We are calling on Washington State Legislators to join us to create a Just Transition away from fossil fuels and transform transportation in Washington from a dirty engine of inequality to a catalyst for clean jobs and opportunity. The Yakima Asian Pacific Islander Coalition along with other Front and Centered members, Disability Rights Washington, and 350 Washington have worked to develop a Transportation Bill of Rights that puts people at the center of our decisions.
If you stand for transportation equity, join other individuals and organizations around the state and endorse our Transportation Bill of Rights!
People’s needs too often get left out of the planning, funding, construction, and maintenance of transportation systems. This is why we have worked together to create a Transportation Bill of Rights. Regardless of our race, age, gender, disability, income and where we live we all deserve transportation where:
1. No one dies or is seriously injured traveling on state roads, streets, and sidewalks
2. Every household can access groceries within 20 minutes without a car
3. No one today is harmed by pollution or noise from transportation
4. Protection from the climate crisis today for future generations
5. All trips less than one mile are easily and enjoyably achieved by non-vehicle travel including for people with disabilities
6. No household should spend more than 45% of its income on housing, transportation, and energy
7. Every child who wants to can bike, walk, or roll safely to school
8. Transit service is frequent and spans the day and night so people can get to work and come back
9. The pursuit of happiness does not require a car
Legislators must take these rights into consideration when developing transportation policy – whether they’re locking us into another decade-plus package or deliberating on how to spend the billions in Federal funding headed toward Washington State as part of the recently-passed infrastructure package.
If they ignore these rights, we’ll witness a business-as-usual process marked by outcomes that include new highways keeping us hooked on our fossil fuels addiction. If they honor these rights, we can create transportation equity and access for all.
LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES honoring the Transportation Bill of Rights:
* Start with the communities facing the greatest environmental health risks.
* Halt road and bridge expansion; we can’t build our way out of gridlock, so let’s be responsible with our funds and focus exclusively on maintenance. Fix-it-first!
* Establish sustainable, progressive funding for electric public transportation that reaches every neighborhood and community in our state. Authorize more local revenue options so local governments can better address the transportation needs of their communities.
* Fund transit operations to run every 15 minutes at least and seven days a week into the night also.
* Build affordable housing near frequent, electrified public transportation; implement zoning and tax incentives.
* Make sure there is a radius of one mile around every bus stop with accessible sidewalks, trails, and bike lanes.
* Build safe, kid-friendly, bike and roll paths in a three-mile radius around every public school.
* Fund multi-use trails, with transit access, that connect communities, including tribal and rural communities throughout Washington.
* Fund regular public maintenance of sidewalks and paths to repair cracks and remove debris and snow/ice.
* Reduce/eliminate the role of armed police in traffic and transit fare enforcement
* Zero-fare public transportation creates operating efficiencies and greater equity by speeding up boarding, eliminating enforcement disparities and reducing the criminalization of poverty.
For information on the financial investments required to fund these values and legislative priorities, go to the Just Transition in Transportation webpage and scroll down to “Key Investments”:
https://frontandcentered.org/just-transition-in-transportation/ Thank you for your advocacy and support!
BY FILLING OUT THE FORM BELOW, I ACKNOWLEDGE THE PUBLIC ENDORSEMENT OF THE TRANSPORTATION BILL OF RIGHTS & LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES:
