By John Wagner
JONAH held a rally and march at Wilson park on July 25 to lobby for improving the bus service in Eau Claire. The rally was attended by more than 100 citizens, including regional elected officials and candidates for office. Other attendees included members of the multi-faith state organization WISDOM, and the Gamaliel National Network whose mission is to empower ordinary people to effectively participate in the political, environmental, social and economic decisions affecting their lives. The purpose of the rally was to demonstrate how essential bus service is to the community and request more funding to improve service hours.
“The rally was an amazing demonstration of solidarity.” – Joanne Mellema, JONAH Board member
“I’m encouraged by our community coming together for such an important issue.” – Michelle Pride, JONAH Board Member and AHTF volunteer
“I was moved to hear the passion in the voices telling their stories, and could see the relief and power of being heard. I also heard from so many why coming together like this is needed more.” – Lynn Buske, JONAH Organizer
“My work with the Affordable Housing Task Force brings me face to face with many housing insecure folks across diverse community groups that depend on Transit to have access to essential and quality of life services… Transit is core to access and equity.” – Susan Wolfgram, Chair of AHTF
Public bus service in Eau Claire is essential for many members of our community to be able to fully participate in our civic and economic life, especially low income families. Residents use the service to travel to work, school, shopping, and a variety of other locations. However, there is no late night or Sunday service due to funding limitations. The current service schedule prevents citizens from traveling to late night and rotating shift jobs and Sunday religious services. In addition, the service does not extend to all educational campuses in our region.
JONAH believes that expanding the current service is critical to empowering all Eau Claire residents and is asking supporters to both lobby state officials to enable regional transportation authorities and to provide more funding for improving bus and other transportation services. Establishing a Chippewa Valley Regional Transit Authority would be a great first step.
JONAH provided the following proclamations to kick off a grass-root action to improve bus service in this region.
Public Proclamation—The members and leaders of JONAH (Joining Our Neighbors, Advancing Hope) believe that:
• Transit is an essential service. It provides a critical service needed by many members of our community to be able to fully participate in our civic and economic life.
• In order for our Transit system to achieve its mission, it needs increased funding.
• Transit is necessary for our region to be able to thrive, and we need to have a Regional Transportation Authority, so that all communities in Eau Claire, Chippewa, and Dunn counties can be connected.
Public Official Proclamation—As a public official or candidate for office, I promise to:
• Work to increase the funding available for Transit so that it can fulfill its mission as an essential service.
• Be proactive in advancing the effort to enact enabling legislation so that Regional Transportation Authorities will be allowed in Wisconsin. Once that has happened, I will support efforts to create a Regional Transportation Authority for the Chippewa Valley.
The Public Official Proclamation was signed by the following individuals:
- Jeff Smith, Wisconsin State Senator
- Nicholas Butler, Candidate for Assembly District 93
- Christian Phelps, Candidate for Assembly District 93
- James on behalf of Katrina Shankland’s office, Candidate for Congressional District 3
- Eric Wilson, Candidate for Congressional District 3
- Jim Dunning, Eau Claire County Board Member
- Joe Knight, Eau Claire County Board Member
- Andrew Werthman, Eau Claire City Council
- Larry Mboga, Eau Claire City Council
- Aaron Brewster, Eau Claire City Council
- Clara Serrano, Eau Claire City Council
- And more! We are still getting additional signatures from those who couldn’t make it. There is a lot of support.
If you would like more information on how you can help improve bus service in Eau Claire, please contact JONAH Justice at [email protected] or 715-497-8732.