Transit Advocacy ft. Curtis Haring: Episode 13

Today, we chat with Curtis Haring, Executive Director of the Utah Transit Riders Union, about what UTRU is up to, the future of transit in Utah, and how people all over the country can get involved in local advocacy. Utah Transit Riders Union:https://utru.org/ Follow@RideUTRU Links and stuffs Merch:https://shop.trlpod.com/ Twitter:@TheRedLine_pod YouTube channel:The Red Line Podcast Spotify:The Red Line Podcast Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/theredlinepodcasters Email:[email protected] Website:https://www.trlpod.com/ Timestamps 00:00 Cities Skylines 00:41 Intro: Curtis Haring, Executive Director of UTRU 01:07 The News 01:26 Montreal REM delays 02:16 Double-tracking on Indiana's South Shore line 02:52 Curtis's background 04:07 Transit in Bountiful, UT 05:30 Lifelong transit rider 06:57 Background in advocacy 09:09 UTRU & UTA: adversarial ally 10:42 Other transit systems in Utah 11:28 Curtis's routes 12:18 August 2022 Change Day & Rose Park 13:17 Brief history of UTRU 14:23 The seven-day challenge 15:05 UTRU post-pandemic 16:28 Transit is at a crossroads 18:13 The climate crisis 18:50 Successes of UTRU 20:15 Community councils 20:50 The Avenues 23:56 Everything's local 25:12 UTRU outreach & awareness 28:13 The future rider 28:56 Representatives & bus stops 30:42 Biggest issues along the Wasatch Front 31:01 Rubber-stamping roads projects, transit eh 31:27 UDOT taking over rail building 33:18 Utah grew up when cars became a thing 34:01 Lack of transit education 37:46 Free Fare February & barriers 41:14 UVX 42:34 Free Fare Forever? 45:15 Why car? 46:42 Advice for people who want to get involved 48:42 Building communities around people 49:37 Utah's future 50:30 Blathering on 50:41 Cities Skylines 51:44 Complaining about microtransit 56:06 30 minute minimum frequency 58:37 Engage with policymakers 59:55 Transit is an issue of economics 1:01:23 Ribbon-cutting 1:03:03 Outro: follow UTRU References & notes [1]CBC: Opening of most REM light rail stations pushed back to end of 2024 [2]Mass Transit: Construction begins for 'game changing' South Shore Line Double Track project [3]The Salt Lake Tribune Archive: UTA says committee meetings are no longer public, which may violate Utah law See also [4]Transit Riders of the United States Together (TRUST) [5]Wikipedia: List of urban transit advocacy organisations