Thread by @mirgray

The issue with transit commission is bigger than smells. The discussion is about equity - who matters. Only tall people? Only people with poor sense of smell? Those able to deal with commute times than vary by 30min from day-to-day? The rich? 1/

The commission's job is to balance the competing demands. They represent a review board when choices / directives need to be made. They consider and give feedback on staff and council plans / decisions. 2/

Deciding straps were not a core design component worth spending an extra million dollars on sent a message about the importance of safety for short people. (The commission supported spending money now to fix this issue.)
3/

Deciding #ParaTranspo booking system could slip out of update and project could silently become late sent a message about the importance of #paraParity. (Here the problem is no one on the commission uses that system daily.) 4/

Deciding cross town routes will be designed so it is impossible to hit even the first stop on schedule sends a message about how much the reliability of service is valued. (Here the commission is looking at current route scheduling process.)
5/

Deciding to approve shift schedules / workloads which mean employees can't have time for a pee sends a message about the importance of the health of employees. 6/

Deciding on frequency of bus service and route capacity speaks to the value placed on making transit usable for people who have other transportation options. (Is transit a 1st choice or a last option?) 7/

Setting the schedule of fare increases and categories for reduced fare costs speaks to our committment to keeping transit affordable. 8/

All of these decisions involve commissioners considering the impact of their choices on people from different income levels, with different abilities and varying concerns. Empathy and decision making are the core skills. 9/

50% of riders probably identify as women. (Likely more as women are more likely to take transit.) 10/

A commissioner willing to ignore an issue he thinks affects half of riders is not able to empathize sufficiently to perform the duties of commissioner. 11/

Women / folks with good sense of smell is a very broad group. We need commissioners who considers the needs and concerns of small groups. Commissioner Olsen has failed to meet that standard. end/