The Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility (OETM) has launched its community engagement process to develop a transportation policy guide. Path to Equity: Policy Guide for Richmond Connects will articulate the policy framework for Richmond Connects, the multimodal transportation planning process set to begin this fall.

The policy guide will explain why the transportation plan needs to be equity focused, detail what the city means by equitable transportation, and lay a structure for how Richmond intends to center equity in transportation planning decisions.

The Path to Equity Policy Guide will reiterate the transportation goals and objectives developed in the master plan and develop new language to articulate the specific equity outcomes desired, called equity factors. These are outcomes that the city will use to assess how equitable Richmond’s transportation network is.

Richmond Connects, using the framework developed in the Path to Equity Policy Guide, will ultimately prioritize needs and recommend transportation projects and programs for the city. It will align a variety of recommendations from various plans around what residents see as the community’s top transportation needs.

Survey

As part of this effort, OETM has designed a digital survey to inform the policy guide and the Richmond Connects transportation plan itself. This survey is unique and in line with the mayor’s Equity Agenda, as it asks Richmonders to gauge their experiences of transportation injustices in the past and detail the barriers to accessing opportunity today.

Tacos for Transportation

For additional outreach, the city is hosting three outdoor COVID-19-conscious ‘Tacos for Transportation’ events. The events will feature an engagement team ready to guide residents through the survey. In exchange for their time, the city will provide a voucher for free tacos from an on-site taco truck (for up to 250 people at each event)! The first event will be held June 26 at the Calhoun Community Center, in conjunction with the Gilpin Field Day hosted by RRHA. The next event will be July 17^th at Byrd Park, and the final event will take place next to the Blackwell pool on July 31. All of these events will take place 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

If you can’t make it to one of these events, there are other ways to get engaged:

Online

The same survey will be available online Path to Equity | Richmond (rva.gov) , and OETM plans to have survey kiosks and paper copies available around the city. A kick-off webinar will also be announced and available on the webpage.

Ambassadors & Advisory Committee

Additionally, the city is hiring about 20 ambassadors to represent the diverse experiences and communities across the city on the planning committee for Path to Equity Policy Guide and Richmond Connects. These ambassadors, along with regional planning partners and representatives from social justice advocacy groups, will help shape the policy guide.

For more information on the Path to Equity Policy Guide or Richmond Connects, visit www.rva.gov/connects.

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Standing outside the Powhatan Community Center on the 4B GRTC bus line, Mayor Stoney announced that the city has launched a first-of-its-kind Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility.
 
Housed in the Department of Public Works, the office will design and implement a vision for a connected, safe and equitable transit and mobility infrastructure.
 
“The Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility will tackle the big and small issues that affect the bus commutes, walks and bike rides of our multimodal residents,” said Mayor Stoney. “This work is vital to building a connected city.”
 
The office’s portfolio will include:
Extending universal free bus fares, a measure with the full backing of Mayor Stoney;
Enhancing Richmond’s Complete Streets approach;
Designing a mobility action plan;
Expanding Vision Zero work;
Liaising with the Central Virginia Transportation Authority;
Evaluating and developing the city’s bus and paratransit system; and
Connecting existing walkways, bike lanes and other multimodal infrastructure to improve last mile connectivity for commuting Richmonders.
 
At this time, the creation of this office does not require any new funding or action by Richmond City Council. Current City of Richmond employees working on multimodal transportation will comprise the office. Housing the office in the Department of Public Works will minimize duplicative work while prioritizing multimodal transportation with an unprecedented amount of resources at the office’s disposal.
 
“The creation of this office will undoubtedly expand this city’s ability to enhance our multimodal infrastructure,” said Council President Cynthia Newbille. “I look forward to Richmond City Council collaborating with Ms. Clarke to complete streets all around the city.”

The office will be administered by fifteen-year transit professional and current City of Richmond Multimodal Transportation Manager Dironna Moore Clarke.
 
Ms. Clarke has served as the Multimodal Transportation Policy and Planning Manager for the Office of the Virginia Secretary of Transportation and Transit General Manager for the City of Petersburg. Before her work in the Commonwealth, she served Tennesseans in the Department of Transportation advising local and regional transportation bodies on public transportation options as alternatives to road and highway improvement.
 
Says Ms. Clarke: “I thank Mayor Stoney for the opportunity for this leadership role in the city. Relying on the principles of sustainable transportation, our office will develop strategies and tools to assist the city in maximizing transportation investments on behalf of the residents of Richmond.”
 
“I have confidence that Dironna’s experience with regional, state and federal partners will bolster this office’s ability to deliver equitable and multimodal transportation services well into the future,” said Mayor Stoney. “Dironna knows Richmond, and she’s ready to listen to the community.”
 
The Stoney administration has focused on ensuring transportation developments and improvements support a growing multimodal network. The city has funded GRTC route enhancements, funded a new GRTC route, launched the Pulse Bus Rapid Transit and provided free bus passes for high schoolers.
 
The administration has also marked over 30 miles of new bike lanes, including major projects on Williamsburg and Brook Roads in the East End and Northside, respectively.

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