Intercity Transit is currently working on a strategic plan for 2009-2014, and a new budget for 2009.

Strategic Plan (PDF)

Budget (PDF)

Here are some of the highlights of the document (Click topic to read more):

• Consider an increase of .2% in the local sales tax rate for public transportation (currently 6 tenths of 1 percent) in 2009 or 2010;

Some of you may have remembered last spring when the Evergreen Nightline began running. It ran on Fridays and Saturdays between midnight and 3AM, and on Sundays between 9PM and midnight.

During the 11-week pilot period, the Nightline carried over 3600 people, for an average of about 38 riders an hour. The ridership was excellent, and the usage was consistently high. On several occasions, the Nightline was almost at full capacity.

This Fall the Nightline will begin again under contract with Intercity Transit and Evergreen. Several changes are being considered, including the changing of route times and the route itself. These are a breakdown of service changes that are proposed based on input from students at Evergreen:

 Revised Route

• Condense downtown service (loop back into downtown at Plum Street instead of Puget Street)
• Serve both the Dorm Loop and Red Square.

• Leave TESC Campus at 12:00M, 12:30AM, and 1:30AM
Changed from existing: 12M, 1AM, 2AM


• Leave Downtown at 12:00M, 1:00AM, and 2:00AM
Changed from existing: 12:30AM, 1:30AM, 2:30AM

Possibility to add a 2:30AM departure from campus, and a 3AM departure from downtown.

How important is late-night bus service to you, and what do you think would increase efficiency and use?

Intercity Transit bus ad featuring marijuana leaf upsets some
By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published August 10, 2008

An advertisement featuring a marijuana leaf that’s on the sides of some Intercity Transit buses has drawn complaints.

Intercity Transit received complaints from two residents and one bus operator about the content of the Olympia Hempfest ad, which includes the image of a marijuana leaf and the phrase “Equal Rights are for Everybody,” said Meg Kester, an agency spokeswoman. The Olympian also received a complaint about the advertisements.

Read more at the Olympian.

Intercity Transit has nearly finished installing camera systems on all of its regular coaches – almost 70 in all. Most of these installations involve seven cameras, while some shorter coaches have only five. All of them record video and audio information in a digital form for storage on a removable hard drive on the bus. The system records video on the bus for approximately 7 to 10 working days.

According to news stories (and Verint’s own website) these camera systems also wirelessly transmit the imagery to anyone with the knowledge and tools to make a wireless connection to the bus’ WiFi system, located above the driver’s head:

“In the event of a security incident, Nextiva Transit will allow supervisor and police vehicles to view live video from within the bus, enabling more effective actionable intelligence and emergency response.” 1

“Verint Systems Inc., a leading provider of analytic software-based solutions for workforce-enterprise optimisation and security, announced an agreement with Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) to enable the use of Verint Nextiva™ Wireless devices on MOTOMESH broadband wireless networks. (…) By deploying Nextiva wireless video management solutions on a Motorola mesh network, private security, law enforcement and emergency response personnel have immediate, high speed access to security video and data delivering heightened situational awareness to enable a more effective response.” 2

With the ability of the system to monitored live by those with the access tools, these systems have likely become a prime target for detectives seeking to identify those responsible for the Evergreen Uprising (Feb 15, 2008). Recent late night extensions of the routes to Evergreen have resulted in more “face time” for those who travel via bus to TESC.

When I was logging camera installations in the post-uprising weeks I noticed only 3 of the 30 buses seen on the Evergreen routes were NOT ones with camera systems installed. Prior to the uprising, it was rare for the buses on the 41 / 48 routes to have cameras installed. It is not known at this time whether this intelligence “take” has proved useful to the Sheriff’s Department, but one can imagine others who would find its data quite useful.

I've already begun to exploit this data pool by requesting bus video and audio from IT Bus #808, which in November 2007 was used to move Olympia Police into the Port of Olympia. Their conversations were quite telling...

Greetings Friends! The new 'Nightline' transit schedule is now available. The Nightline starts this Friday!

Go to www.evergreen.edu/commute and click on 'Late-Night Transit Schedule.'

Starting April 4, The Evergreen State College, in contract with Intercity Transit, will begin a pilot project to provide late-night transit between the campus and downtown.

The Nightline will run on Fridays and Saturdays between Midnight and 3AM; on Sundays between 9PM and Midnight. The service will serve along the existing Route 41, with an extension through downtown up to Puget Street, then looping back down State to the Olympia Transit Center.

The late-night Nightline will be open to the public, when they pay the regular fare. Students with Evergreen ID can ride for free. The service is provided by Intercity Transit through a contract with the College, which is financed through a student transit fee enhancement, approved by over 25% of the student body at Evergreen last spring.

[via email]

Hello!

I wanted to inquire about having Intercity Transit’s Bicycle Commuter Contest added to your list of events. This is the 21st annual BCC and encompasses all of Thurston County. Last year over 1000 people signed up, logged their commute miles (recreational miles do not count) and collectively pedaled over 87,500 miles. We prevented the release of over 80,000 lbs of CO2 into the air! Due to rising environmental concerns we are hoping to have another record year for participation. It is a lot like a “Bike to Work Day/Week” event, but spans an entire month to instill bicycle commuting habits that people will continue year round. Everyone that participates gets a package of goodies from area restaurants, bakeries, bike shops, book stores, etc. It is $5 to sign up, but well worth it for the goodies, as well as the free tune up registered participants can get at our Wrencher’s Ball that takes place Friday, April 25th at the Olympia Transit Center.

Let me know if this is something you think is appropriate for your blog. We also have a blog that I am trying to get going (new to this): http://ThurstonBCC.blogspot.com

Thank you, and love your blog!

Kerry Tarullo
2008 BCC Coordinator
Intercity Transit
360.705.5874
360.481.0122 cell
Check out the BCC Blog! ThurstonBCC.blogspot.com

From AlterNet:

Last week in our nation's capital, the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) held a climate change conference focused on solutions to the problem of human-induced climate change. And in Paris the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is sharing the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, held a press conference to discuss to discuss "the importance of lifestyle choices" in combating global warming.

Notably, all food at the NCSE conference was vegan, and there were table-top brochures with quotes from the U.N. report on the meat industry, discussed more below. And the IPCC head, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri declared, as the AFP sums it up, "Don't eat meat, ride a bike, and be a frugal shopper."

When people are overwhelmed by the idea of changing a lifestyle, or even a single habit, defensiveness and even denial can be the result. How would you help a friend learn to change the habits that are so ingrained in our culture...meat consumption, driving personal vehicles, consumerism...in a way that would seem less overwhelming and be less likely to produce a defensive response?

My take: