We need help from those of you who support public tranist in the SC Lowcountry and across the nation. We have an special election for US Congress here. We've had two successful and productive Candidates rides on CARTA public transit with five candidates for US Congress taking a guided ride on our transit system. Teddy Turner (R), Mathew Hoffman (R), Elizabeth Moffly (R), Larry Carter Center (G) and Tim Larkin (R) have all see our tranist system from the inside, waited at a bus stop without a bench or shelter, seen buses full of passengers and talked to many of them about the election and transit.
In a political system which has grown as dysfunctional as ours, elections produce the rare teachable moment when people seeking public office are forced to engage ordinary citizens. If we don't get these candidates on the bus in the next three weeks, they're unlikely to ever ride. Budget cuts, lost service and a continuation of the years long failure to fund the intermodal passenger transportation center in North Charleston, make sure new roads are transit enabled and to make sure federal transit funding is preserved (it was cut from 20 to 18% of federal transportation funding last year) is sure to
continue.
Please go to our page on the rides. Take a look at the list of the candidates who haven't scheduled a ride yet and contact their campaigns. The list is linked to their webistes. Tell them you ride, you vote and you want them to schedule a ride now.
http://busec.org/...
Money is loud. The people who build automobiles and pour highway concrete are rich and loud. The oil companies and trucking industry are also rich and loud.
We are many. 30 million people ride transit weekly in the US. We can be lounder. Click, email, message and call today. If you know a candidate well, call them up and talk to them. If you get a chance, drop by their campaign headquaters or meet them at an event. After the election it will be too late to get them to think or listen.
All 12 of the Republican candidates who have not yet taken a ride got a full informaiton packet on Saturday at the Freedomworks Forum. Most of them were polite, but there are a lot of people competing for their attention. Many of the people competing for the attention of these candidates aren't friends of public tranist and they write checks.
The candidates who have been on the buses have had a great time. They meet a lot of voters quickly, get some fresh air and see people and parts of the community they've been missing. Everyone of them has said they enjoyed and benefitted from the trip. They're not going to tell their rivals they've found a great new way to campaign, however. We can't expect the others to ride unless they hear from voters and potential donors (Which is everyone across the US.) This is a national profile race which includes ex Governor Mark Sanford, Elizabeth Colbert Busch (Democrat, sister of Stephen Colbert) and several other current or former elected officials some of whom vote on transportation issues in our legislature.
We are many. We ride. We are many who need to be mighty, today.