{"id":9707,"date":"2014-12-13T21:59:20","date_gmt":"2014-12-14T02:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/?p=9707"},"modified":"2020-10-19T23:37:22","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T03:37:22","slug":"help-the-effort-to-reconnect-rochester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/2014\/12\/help-the-effort-to-reconnect-rochester\/","title":{"rendered":"Help the Effort to Reconnect Rochester"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"ROC Transit Day, 2014. [PHOTO: John Derycke, Motorsports Photography]\" href=\"http:\/\/rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/reconnect-rochester-2014-01.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-reconnectRoc2014\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px 0px;\" src=\"http:\/\/rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/reconnect-rochester-2014-01.jpg\" alt=\"ROC Transit Day, 2014. [PHOTO: John Derycke, Motorsports Photography]\" width=\"100%\" border=\"1\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<small><i>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/2009\/01\/contributors\/#about-mike-governale\">Mike Governale<\/a><\/i><\/small><\/p>\n<p>It was nearly five years ago when I and a small group of RocSubway readers came together with a single goal; to strengthen our community by working to grow sustainable transportation options across our region. Together we formed Reconnect Rochester, Inc&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><a title=\"ROC Transit Day, 2014. [PHOTO: John Derycke, Motorsports Photography]\" href=\"http:\/\/rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/reconnect-rochester-2014-02.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-reconnectRoc2014\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px 0px;\" src=\"http:\/\/rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/reconnect-rochester-2014-02.jpg\" alt=\"ROC Transit Day, 2014. [PHOTO: John Derycke, Motorsports Photography]\" width=\"100%\" border=\"1\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nWith nothing but small donations from ordinary citizens (totaling less than $4,000 in 2013), we accomplished some pretty awesome stuff this year:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px -10px;\">We established three new dedicated task forces, including a Bus Improvement Committee, Rail Transit Committee, and a Pedestrian Safety Committee. Each team will work with the community to make measurable improvements in each of these areas. (to join one of these committees email <a href=\"mailto:info@ReconnectRochester.org\">info@ReconnectRochester.org<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px -10px;\">We sent Rochester transit advocates to Albany with folks from RTS to ask our legislators for dedicated and reliable funding for public transit in Rochester.<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px -10px;\">We pulled off another successful <a href=\"http:\/\/RocTransitDay.com\/\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ROC Transit Day <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"position: relative; top: 2px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" alt=\"external link\" width=\"15\" height=\"11\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a> with even more fun stuff to do including a giant swing dance, city-wide treasure hunt, and bus excursions \u2013 all aimed at helping people become familiar with using our public transit system, AND all completely free of charge to the public. Participation increased over 70% from the year before!<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px -10px;\">We hosted our first educational <a href=\"http:\/\/reconnectrochester.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/benjamin-ross-dead-end-suburban-sprawl-and-the-rebirth-of-american-urbanism\/\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lecture <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"position: relative; top: 2px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" alt=\"external link\" width=\"15\" height=\"11\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>, completely free of charge to the public.<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px -10px;\">We have developed a plan to bring much needed <a href=\"http:\/\/reconnectrochester.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/do-it-yourself-bus-stop-seat-cube\/\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seating <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"position: relative; top: 2px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" alt=\"external link\" width=\"15\" height=\"11\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a> to Rochester bus stops.<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px -10px;\">We won our first small grant from APTA to build an online resource for alternative forms of transportation in Rochester.<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px -10px;\">We are working with the City of Rochester on a plan to reuse and repurpose six large <a href=\"http:\/\/reconnectrochester.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/what-could-you-do-with-this-bus-shelter\/\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bus shelters <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"position: relative; top: 2px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" alt=\"external link\" width=\"15\" height=\"11\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a> on Main Street in our downtown.<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px -10px;\">We continue to track local transportation projects so that we can notify the public of opportunities to have input.<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px -10px;\">We continue to work &#8220;behind the scenes&#8221; to encourage our local city and town leaders to invest in active transportation planning, infrastructure, traffic-calming measures, and smart-growth policies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a title=\"ROC Transit Day, 2014. [PHOTO: John Derycke, Motorsports Photography]\" href=\"http:\/\/rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/reconnect-rochester-2014-03.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-reconnectRoc2014\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px 0px;\" src=\"http:\/\/rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/reconnect-rochester-2014-03.jpg\" alt=\"ROC Transit Day, 2014. [PHOTO: John Derycke, Motorsports Photography]\" width=\"100%\" border=\"1\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/ReconnectRochester.org\/\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reconnect Rochester <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"position: relative; top: 2px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" alt=\"external link\" width=\"15\" height=\"11\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a> is a small group of volunteers with no members, no angel investors, and no full-time staff. We spend our own time and our own money on these things because we know that if <i>we<\/i> don&#8217;t, no one else will. And so, small donations are critical for us to continue our work.<\/p>\n<p>This year we set a modest goal to raise $5,000 through our end-of-year campaign. But so far we are falling well short with just $2,500 so far. I DO think we can still hit our target. But with two weeks left before the end of the year, we&#8217;ll definitely need your help.<\/p>\n<h3>You Can Help<\/h3>\n<p>If you can, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution before December 31. <a href=\"http:\/\/reconnectrochester.org\/donate\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">You can make a one-time or recurring donation online here <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"position: relative; top: 2px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" alt=\"external link\" width=\"15\" height=\"11\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a> or send a check to:<\/p>\n<p><strong> Reconnect Rochester<\/strong><br \/>\nHungerford Complex<br \/>\n1115 East Main St., Box #61<br \/>\nRochester, NY 14609<\/p>\n<p>Believe me when I say, we will make every little bit <i>travel<\/i> as far as we can.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"ROC Transit Day, 2014. [PHOTO: John Derycke, Motorsports Photography]\" href=\"http:\/\/rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/reconnect-rochester-2014-04.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox-reconnectRoc2014\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 6px 0px;\" src=\"http:\/\/rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/reconnect-rochester-2014-04.jpg\" alt=\"ROC Transit Day, 2014. [PHOTO: John Derycke, Motorsports Photography]\" width=\"100%\" border=\"1\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i style=\"font-size: 9px;\">See more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/reconnectrochester\/sets\/\">Reconnect Rochester photos on Flickr<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Mike Governale It was nearly five years ago when I and a small group of RocSubway readers came together with a single goal; to strengthen our community by working to grow sustainable transportation options across our region. Together we formed Reconnect Rochester, Inc&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[335,999,104,718,53,151,209],"class_list":["post-9707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mass_transit_infrastructure","tag-mass-transportation","tag-public-transit","tag-public-transportation","tag-reconnect-rochester","tag-rochester","tag-rochester-ny","tag-transit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9707"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13467,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9707\/revisions\/13467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}