The next forum is Friday June 5th...

TOWN HALL: Visioning the Puget Sound Region's Transportation Future - New Opportunities and Investments

Last month we heard from our expert panel on some of the challenges facing the region on the transportation front. An aging infrastructure, the challenge of climate change, and declining revenues for transit agencies all seem daunting but there are opportunities and investments that could help address some of these challenges.  On the transit front, Sound Transit's first phase of light rail will open in July and Community Transit's new Swift bus rapid transit service will begin this fall.  In addition, the Washington State Department of Transportation is moving forward on a tolling plan to finance the replacement of aging 520 bridge while the City of Tacoma is embarking on an ambitious update of their Mixed Use Centers plan to encourage walkable, bike-friendly development connected by transit.  Hear all about these opportunities at our June Town Hall.  As always, feel free to bring your lunch.

This town hall is part of a "Visioning Puget Sound Region's Transportation Future" series. Part III will include a discussion with key federal, state and local decision makers that can help make our region's transportation future a reality.

Join us for a special interactive discussion with our panelists:

David Dye, Deputy Secretary, Washington State Department of Transportation
Charlie Howard, Transportation Planning Director, Puget Sound Regional Council
Ric Ilgenfritz, Executive Director for the Office of Policy, Planning and Public Affairs, Sound Transit
June DeVoll, Program Manager, Swift BRT, Community Transit
Peter Huffman, Planning Manager, City of Tacoma

WHEN:Friday, June 5th, 12:00 - 1:30 PM
WHERE: Bertha Landes Knight Room, Seattle City Hall (on 5th Ave.between Cherry and James St.)

As always feel free to bring your lunch and join us for a great discussion.

The series is brought to you by:
Transportation Choices Coalition, Futurewise, WashPIRG, Sierra Club Cascade Chapter, Bicycle Alliance of Washington, Cascade Bicycle Club, Feetfirst Seattle Transit Blog, Commute Seattle and Zipcar

The Friday Forum series is sponsored by:

Platinum level: Vulcan Inc.

Gold level: CH2M Hill | The Boeing Company | HDR Inc.

Silver level: Jacobs and Associates | Bricklin Newman Dold | HNTB Corporation | IBI Group |Wilbur Smith Associates | Parsons Brinckerhoff

What are Friday Forums?...
Transportation Choices offers free discussion and Q&A sessions on a variety of transportation topics, for members and supporters. Led by Transportation Choices staff members and issue experts from the field, they're a great way to learn about transportation and Transportation Choices Coalition, and are usually attended by 20-100 people! See below for a list of past topics.

Not a member? Help us cover the costs of organizing these forums, and increase our ability to fight for more and better transportation choices in Washington, too!

Past forum subjects include... (from most recent)
* Visioning the Puget Sound Region's Transportation Future - Challenges Facing Our Infrastructure

*Get On Board: The Future of High Speed Rail in the Pacific Northwest

* Federal Stumulus Package - What's in it for the Puget Sound Region?

* A Solution for the Alaskan Way Viaduct?

* Transit Oriented Development in the Bel-Red Corridor - Leading the Way

* 2009 Legislative Preview

* 520 Bridge Replacement: Can We Bridge the Differences?

* Sound Transit Ballot Measure: Just the Facts Ma'am

* The Alaskan Way Viaduct: An Update

* The Big T and the Bad T - An Update on Tolling and Tim Eyman's Latest Initiative

*Seattle, Give Your Car the Summer Off

*Sound Transit Phase 2 with Ric Ilgenfritz

*Seattle Streetcar Network: A Peek into the Future

*2008 Legislative Session Wrap-Up