January 29, 2016
ONEN sent a letter to MMT concerning the lack of infrastructure on Nevada Avenue for the new bus route. ONEN also expressed concern for historically-appropriate bus stops. The full letter may be read here.
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First, I should say that I’m ashamed for not being aware of the bus route changes until a couple weeks before they happened. That’s my fault, and I should have been more aware and taken some action sooner.
Having said that, I’m shocked and distressed by this letter from ONEN to MMT. It is disappointing that the ONEN leadership cheerfully gave their assent to the city when notified of the planned route changes. This letter says “We are not opposed to the consolidation plan’s end goals.” This action by the city is an egregious violation of the “equitable traffic flow” clause of the ONEN Master Plan. How can it be that the ONEN leadership has no interest in defending the Master Plan or the safety and cohesion of the community? Responses like this have left many Nevada residents feeling betrayed by ONEN and skeptical of their intent.
Public transportation has been in place through the Old North End for well over a hundred years, and it has always (to my knowledge) been diverted away from Nevada for obvious reasons. Why would anyone view this as an acceptable arrangement now?
I’m glad that the new ONEN Transit Committee is beginning to form a position in support of moving buses off of Nevada, and I hope our community will get behind them. But it will be far more difficult now that the routes have been established and implemented.
Peter, I hope you realize that we are being completely transparent about what transpired in relation to the bus route changes. It is very difficult to take a firm position one way or another regarding routes while remaining impartial. At this point in the process we were trying to start a dialog with MMT. With any relationship you need to show you are willing to cooperate. ONEN was in favor of the basic concepts of providing improved public transit for our neighbors who do not have the option of driving a car, and for choice drivers in order to reduce cars, pollution, and parking requirements. ONEN was trying to show that we are not anti-bus. Looking back maybe we should have been firmer, but we fully intended this letter to be the beginning of a longer dialog with MMT.