We All Need Accessible, Clean Transportation
Transportation is a central part of everyday life, connecting us to essential services, economic opportunity, recreation, and each other. The quality of transportation infrastructure significantly impacts the quality of our lives: our ability to care for ourselves, provide for our families, and achieve our goals. It also impacts our climate.
Emissions from vehicles are the leading source of carbon emissions, both in our community and in Virginia as a whole. In order to prevent the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, we must reduce emissions from our cars. The best way for cities to do their part is by providing robust, efficient, and equitable transit systems.
Building a strong transit system is not easy, but it’s also not a mystery.
ACT on Climate!
This week, C3 and the IMPACT Interfaith Coalition are launching the ACT on Climate! campaign to move Charlottesville toward carbon neutrality and improved accessibility. We urge the City of Charlottesville to address our community’s transportation, climate, equity, and health goals simultaneously and with long-standing solutions that will move our city toward a cleaner and more just future.
ACT on Climate! includes five main recommendations:
Double Transit Ridership by 2024 (with respect to 2019)
Increase Accessibility and Safety At and Around Bus Stops
Provide Community Voices a Meaningful Role in Transit Planning
Reduce Air and Climate Pollution from our Transit System
Ensure a Just-Transition to a Low-Carbon Transportation System
C3 thanks the following groups for collaborating on this effort by partnering, endorsing and/or providing feedback to our recommendations: Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), Charlottesville’s 350.org, Charlottesville DSA, Charlottesville Habitat for Humanity, Cultivate Charlottesville, Food Justice Network, IMPACT, Move2Health Equity, Piedmont Housing Alliance, Piedmont Environmental Council, Sin Barreras, Sierra Club - Piedmont Chapter, The Center, Virginia Clean Cities, Virginia Conservation Network.
Our goal is to reach 500 signatures before we deliver our letter to the City Council. We need your support to get there. Sign our letter today!
Join the Campaign
The ACT on Climate! Campaign is led by C3’s Director of Climate Policy, Caetano de Campos Lopes, with Latricia Giles, C3’s Residential Climate and Equity Program Manager, spearheading community outreach. Thanks to the support of a Sentara Martha Jefferson Grant, C3 will be hosting a series of events and workshops with members of Move2Health Equity and IMPACT to seek community input on transit solutions and provide you with ways to get involved throughout 2022. Sign-up to volunteer with C3 and the ACT on Climate! Campaign.