First, from the City’s press release:

All residents are invited and encouraged to attend

WHAT The Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force will hold a meeting. The purpose of the Task Force is to make recommendations to Richmond City Council with regard to enhancing mass transit in the Metro-Richmond area and the efficiency and effectiveness of the GRTC Transit System. The meeting is free and open to the public and all residents are invited and encouraged to attend.

WHEN Thursday, July 12, 2012
4:00-6:00 p.m.

WHERE Richmond Department of Economic Development
Richmond Main Street Station – 3rd Floor Conference Room
1500 East Main Street; Richmond, Virginia 23219
(PARKING: Free parking is available on the west side of the building by using the Franklin Street Entrance and using the lot below the Interstate. When facing the Train Station from the Franklin Street Entrance, make a right and park towards the Clock Tower end. When facing the building from the parking lot, the entrance door to the Richmond Department of Economic Development is located on the right of the building.)

WHO Members of the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force

CONTACT For more information, please contact Councilman Bruce W. Tyler, Richmond City Council, West End 1st District, at 804.357.6007; or bruce.tyler@richmondgov.com.

Secondly, and with disclosure here as a GRTC Task Force member, I will mention a few of the suggestions that are starting to emerge from the Task Force meetings so far:

1. There seems to be consensus that the City Code needs reform in regard to how GRTC’s routes are determined.

2. There needs to be some sort of inner city circulator that is inexpensive or even free. It needs to be much more frequent and reliable than standard GRTC buses and it must be designed to serve citizens and not just tourists. How this is implemented, and perhaps more importantly, paid for, still needs to be determined.

3. Task force members have been asking for regular updates on new signage for GRTC bus stops.

4. The GRTC Task Force has asked for assistance from the Green City Commission on initiatives like bus stop recycling, green fleet usage, connections with other organizations and multimodal transportation.

Also, I will say that while task force members agree that there needs to be more regional transportation efforts, the surrounding counties have not been attending meetings with GRTC or the task force, so the task force has been focused on what the City can do to improve GRTC.