Help Make BRT a Reality

I’ve explained here before why I support BRT, and if you support it, here’s how you can help:

1. Attend the joint meeting of the Berkeley Planning Commission and Transportation Commission to urge them to choose a preferred alternative corridor for BRT in Berkeley, and not to kill the project before the Final Environmental Impact Report is completed. (If this is confusing, read the details here (PDF).) Here’s the meeting info courtesy of Friends of BRT:

Critically important Berkeley meeting on Bus Rapid Transit!
Opponents are trying to kill BRT.
We need your support for studying local alternatives.

What: Joint meeting of Planning Commission and Transportation Commission
When: Wednesday, April 9, 7 p.m.
Where: North Berkeley Senior Center, MLK Jr. Way & Hearst Ave.

2. Pass out this flyer (PDF) about the meeting to anyone you know who supports BRT.

3. Volunteer to phone bank to get supporters to the meeting:

The Sierra Club and Friends of BRT are jointly sponsoring a phone bank on Monday, March 31st from 6 – 8:30 PM. Helen Burke is coordinating it and needs to know if you can come at helenburke@earthlink.net or (510) 527-0176. To be effective we’ll need about 6-8 phone bankers. We will be calling Sierra Club members who responded positively to a card in the Bay Chapter newsletter the Yodeler and asking them to speak in support of BRT at the Joint Meeting of the City of Berkeley’s Transportation and Planning Commission on April 9th. The phone bank will be held at the Sierra Club office, 2530 San Pablo Avenue (near Dwight Way) in Berkeley. No experience necessary. Pizza and soft drinks will be provided. Please RSVP to Helen ASAP!

I’ll be phone banking on Monday and hopefully will make it to the hearing (if I’m back from Sacramento in time from another hearing I need to attend), and I hope you will join me.

Though the hearing’s in Berkeley, this meeting could greatly impact the entire BRT project, effecting bus riders in Oakland, San Leandro, and Berkeley. On a bigger level, this project has the potential to effect the entire world’s environment by helping to nudge people out of their cars and onto the bus.