Wednesday, July 22 is the Federal Transportation Day of Action – and it also happens to be the day the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) will be discussing the Oakland Airport Connector project.  What a perfect day to stand up for better transportation choices in Oakland!

Start the day off right at a rally for more transit funding at the federal level.  In solidarity with communities around the nation, citizens will gather at 8:30am  at Frank Ogawa Plaza (14th & Broadway) for a mock “funeral” mourning the death of transit lines resulting from inadequate funding for transit operation.  As proposed, the Federal Transportation Bill allocates only 20% of spending to transit, as opposed to 80% for highways – a formula for disastrous cuts in transit services that will
* harm already-disadvantaged low-income communities dependent on mass transit
* dramatically expand greenhouse gas emissions from continued automobile over-use
Join your neighbors as well as local advocacy groups Urban Habitat, TransForm, Genesis, and BOSS, and staff from Congressperson Barbara Lee’s office to demand a transportation bill that takes us in the right direction.  The rally will also highlight the current opportunity to win federal support for AC Transit, BART, VTA, MUNI, SAMTANS, and the rest of the Bay Area’s transit operators currently facing major service cuts and fare increases.  Click here for more information on the Federal Transportation Bill and what you can right now.

Then, once you’re all riled up, you can head to the MTC hearing on the Oakland Airport Connector.  Tell the commission that they cannot give another $140 million to a project that costs nearly $300 per new rider. Priority regional transporation projects are starving for money, while MTC and BART continue to spend more than the cost of an airline ticket to travel 3.2 miles from BART to Oakland airport. The hearing begins at 10am at MTC headquarters at 101 8th Street (near Lake Merritt BART).  Click here for more information about the project, and the more cost-effective and community-oriented alternative, RapidBART.

Now’s the time to show our leaders that Oakland wants transportation choices that are just, affordable, and sustainable.  See you Wednesday!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 12:31 pm and is filed under News and Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.