<div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px">Hi Maintainers,</span></font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px"><br></span></font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px">I'm Tabitha Decker, one of the M3 <a href="http://bit.ly/2Wl9BDl">transportation track planners</a>. I'm also the Deputy Executive Director at <a href="http://www.transitcenter.org">TransitCenter</a> where we're focused </span></font><span style="font-size:12.8px;font-family:sans-serif">on improving the often insufficient, ill-maintained, and inequitable public transit in US cities. We do direct advocacy, like our <a href="http://www.busturnaround.nyc">Bus Turnaround Campaign</a> in NYC, fund and advise advocacy groups around the country, and provide strategic and technical support to reform-minded staff and leaders at transit agencies and departments of transportation. </span></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px"><br></span></font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px">2019 has been a good year for one of my favorite urban innovations, the bus. Mayors in a couple of major cities have made impressive commitments to speed up bus trips and make them more reliable. In NYC, <a href="https://ny.curbed.com/2019/1/11/18178551/nyc-bus-mta-bill-de-blasio-state-of-the-city">Mayor de Blasio pledged to improve bus speeds by 25% by the end of 2020</a> by growing the dedicated bus lane network & ensuring bus lanes are enforced. </span></font><span style="font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.8px">In Chicago, incoming mayor <a href="https://chi.streetsblog.org/2019/04/03/lightfoot-made-big-plans-for-transportation-lets-make-sure-she-follows-through/">Lori Lightfoot has committed to creating 50 new miles of bus lanes</a>. </span><span style="font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.8px">How's your mayor on transit? Hopefully not fixated on <a href="https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/06/for-1-billion-elon-musks-tunnel-to-ohare-would-be-a-miracle/562841/">low-capacity modes</a></span><span style="font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.8px"> or convinced <a href="http://transitcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/RobotCars.pdf">robot cars are the answer</a> (regardless of what the question may be). </span></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px"><br></span></font></div><div dir="auto">I'm hoping to see M3 submissions that center the perspectives of users and practitioners (e.g. bus and train operators, planners who design and maintain transit networks and/or streets, etc)<font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px">, examine the consequences of uneven and inaccessible transportation systems, and/or that feature methods for</span></font> measuring transportation equity. It'd also be great to connect with academics whose work can inform policies to make cities fairer.</div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px"><br></span></font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px">Looking forward to meeting many of you in DC!</span></font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px"><br></span></font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px">Tabitha</span></font></div><div><font face="sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.8px">Twitter: @metrophile <br></span></font></div></div>
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