Climate change is a global problem that is already having many local effects such as worsening storms and heat waves in our area. Climate scientists have found that, to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we must cut carbon emissions in half by 2030. In our region, transportation is the single largest source of carbon emissions. Most of those emissions are caused by cars. For decades our leaders have deprioritized investments in public transit and have led us to a situation today where our community is now over reliant on cars. If Charlottesville & Albemarle County are going to meaningfully address climate change, improving our public transit system must be a priority.
Right now, public transit in our community is unreliable, inefficient, and often unsafe for people to use. The average wait time for a bus is over half an hour, which means that people cannot rely on the bus to get to work, medical appointments, or run daily errands. Most of the bus stops in the city & county are badly outdated. Very few have any shelter from the rain and sun, and if a bus stop has a bench, many are dangerously placed too close to the road. In the county, a bus stop is more likely to be a sign in the dirt than it is to have any sort of bench or shelter. To address climate change we need to get people out of their cars and into public transit, but that cannot happen unless public transit is a safe and reliable option.
Those who rely on public transit are disproportionately low income and people of color. In addition to stemming the tide of climate, improving public transit will also ensure that those most in need in our community are able to have reliable and safe transportation.
WHAT WE WANT IN THE CITY & COUNTY
To make sure that transit is a safe and reliable option, the top priority is to bring down wait times, and to do that the solution is straightforward: we need more bus drivers. Right now, Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) has 59 drivers, and needs AT LEAST 30 more bus drivers to be fully staffed. Both Charlottesville & Albemarle County officials have said climate change is a top priority. If we want to be a community that is serious about this, we need to fully fund public transit and stop being over-dependent on cars.