The Better Bus Coalition: Changing the Transit Conversation in Cincinnati from TransitCenter on Vimeo.
If there’s one indispensable ingredient for winning better transit service in American cities, it’s committed grassroots advocacy. To see what a difference effective transit advocates can make, look to Cincinnati and the Better Bus Coalition.
Founded in 2017 by Cam Hardy and Mark Samaan, the Better Bus Coalition set out to improve a transit system that riders were abandoning. By calling the attention of local media and elected officials to real problems faced by bus riders and identifying solutions, the Better Bus Coalition is setting Cincinnati’s public agenda for transit policy.
In a few short years, the group won the city’s first bus lane and a new program to provide seating at bus stops. Now the Better Bus Coalition has set its sights on a referendum to fund an expansion of service.
TransitCenter produced this video because we believe the surest way to achieve transit policy reform is through smart, energetic advocacy. Watch and see how the Better Bus Coalition did it.
The experience of being a WMATA rider has substantially improved over the last 18 months, thanks to changes the agency has made like adding off-peak service and simplifying fares. Things are about to get even better with the launch of all-door boarding later this fall, overnight bus service on some lines starting in December, and an ambitious plan to redesign the Metrobus network. But all of this could go away by July 1, 2024.
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