sara billboard rochester, rochester billboard,rochester sara please donWe attended last night’s talk given by transit advocate Benjamin Ross at the Monroe Library. It was hosted by Reconnect Rochester. And I am happy to say that the place was PACKED with people of all ages. That’s good news for those of us that are striving to create a more walkable, less car-centric Rochester.

During the Q&A portion after the talk, one woman’s comments stuck with me. She was in her late 70s and was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She has lived in Rochester for decades, does not own a car and gets around by bike, bus and foot. She said in Portland there is a culture of mass transit that does not exist here. People take transit there. And it’s just what they do.

A culture of mass transit.
Go to Boston, New York and DC and you’ll see it. We lived in DC for 15 years and everyone we knew took mass transit, no matter what neighborhood they lived in or what their jobs and income were. There was no stigma. You took metro. And you often took a connector bus if you couldn’t get where you needed to go by foot after you hopped off metro.

If you are new to a big city where everyone rides transit, you usually do it initially because driving and parking is a pain in the ass. You’d be stuck in heavy traffic and then give up a large portion of your paycheck to park that car. Mass transit gets you there much cheaper and with less stress. You get to sit and read instead of having your hands gripped on a steering wheel at 10 and 2. But after a while, you take transit because that’s just what you do. Everyone does.

In Rochester, our mass transit option for now is a bus system. Ask around your office right now to see who rides the bus regularly. There is no culture of mass transit in our city. The bus is something you take because you don’t own a car. And the general belief is that it is not a choice — “Why would you take the bus if you could just drive?”

Can we change the general perception of mass transit that is pervasive in Rochester? (I realize this isn’t a simple question.)

Rochester’s new transit center will be opening soon and that means lots of changes for bus routes and services. The Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) is also undergoing a huge rebranding effort to coincide with all these changes. The effort includes new colors, a revamped logo, some new names of routes, new bus stop signage, new uniforms and a new website. And many wonder if the rebranding efforts are necessary, given the cost.

A study conducted by UC-Irvine last year revealed that perceptions (both irrational and rational) had a bigger impact on the decision to ride mass transit than all other factors. Yes. That’s right. Than all other factors.

    “Overall, our results indicate that attitudes and perceptions of the built environment and transit system attributes appear to play a significant role in transit use that is independent of objectively measured attributes such as level of service, employment accessibility, or security.”

So, yes. Rebranding and community education and outreach around that rebranding are important at a time when our bus system is about to roll out its new transit center and all that comes with it.

Initiatives like ROC Transit Day, which just had its second year, are a fantastic way to promote the positives of riding mass transit and introduce people who might otherwise be a bit hesitant to ride. But an all-volunteer force like that team can’t do it alone.

Aside from a huge jump in the cost of gas, what will it take to shift our car-centric Rochester culture?As more and more people choose to go car-free and live closer to transit options, will that be what tips the scales toward a culture of mass transit?

If you aren’t currently a Rochester transit rider, what would convince you to become one?

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Written by: Renee
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