The ACLU has written Eugene's City Attorney a letter of intent over the City's sign code.

This just in from LCCRG: (republished with permission)

The ACLU has written Eugene's City Attorney a letter of intent over the City's sign code.

Here is the letter in full. Please click on each of the pictures to see it full size.

Clarifying LTD's Spin

By LCCRG (reprinted with permission)

LTD Board President Mike Eyster

Sunday's guest editorial in the Register-Guard by LTD Board President Mike Eyster was a very clear attempt in misleading the public with more fluff and unsubstantiated predictions and dreams about future ridership that are based in fantasy, not fact. In this article, we strive to help sort "spin" from "proven and substantiated fact".

One of the first claims made by Eyster Is that the Franklin EmX line exceeded 20-year ridership projections in its first year of operation. What is conveniently left out is that rides were free during that first year. Also unknown is how exactly those ridership projections were determined, and what the projections even were. Verdict: SPIN. There are too many holes in LTD's claim about increased ridership to substantiate whether or not the increased number of riders was caused by the distribution of free rides, and the methodology by which ridership projections are determined.

Dear LTD

LTD also asserts that they are concerned about the impacts of construction along their proposed routes. However, according to the Dear LTD blog, LTD sent a construction crew to do some minor work on Franklin near the 76 station at Walnut St. The owner of the station was told that the construction would be done by 7AM, or by 10AM worst case scenario. The reality was that the crew was done just before 1PM, which cut access off to his business during the crucial lunch hour. LTD also did not even notify the station owner in writing, instead sending one of their spokespersons out to tell one if his employees verbally. A few months ago, LCCRG wrote an article about another business that was negatively impacted and abused by LTD's construction. Springfield Cleaners had their access severely compromised by LTD construction crews from January-April 2009, with the contractors cutting off a lot of their parking and doing virtually nothing to ease the impact to is business save for putting out a sandwich board sign on the sidewalk to let passers-by know they were still open for business. LTD representatives assured the business owner, Casey Dresser that her business would benefit from having the EmX go by her shop, however, she shared that not one customer she knows of has patronized her shop after riding the EmX there. Verdict: SPIN! If the way LTD has mismanaged their interactions with the above impacted businesses with false claims, gross abuses and outright lies, how can LTD be trusted to do the right thing for businesses along West 6th, 7th and 11th Avenues in Eugene? It's clear, they simply are not to be trusted.

LTD makes the claim that preliminary data, from THEIR OWN alternatives analysis that capacity for traffic along 6th and 7th will increase as a result of EmX, and that opponents claims are based on 27 year old data. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that of ODOT deemed it necessary to add a lane on those streets in the 1980's because of increased traffic, it probably would not increase traffic capacity to have EmX buses and turning traffic taking that lane back in the future.  Verdict: SPIN. LTD is using their own analysis, that has not been verified by any other transportation entity. Common sense and basic physics would dictate that if 3 continuous traffic lanes was not enough to meet the needs of 6th and 7th back in the 80's, it certainly would not be now, or into the future.

Eyster cites the recent opening of Cabela's along the EmX corridor as one of the retail opportunities related to this project. Really? Cabela's is a destination store, typically one that it's customers drive significant distances to get to. How many big game hunters do you know bought their rifle at Cabela's after taking the EmX there? Verdict: SPIN! That is simply a desperate attempt by LTD to tie retail development to their system. Also worth noting is that in the over 4 years since the Franklin EmX line opened, there has been no new developments of significance in Glenwood, save for an announcement that Planned Parenthood plans to open a new facility there.

(click image to see full size)

The tragic part of all of LTD's putting out information that is based on shaky ground at best is that they are wasting OUR resources in doing so. Every ad that LTD puts out touting the greatness of EmX is paid for by us. Every minute an LTD employee spends engaging in PR activities to cram an unwanted West Eugene EmX extension down our throats is paid for by us!

When considering who to believe about the EmX, consider what the following parties have at stake:

Our Money Our Transit: Their businesses and the livelihoods of their employees and families.

Taxpayers: The notion of seeing our country dive deeper into debt to spend tens of millions of dollars on something only 3-5% of Lane County residents use, and that has no proven need, either now or in the future.

LTD: up to $80 million in "free federal money" and untold millions more for future unneeded extensions.

We think one only needs to look at the motivating factors for all those involved to decide where the truth really lies.

LTD Board President Provides EmX Update.

Board President Provides EmX Update

EmX Improves the Transportation System
EmX is a highly effective transportation system. The first EmX line on Franklin Boulevard exceeded 20-year ridership projections in its first year of operation. Today EmX carries more than twice the number of customer boardings compared to the route 11 service that it replaced. The opening of the Gateway EmX Extension in early 2011 has attracted new riders and has even increased ridership along the original Franklin line.  The region’s current transportation plan calls for a 61-mile network of EmX routes.  As EmX routes are added, the entire transportation system becomes more effective in attracting additional transit riders, improving travel time for automobiles, improving air quality, reducing green house gas emissions, and reducing dependence on fossil fuel. Transit districts from all over the world have come to LTD to study the highly innovative EmX system in place here in our community.

LTD understands that some business and property owners have concerns about moving forward with the West Eugene EmX Extension at this time.  Some businesses are struggling, others don’t see value in this investment, and many are concerned about construction impacts.  Lane Transit District understands these concerns and continues to work on ways to minimize or eliminate negative impacts while moving forward with a project that provides tremendous benefits to the entire community.

Many public outreach efforts, including more than 300 business and property owner meetings, have been completed during the past few years. These meetings have helped craft the current configuration of the route and the plans for a successful partnership for working with the West Eugene community. The process of meeting one-on-one with residents, property owners, and business owners along the selected route is on-going.  These meetings will provide additional opportunities to view the early designs and modify designs to minimize impacts further. LTD is committed to working with each property owner to make sure that this is the best route for West Eugene while serving the needs of the entire region.

LTD and construction contractor Wildish Construction have worked together on the first two EmX lines and have learned a great deal from the construction of each route. With the West Eugene route, we would use these lessons learned to make this an even smoother process for local residents and businesses. Construction techniques, such as night work and maintenance of access for customers and deliveries during construction, would be employed to maintain full business operations during construction.  These options have been very successful in the past, but we want to continue to work with businesses to get their input on what to include in a construction plan that addresses any and all concerns.  LTD knows the importance of maintaining and improving the health of businesses in order for our community to be successful. Construction of an EmX line in West Eugene must be done in a way that ensures the short-term health of businesses while creating an environment for long-term business expansion.

In a recent Register Guard Guest Editorial, Brian Weaver asserts that the West Eugene EmX Extension project will reduce vehicle capacity by 25 percent along sections of 6th and 7th Avenues. Mr. Weaver’s assertion is based on 27-year old data.  Preliminary data, gathered from current information and projections of future conditions, shows that capacity for auto traffic will increase, and the amount of time it takes an auto to travel the corridor will improve as a result of EmX.  This analysis is being refined as part of the required federal process and will be available for public review later this fall.  The bottom line is that one of the purposes of EmX is to improve vehicle movement—starting on the day that it is built.   EmX development has always been about improving the entire transportation system, which is why professional traffic engineers and analysts work on detailed assessments of system effects.  These effects are then reviewed and approved by city and state traffic engineers and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) who are ultimately responsible for the safe and efficient operation of our transportation network.

Mr. Weaver states that LTD should consider impacts to adjacent neighborhoods.  EmX development considers these impacts carefully, and a review of population and jobs adjacent to the proposed EmX line are a prime reason that the Eugene City Council, the LTD Board, and the Metropolitan Policy Committee selected the 6th/7th/11th route.  Nearby residents will be connected to fast, frequent, and reliable transit service through the envisioned EmX.  Employees will have better connections to and from work, and businesses will be able to attract new customers from throughout the region.  In addition, the EmX route selected by the community was refined specifically to avoid causing traffic to be diverted into adjacent residential neighborhoods.

In the coming months, LTD will complete three key steps in the development of EmX in West Eugene.  First, the West Eugene EmX project must compete with transportation projects from around the United States for federal funding. LTD is preparing a grant application that will be submitted in September 2011.  Second, an environmental analysis will be completed and submitted to the Federal Transit Administration for review.  Following the FTA review, a public review will occur in late 2011.  Third, the LTD Board and Eugene City Council, after analyzing the data currently being collected including an analysis of operating costs, will again hold a vote on the project.

Exciting things are happening in our community.  New retail opportunities, like the opening of Cabela’s, have popped up around existing EmX corridors.  Three significant projects are underway in downtown Eugene, plus the addition of the new hotel at 5th Street Public Market, all around the hub of LTD’s downtown transit station.  Having just completed the Matthew Knight Arena, the University is working on a new residence hall and a new science building.  PeaceHealth is moving forward with the reconstruction of Sacred Heart Hospital-University District, creating even more opportunities for employees and visitors to fully utilize both EmX and other LTD bus service.

To prepare for present and future growth, an enhanced transportation system is critical.  The goal of a West Eugene EmX Extension line would be to make these destinations more easily accessible to people throughout Eugene-Springfield, while simultaneously making businesses and residences in West Eugene more easily accessible by more people.  Taking one step at a time, we will meet the needs of today while ensuring that our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy our community for generations to come. 
Mike Eyster
Mike Eyster is the President of the Lane Transit District Board of Directors


From: ltd.org

Our Money Our Transit Offers $1000 Reward to catch sign Vandal.

(Please see video to the right-->)

Our Money Our Transit Offers $1000 Reward to catch sign Vandal

EUGENE, OR. (August 15, 2011)

This past weekend dozens of the No Build Lawn signs produced by Our Money Our Transit were vandalized and numerous No Build banners were destroyed or defiled. 

Our Money Our Transit has constantly battled the theft and removal of legally posted signs along the West 11th corridor.  On Saturday, August 13th, more that 45 lawn signs were vandalized and three of the large banners (3 foot by 8 foot) were ripped off the buildings where they were being displayed.

Video of a lone bike rider was caught on the surveillance security camera on Monday August 15th by one of the businesses on West 11th Ave, removing signs and throwing them onto West 11th at 3:51am Saturday morning.  A $1000 reward is being offered by Our Money Our Transit to any person who can confirm the identity of the subject on the video tape that leads to that person’s arrest.  

This video is now posted on the Our Money Our Transit website. www.ourmoneyourtransit.com

If you have any information regarding this crime, please report it to the Eugene Police Department or send an email to ourmoneyourtransit@gmail.com

Dear LTD, are you listening to yourselves?

That EmX Bus is Empty

BY MIKE WEBER AND SCOTT REYNOLDS

 

 

 

Recently, Kevin Prociw of LCCRG created a short music video titled "That Emx Bus is Empty" which illustrated just how poorly utilized LTD's $43 million Gateway/River Bend line is. Tonight, this video was highlighted on KEZI 9 news, and Andy Vobora, LTD's Director of Service Planning, Accessibility and Marketing stated that "the video was shot during a time when numbers are typically low for a college town" and "having only been in service for about five or six months, it's probably a little too early to make a judgment about how successful the ridership is." 

 

Let's rewind to a little less than two weeks ago, when LTD Communications Coordinator Lisa Van Winkle said on KEZI on July 28 that "Even though we had to reduce the total number of hours, because we're still attracting a higher ridership, our efficiency is actually better" and that Gateway EmX expansion has increased ridership for the EmX by 40%.

 

Too soon to be judged, or increased ridership by 40%? Are we confused, or is LTD confused?

 

Giving LTD the benefit of the doubt here, let's give Vobora's theory about college town numbers being low. The route to Gateway/River Bend does not run through any areas that have a large UO student population, and primarily serve the hospital, a few large employers north of Beltline Road (Symantec, Royal Caribbean), a few neighborhoods and the Gateway shopping district. LTD has claimed the majority of their riders are going to and from work. College/school is second, again according to LTD.

 

Given that the footage was filmed between 7 a.m. and noon on a Friday, this covers a time in the morning during which commuters are typically going to work. However, all there was to be found during the morning "rush hour" were mostly empty buses everywhere along the route. Considering the areas served by this route, student utilization of this route should not be a major factor, and even if it was, how effective a utilization of $43 million in capital improvements plus operating costs is this route? 

 

The fact is, a regular bus served this area very effectively, and could have continued to do so.
 

But who knows anymore, as LTD can't stick to one story? VanWinkle thinks that rider numbers will go down in the fall, isn't that when the college students come back? But Vobora says this is typical for a college town right now to have empty buses. OOPS, just who is in charge there at LTD? 

 

As has been well publicized, LTD is looking to spend $80-100 million to build a new EmX route out West 11th Avenue that would terminate near where the Wal-Mart store is. Yes, folks, a bus to Wal-Mart! As of now, it is very clear that LTD did not predict the future very well when it built the Gateway EmX line, and now it wants to apply for tens of millions of dollars of FEDERAL funds for another EmX line with, again, an unproven need. We received an e-mail on March 7, 2011 from Vobora in response to a question asked about how utilized buses currently are along West 11th. The response was that about 900 boardings per day occur along West 11th between Garfield and Commerce streets. When one considers that the proposed EmX line would have 80 runs in each direction, for a total of over 160 trips, that works out to fewer than 6 boardings per trip based on current ridership! Spending $80-100 million to run even more nearly empty buses seems like an absolutely asinine proposal!

 

LTD is looking more like a three ringed circus then a transit service. EmX buses empty for half the day, running red lights and an LTD bus going the wrong way down a one way street. LTD was politely telling a Facebook community page to remove their page even though it was 100% within the guidelines for a Facebook community page, and create a Facebook group? Lost funding for the student bus pass program? What is going on at LTD? Things have only become worse since former GM Mark Pangborn retired. It looks like he got out just in the nick of time.

 

But there is a silver lining. LTD just received a FEDERAL grant to replace the 20 year old bus signs that are still readable. That is on the remaining routes left., not the EmX lines. See, the important stuff is getting done.

 

 

The EmX Bus....It's Empty!

The EmX Bus....It's Empty! (A repost from the LCCRG blog)

Last week, LCCRG spent a few hours on a Friday morning checking out the new Gateway/River Bend EmX line to see how well our $43 million dollar investment is working out. We filmed some footage of the morning commute during what is typically known as "rush hour" and continued up to about noon. Here is the video for your enjoyment, it's only a minute or so long, and has a fun musical score!

    

That EmX Bus is Empty Song

1:12

Added: August 06, 2011
From: WastefulEmX
Views: 325,189

LTD on the Ropes. A Dear LTD guest viewpoint by Scott Reynolds.

BY SCOTT REYNOLDS

These last few weeks have not been very kind to our friends at Lane Transit District. While not very much media attention has been afforded recently to LTD's ill-conceived West 11th EmX project, or even to the beginning of new LTD general manager Ron Kilcoyne's tenure leading the agency, LTD has managed to thrust itself into the spotlight, with the aid of local citizens on a couple of these occasions.

A few weeks ago, MyEugene published a video on their site in which local citizen Ben Hallert's dash camera caught an EmX bus speeding through a red light on Gateway Street in Springfield near Applebee's. In the video, it is clear that the light for Hallert was green for a good second or so before the EmX barreling through the intersection even comes into view! This incident also was featured on KEZI 9.In the MyEugene article, it is also mentioned that LTD will not discuss how this matter was handled with the driver due to union rules. In this same article, LTD spokesperson Cosette Rees stated that "safety is extremely important to LTD".

On June 18, the Register-Guard reported that the Oregon Legislature cut funding to a program that provided free transportation to middle and high school students in the Eugene/Springfield area, and LTD responded on a Facebook post that they will be losing about $1.2 million in funding. In this same Facebook response, LTD stated that they assume youth fares will replace about $600,000 of that moneyand no cuts will need to be made. Additionally, in the same post, LTD did state that if they had to absorb the entire $1.2 million in cuts, that some operating budget cuts would likely have to be made.

On July 16, KEZI aired a report about an LTD bus operator pinning the bus between construction on Pearl Street and a fire hydrant, which blocked traffic in the area.

Yesterday, LTD also made the news again on KEZI for a bus operator driving the wrong way down Lincoln Street near downtown Eugene, when it should have headed south on Charnelton Street. We would like to give credit to Jeffery Egbert for sending the photo of the offending bus to local media!

Regular readers of this page may remember a recent article published here aboutEugene attacking free speech in which it is mentioned that LTD had limited access to its Facebook page so that citizens and taxpayers could not post on their wall anymore. Today  Michael Weber was on KEZI today because LTD requested that Weber change a Facebook page previously known as "Dear LTD" to a group as opposed to a page. Weber refused to back down to LTD's demands to do so, but did compromise on changing the name of the page to "Dear Lane County Public Transit, can you hear me now?" Weber also started another blog site about LTD at dearLTD.blogspot.com.

In closing, it is beyond my understanding why LTD is even trying to waste this community's resources and time in trying to build an EmX system that has been hotly contested every step of the way, and that we believe a majority of our community does not want. At the public hearing held in February at the Hilton and the hearing held at the Wheeler Pavilion at the Fairgrounds a few months later, people speaking in opposition to the EmX outnumbered those speaking in support by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. All around town, signs can be seen opposing the EmX project, but how many do you see supporting it?

In just the last few weeks, LTD operators have, without shadow of a doubt, shown a blatant disregard of traffic laws and for the safety of the general public, had their funding cut by $1.2 million with no idea how much may be recouped by youth pass fees, and has expended energy into limiting free speech by harassing an administrator of a Facebook page that had fewer than 100 readers at the time. When 3 unsafe driving incidents have been caught on camera/video in under a month, it is terrifying to think about how many more similar incidents like these have occurred that were not caught on film.

Rather than go chasing after tens of millions of dollars to fund an unwanted project that will do more to disrupt business, cause the loss of an untold number of jobs (which fund LTD operations by way of payroll tax) and has no proven need, LTD needs to return to its core functions of simply providing SAFE, frequent and efficient bus service to all parts of its service area, and making sure that its drivers are operating the buses in a safe and law-abiding manner. For LTD to focus its energy on anything else at this time is absolute nonsense.