In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out is for the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign, an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water. Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you!
On today’s show:
Charlottesville Area Transit makes some route adjustments and some examples of the “partnership” in the Jefferson Area Regional Transit Partnership
An epidemiologist at the University of Virginiaexplains key differences between the current pandemic surge and the winter surge
The Free Enterprise Forum releases its annual report on local government spending trends
The number of new COVID cases in Virginia has exceeded 3,000 for each of the past four days, with 3,518 reported by the Virginia Department of Health. The percent positivity is 10, which means one out of every ten tests is coming back as a confirmed case. There have been 254 reported COVID deaths since July 27.
The VDH updated a dashboard today that tracks cases by vaccination status. Due to a variety of factors, this is a difficult one to update every day. Here are two conclusions listed on the site:
“Between January 17, 2021 and August 21, 2021, unvaccinated people developed COVID-19 at a rate 13.3 times higher than fully vaccinated people and 2.6 times higher than fully vaccinated people,” reads the section below “rates by vaccination status.”
“As of August 21, 2021, 4,767,990 Virginians have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” reads one under “vaccine breakthrough cases.” “ Of these people, 0.2 percent have developed COVID-19, 0.009 percent have been hospitalized, and 0.0017 percent have died.”
Dr. Costi Sifri is the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia. He told members of the press today that the term “breakthrough case” is a bit misleading in a time when the delta variant is so prevalent.
“Some of us are concerned by the word breakthrough suggesting that it is a vaccine failure and most of these infections that have occured are not failures,” Dr. Sifri said. “Most of these infections that occurred after vaccinations really are not failures. People have received the vaccine and the vaccine has done its job. It’s kept people out of the hospital. It’s kept them from serious consequences of COVID.”
The seven-day average for new cases now is where it was in early December as the winter surge hit. Let’s hear one interchange between UVA Health public information officer Eric Swensen and Dr. Sifri.
Eric Swensen:
“The number of new cases is now in the 3000’s which is roughly about where they were sort of shortly after Thanksgiving of last year. So the question is really, what’s different if anything between now and then and should we be concerned that case count has risen back to where it was?”
Dr. Costi Sifri:
“There is one huge difference and that is that we now have an effective vaccine and we did not have one in November that was being used and distributed. Our vaccination started December 15 and nationwide it started that week. So what we’re seeing right now is almost entirely preventable. That is the big difference and the frustration.”
Eric Swensen:
“Should people be avoiding crowds at this time until those third doses are more widely available for people. For some context, Liberty University is on a campus-wide quarantine through September 10. What are your thoughts on people being out and being out in crowds?” (LU page on their temporary mitigation period)
Dr. Costi Sifri:
“This gets into sort of the gray areas and challenges I think with COVID that are often individually based. Part of the calculation is whether you are vaccinated or not vaccinated. What is the nature of the event? Is the crowd 40 people out on a mountaintop or 500 people in an indoor arena? And what is your level of risk tolerance? The risk tolerance may not only be you but it may be the people that you live with. The kids that are home, loved ones, family members. I think that is a very specific answer. I think again if we’re vaccinated, that’s very effective. If you’re in a situation with crowds, wearing a mask is easy to do. You should be doing it if you’re indoors in the state right now where we have substantial or high levels of COVID transmission in nearly every county of the state.”
More on the pandemic as we move forward.
A regional pro-business group that takes a close look at local governments in the region has released its annual report on spending habits. The Free Enterprise Forum’s Choices and Decisions report is a Local Government Spending Index that compares municipal expenditures in Charlottesville as well the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson.
“The analysis seeks to develop and track over time an objective metric to capture the spending trend in each locality and determine if this trend can be correlated to other trends occurring within the locality,” reads the report.
One metric generated is per-capita operational spending, and Charlottesville ranks highest with a 2020 figure of $4,975.75 per resident. Albemarle is next at $3,398.44, followed by Nelson at $3,090.44, Louisa County at $3,026.44, Greene at $2,804.17, and Fluvanna at $2,559.43.
The index is modeled after the Consumer Price Index, a metric used by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics to measure the cost of goods and services over time. The Free Enterprise Forum uses data from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Auditor of Public Accounts. Review the whole report on their website. There’s also a spreadsheet with all of the data.
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If you’re interested in becoming directly involved in Charlottesville government, the city is looking for applicants to many boards and commissions, ranging from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Authority to the Youth Council. If you’re interested in transportation, there are vacancies on bodies like the Jaunt Board of Directors and the Citizen’s Transportation Advisory Committee. For housing, there’s the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority or the Community Development Block Grant Task Force. Either way, if you’re interested in experience, even applying for these positions is a good way to get involved. Visit charlottesville.gov to learn more. (release)
You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement.
In today’s second Substack-fueled shout-out, Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit the Code for Charlottesville website to learn more, including details on projects that are under way.
Before we get to a quick review of the Regional Transit Authority, two small pieces of Charlottesville Area Transit news. First, the free trolley-style bus that runs between downtown and the University of Virginia will return to traveling down McCormick Road through the heart of UVA Grounds. Second, additional service will be added to Route 9 during peak hours. That route currently travels between the University of Virginia Hospital, the Piedmont Family YMCA, Charlottesville High School, and downtown Charlottesville. CAT Director Garland Williams said the move is being made in the short-term to help with the start of the school year.
“Because we know there was going to be potentially some high schoolers that were going to use our service, we added additional service during the peak periods of time on Route 9,” Williams told the Regional Transit Partnership on Thursday.
According to the last seven years of ridership data, Route 9 is one of the least traveled of all of the current CAT routes whereas the trolley-style bus route has consistently had the highest ridership. The current Route 9 will change its configuration if Council agrees to the route alterations that have been under public review this year.
Under its new alignment, Route 9 will travel between downtown and Fashion Square Mall via the Piedmont Family YMCA in McIntire Park. Other routes will serve the UVA Hospital. Review all of the changes here.
One of the people who will take a final vote on the proposed transit changes is City Councilor Lloyd Snook. He became vice chair of the Jefferson Area Regional Transit Partnership on Thursday and explained why he was interested in serving on that advisory body.
“My main interest in transit has been that I am convinced that Charlottesville is needing a transition from being a suburban-thinking town to being a city-thinking city and transit is an important part of that,” Snook said. “It’s also an important part of an affordable housing strategy and a city planning strategy.”
Another member of the Regional Transit Authority is the interim executive director of Jaunt, Karen Davis.
“I’m pleased to let you know that ridership is coming right back and this is trending up and our services are back to full service in all areas,” Davis said. “Despite the driver shortage that we’re seeing.”
Davis said that includes the Crozet Connect service, which had been running on a limited schedule due to the pandemic.
Another of the partners is the University of Virginia Transit Service, who joined as a voting member of the advisory body. Davis said the two transit providers recently got together for discussions.
“They got picked up in a Jaunt bus, brought to our home base, and we had three hours of meeting where we were brainstorming, where we made connections, and from here we have committed to meeting regularly and setting some priorities,” Davis said.
One example of a current conflict that might be resolved is that Jaunt vehicles cannot directly pick up or drop off passengers who are headed to the Emily Couric Cancer Center.
One place Jaunt buses can go is the Center at Belvedere, where Davis recently met with Director Peter Thompson. The Center is a non-voting member of the Regional Transit Partnership will also be served by Charlottesville Area Transit’s Route 11 when the service changes are made.
Now back to that driver shortage. There are several area transit agencies and each of them need more people to work behind the wheel.
“I was just taking steps to put a recruitment bonus in place only to realize that both CAT and UTS have totally offered much bigger bonuses so I have to address that program line,” Davis said.
Davis said she is retaining her existing drivers, and only one that she knows of has gone to work for CAT. CAT is paying a $2,400 bonus for new drivers who work for at least nine months as well as existing drivers. New and existing UTS drivers will get a $2,500 bonus.
“It’s going to be a $1,000 payout right away for our standing staff and $1,000 for new staff, and then after two full semesters of driving, the rest of the bonus,” said Becca White is the director of UVA’s Parking and Transportation.
White said she has been tracking closely the number of faculty and staff who have opted to pay for spaces as the pandemic continues.
“As we know, transit and parking are tied together very closely so we’ve been watching that uptake of parking permits because that’s oftentimes an indication of how many people are back in the office and what potential riders we have for CAT or Jaunt or Afton Express,” White said. “On August 1, about 55 percent to 60 percent of the academic employees had purchased their permits as compared to pre-COVID. Just in the last three weeks that number has now increased to 85 percent.”
White said ridership on health employee shuttle routes have increased as the semester approaches. The academic routes that serve Central Grounds have increased to 10,000 passengers a day. Before COVID, that number was around 15,000.
“And all of that service is in the last mile,” White said. “Every bit of it.”
U-Heights is an apartment complex on Ivy Road in Albemarle County that is no longer served by University Transit Service. However, there is a large immigrant and refugee population. White has worked with management at U-Heights to provide mobility for residents who are no longer served by fixed-route transit.
The theme of collaboration continued. The Regional Transit Partnership is staffed by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. Garland Williams is the director of CAT.
“On the third of September, TDJPC staff will be over for a visit,” Williams said. “I want to kind of introduce them to my team and get them the lay of the land.”
That will include a look at capital projects that CAT will pursue.
A major purchase in recent years has been automatic passenger counters that will help provide more accurate ridership counts. Williams said these have been installed on all buses and the data is being validated.
But what about those route changes?
“We are in the final processes of getting the approvals,” Williams said. “The last piece that we have to do which we will hopefully be able to kick off next Friday is to get a consultant on board to finish up the required Title VI review from the changes based on the feedback we got from the community. Once that is done it has to go to Council and we’ll also share that information with Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.”
Title VI refers to the Civil Rights Act, which requires a public process before making changes on routes paid for with federal funds.
That means there is no set date for when the forthcoming changes will be made. That will require installation of new bus stops at places that currently do not have them, as well as removal of the stops that will be discontinued. A reason for the delay has been to address the driver shortage. CAT is down 22 drivers and pupil transportation for city school is down 20.
More from the Regional Transit Partnership in an upcoming newsletter.
Thank you for reading! Next up is the Week Ahead newsletter on Sunday, followed by another attempt to get one of these CCE newsletters done each weekday. Each week I get a little more efficient, which means I can bring you more information. And it’s all thanks to those of you who have contributed financially. I have taken my previous experience as a freelance journalist and created a one-person newsroom. Rather than give a set of links today, I just wish you a happy 239!
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