likely to change unless attitudes about transit in the countys change. Most of the surrounding area is also pretty sprawling compared to the city, making transit less effective in those areas. The transfer center is also an issue that makes using GRTC across town unattractive to anyone that has an alternative.
Libby McDaniel liked this on Facebook.
Sarah Carr liked this on Facebook.
Allie Ludeman liked this on Facebook.
Melissa Ansley Brooks liked this on Facebook.
This is why you should always network and create a good support system. If you have numerous close friends, you can find ways to get rides to almost anywhere. You learn to “barter”. You provide a service to the close friend in return. Or you can sit around complaining about how the world has done you wrong.
Sometime in the 1990s, the General Assembly wanted to give Chesterfield County several million bucks to expand GRTC out into the county. Chesterfield flat refused the money, and one of their supervisors was quoted as saying something to the effect of, if the hotels and motels want their staff to ride a bus, then they can send a bus for them but the county wanted nothing to do with it. How’s that for attitude?!
Michael Bacon liked this on Facebook.
Shirley Lee liked this on Facebook.
Amelia Kirby liked this on Facebook.
Gosh, 92nd place seems high to me.
Christian Briggs liked this on Facebook.
A disgrace.
Which is why GRTC needs to completely overhaul its routes.
By design?
I don’t often post but I was reminded of the importance of face to face communication today. There is a Community Conversation about transportation tomorrow at the Valentine. I agree – this is an important issue for our neighborhood and our city.
http://www.thevalentine.org/calendar/re-rva-community-conversations
Laura Dickinson liked this on Facebook.
Cezar Maia Carvalhaes liked this on Facebook.
Sara Marie Williamson liked this on Facebook.