[Carfreeliving] MTC Transportation Headlines

[Joshua Hart]

Hey Car-Free'ers-

If you don't subscribe to this list, you should!  MTC sends out a daily 
summary of transportation-related stories that are printed in local 
papers- it's a good way to get a summary of what's happening in the 
transportation world.  You can subscribe using the instructions below.  
  A couple of weeks ago after the Sonoma cyclist fatality, I noticed 
that the transportation  headlines didn't include major stories in the 
Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the Chronicle.  I called and asked them 
about it, and they said they have a policy to exclude fatalities and 
injury stories from their news summary.   I asked them why, and they 
said that the summary would be "too long" if they did.   I think that 
says a lot about our transportation system.

In any case, they have turned down my request to include injury/ 
fatality stories, not giving any really good reason.   Please send them 
an e-mail asking why the MTC, a public agency, doesn't see fit to 
include the tragic side of our transport system in their news summary. 
This is important because transportation policy is determined by people 
who read these headlines.   If they are getting a biased snapshot of 
the transportation system that is "sanitized" they may be less likely 
to take action to stop drunk driving, or to fund bike/ ped safety 
facilities for example.

You can send an e-mail to:
library at mtc.ca.gov

and cc your MTC Commissioner, available at 
http://www.mtc.ca.gov/about_mtc/commphot.htm
Also, their phone number is 510-464-7836

To subscribe, send the message subscribe headlines to
library at mtc.ca.gov
To unsubscribe, send the message unsubscribe headlines to
library at mtc.ca.gov








WE'VE MOVED!
Please note my new mailing address and phone extension.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|       __o       		SF BICYCLE COALITION                ___       __0   
        |
|     _`\<,_          		    Promoting the Bike                      
|___|    _ \<,_         |
|    (*)/ (*)       		for Everyday Transport                     
(*)+---(*)/ (*)         |
|										                                    |
|   995 Market St. #1550 SF 94103  415.431.BIKE  www.sfbike.org         
   |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joshua Hart Program Director 415-431-2453 ext. 303  joshua at sfbike.org