Artwork auction contributes to free bus rides throughout Henrico, region

Transit-focused artwork displayed at GRTC’s recent TAP Into Transit community fundraiser event is available to purchase through this week.

The two-dimensional artwork was produced by the All City Art Club for the recent public transit awareness and fundraising event at the Main Street Station

Bidding on the 20 paintings on old GRTC maps through the Auction Of The Arts closes Friday, July 24 and is meant to help the region's transit system continue offering fare-free rides.

The art auction is just one of the ways that GRTC is working to reach out to the community, to get people excited about transit and start conversations about contributing directly to keep fares free, according to GRTC Community and Corporate Relations Manager May Barboza.

GRTC has put the cost to continue fare free transportation at $6 million annually. The system, which provides 12 million rides to passengers yearly, is one of only a handful of fare free systems in the country.

“The big part of TAP Into Transit is not only the money,” Barboza said at the event last week. “For example, we've been doing micro fundraisers. Those micro fundraisers don't raise tons of money, not thousands of dollars. What they do is create recognition in the city that GRTC is starting to fundraise to support free transit. That is the goal.”

Barboza said she is looking to partner with other businesses and nonprofits to coordinate more micro fundraisers this coming year to spotlight and support GRTC out in the community.

At Main Street Station, the TAP Into Transit event featured artwork on paper as well as buses. Displays also previewed planned expansions north and west into Henrico.

Maddie Vickers, a Virginia Commonwealth University medical student and former Henrico County resident, studied a map of the Pulse North South expansion into the county she had recently left for an easier commute.

“If the North South Pulse had existed, I might not have had to move,” Vickers said. “It takes other people hours by bus to get where they need to go. This will definitely shorten that travel time downtown.”

For Henrico County GRTC bus riders, some new, more spacious attenuated accordion buses are already transporting travelers on the Pulse line. At the TAP Into Transit event another new attenuated bus was on display outside the Main Street Station along with a bus spray painted by artist Silly Genius.

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said GRTC is key to helping people access and connect.

RVA Rapid Transit Director Chad Sanders said the organization is advocating for more buses to more places as well as planning and policy to realize those goals.

“We want this region and this city to continue to be connected and fast moving, so folks can get where they want to go and need to go for free,” said Sanders. “We care a lot about dignified, safe places to wait. Many people would love to take the bus, but need infrastructure around it, the shelter, the crosswalks, we want to make sure it's accessible for everyone.”

“Even though we're able to do this, to provide service for free, there’s still a cost to us,” said GRTC CEO Sheryl Adams. “We want to make sure that the community is aware of that and that we continue to get more businesses and more organizations and support to help us maintain that. That's the goal.”

During the GRTC board meeting on Tuesday, the financial director’s report showed numerous areas of unfavorable and challenging financial situations, including a dearth of millions of federal, state and local funds, partly due to the timing of grants from these government entities.

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.