Creativity Helps Rochester's Transit System Turn a Profit

Although its been more than a month since this article first appeard in the New York Tmes but my thoughts keep returning to it.

It describes an aggressive effort on the part of Rochester to make its bus system pay for itself. Like many transit systems around the United States, the collection of bus fares doesn't cover operational costs. What makes Rochester different, according to the article, is that they have found other ways to subsidize service.

"It has, for instance, reached agreements with the local public school district, colleges and private businesses to help subsidize its operations, warning in some cases that certain routes might be cut if ridership did not increase or a local business did not help cover the cost. In recent years, income from these agreements has equaled or exceeded the income from regular passenger fares.

All the while, ridership has increased by 7.4 percent over the last two years in an area where the population has remained stable. And while only about 1 out of 6 customers pays the single-ride fare (the majority use daily, weekly or monthly passes), the transit service expects further ridership gains now with the fare cut in place."

Manifest Hope, Or How Shepard Fairey Became Cool Again

Almost two months have passed since we first presented our work at Dialog:City, and there are oddly two reoccurring conversations that I keep having with random people. One of them, the predictable topic of discussion, deals with the incessant candidate bickering; the other, more unusual and pleasant, deals with the work of Shepard Fairey. I attribute this to a) the election, and b) the fact that a particular faculty whose class I am taking also taught Fairey when he was a student at RISD. I was amazed to see so much of his work in Denver, especially coming from Providence, where the novelty of finding hidden stickers wears of after a couple of years.  

During the Convention, the Andenken Gallery housed Manifest Hope Gallery, which showcased the efforts of artists nationwide that carried the identity created by the grassroots movement of the Obama campaign. There was really great work being displayed at a location removed from the convoluted downtown. For once, it was refreshing to walk among hipsters and 'scenesters' , as opposed to conventioneers and journalists. The art was contemporary, the theme was political and the mood was uplifting, which is probably why the majority of us made the long walk there, if only to check it out. That, or maybe Fairey's Obama-Hope posters they were giving out for free. 

I am not quite sure who the guy being interviewed is. I am almost certain that the guy depicted in the artwork is Obama, but I could be wrong. 

Go to Manifest Hope for more information.  

Cheers! 

FOOD: Farmer in Chief

In his Open Letter to the next President this past Sunday, Michael Pollan offers a cogent policy position for the next President to enact that would change the way food is grown, processed and delivered in this country. Pollan positions this shift in policy as a way of addressing three pressing national challenges: health care, rising fuel prices and global warming. As he notes in the article:

"...most of the problems our food system faces today are the because of its reliance on fossil fuels, and to the extent that our policies wring oil out of the system and replace it with the energy of the sun, those policies will simultaneously improve the state of our health, our environment, and our security."

Pollan, the author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, makes clear and broad reaching recomendations for how to "solarize" and "regionalize" the national food system. It is an important article, one that offers much to the debate that we should be having this election cycle.

Of the recommendations that he makes in the article, a number have are visually represented in food projects collected in the Partly Sunny exhibition. They include: 1. Four season farmer's markets, 2. Local abbattoirs, 3. Regionalizing food procurement, 4. Victory gardens, 5. Regional distribution systems, 6. Increasing urban and suburban farming.

Over the next weeks we will be posting more information about these projects as possible design solutions to the policy initiatives outlined in the letter.

Spinnaker Turbine - Bret Barker

Bret Barker’s Spinnaker Turbine uses a sail to catch and funnel wind through a small turbine to create electricity. Although small enough to pack into a haul bag for easy transport, the sail increases the velocity of the wind moving through the turbine.

The Spinnaker Turbine is one of the RISD student projects featured in Partly Sunny@St. George's.

Postcards travel by post

To my surprise, I received a postcard in the mail. How the senders got my new address is a mystery. Why it arrived two months after the first exhibit in Denver; I'm puzzled.

Has it really been two months?

Yes this is the postcard, but its odd to have just one, when, yes two months ago, I was on the streets of Denver handing hundreds, maybe even hundred and hundred, of these colorful cards. A couple of us would sit in the hot sun, sometimes behind protests and down the stair from our exhibit with these cards at one of the tables mentioned in the previous post. But it worked! The best part was that they don't stop here.

Inside the exhibit there was a wall full of these postcards with individual pledges toward reducing the effects of climate change. These included taking shorter showers to save water, carpooling to cut down on pollution and fixing windows to reduce a heating bill. All small and doable but significant steps when looking at it from a community point of view. The best part was that they don't stop here.

When I got the card in the mail it reminded me about my pledge to carpool to work. This was before I knew where I was going to live post-risd and how it was all going to work out with this 9-5 deal. And you know, I did not keep that pledge. Yes NOT. Gasp- but Emily you were apart of the exhibition, how could you? Hey crowd, you know, what I did do was chose to live close to work to reduce my driving and its adverse effects.

Its about flexibility and the ability to adapt to keep up with these positive intentions. Because as we know, the best part is that they don't stop here.

Aurora's Chair-Mark Nicholson

Mark Nicholson’s loveseat, entitled Aurora’s Chair is made entirely of recycled or recyclable materials: felt, steel for the interior structure, locally sourced walnut for the legs, plant-based finish and buckwheat hulls for stuffing. Local construction and small-scale production contribute to the sustainability of the work.

Aurora's Chair is one of the RISD student projects featured in Partly Sunny@St. George's.

Around the Table

It's been really exciting to see what we all have been working on for the past year finally doing what it was all meant to do:  Encourage people to think and talk about what they can do in their own lives, to promote action for a broader good.  For me the most exciting thing has been to see people coming together around the table- asking questions, reading books, filling out postcards, engaging in conversation.  The Green Constitutional Congress has been the apex of all this so far in Denver and it has been really inspiring and stimulating to see all of these people who have all created innovative solutions to problems within their areas of expertise sit down and have a conversation together at a table and in a context that we have been working to create for so long.

It is also exciting to begin to imagine where this could all lead in the future.  A series of lectures or events or dinners, bringing the conversation back to Providence, or other communities. Hosting the events at this table or perhaps creating new "tables" or venues for these ideas,  specifically related to the context they are in.

What ever comes next it is exciting to be able to see the extent of the possibilities that are out there.  This experience has been one that more than anything else has demonstrated to me what I am capable of as an individual and when working as a team.  It has encouraged and motivated me to think of myself and my actions in a global context and to imagine with no limitations.  And that has been what I have found most exhilarating about this process.