🔌 Good morning, RVA: Confederate monument survey, busses in Chesterfield, and electric transportation

Good morning, RVA! It’s 62 °F, and we’ve got another hot day ahead of us. Expect highs around 90 °F as we wait for cooler temperatures—and maybe even some rain—to show up tomorrow afternoon (fingers crossed!).
 

Water cooler

The old, deposed Confederate Monuments are now the responsibility of the Black History Museum and the Valentine. It’s a big responsibility, and, as they figure out what to do with these things, they want to get it right: “The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia (BHMVA) takes the responsibility of managing and having ultimate accountability for the disposition of the Confederate monuments very seriously. We are committed to ensuring the origin of these objects and their purpose are never forgotten: that is the glorification of those who led the fight to enslave African Americans and destroy the Union. We are likewise committed to the opportunities these monuments and our work related to them create: the opportunity to use the monuments as tools for education healing, and reconciliation as we deepen our understanding of an essential element of the American story: the expansion of freedom.” Part of that thoughtful process includes this quick survey that you should fill out. I felt surprising emotions when I saw the Valentine’s temporary Jefferson Davis display, so I’m pretty excited for whatever the Black History Museum ends up putting together. Collecting these massive things in a single, appropriate space with the right context should be pretty powerful.
 

The Chesterfield Observer reports that GRTC and Chesterfield County have agreed on a one-year expansion of bus service along Midlothian Turnpike. As soon as fall 2023, we could see 30-minute bus service along Midlo, continuing from its existing terminus at the city line, all the way out to Buford Road—including stops at Johnston-Willis Hospital and Chesterfield Towne Center. First, this is great news. Midlothian Turnpike is one of our region’s primary corridors and needs high-quality and frequent (more frequent than this!) bus service. Second, I’m nervous about setting up a one-year pilot. Folks don’t make life decisions based on bus service existing for a single year; you’re not going to take a job at the hospital if you’re not sure you’ll be able to get to work a year from now. But! Chesterfield had great success with the newish bus service down Route 1, so I’m hopeful they’ll be able to replicate that with this new service out Route 60.
 

The Virginia Mercury’s Nathaniel Cline reports on how Virginia will use $100 million in federal money earmarked to build public electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Electric vehicles are not the only solution for mitigating the impacts of climate change (see below (and above)), but they’re an important piece of the saving-our-burning-planet puzzle. Tap through for a map of potential charging station locations, which are all along the Commonwealth’s interstates. Of course we’ll need charging infrastructure in cities and towns all across Virginia, too, but building a nationwide network of fast chargers seems like a needed step.
 

Tomorrow evening, at 5:45 PM, meet at Scuffletown Park and join the folks at Breakaway RVA for a casual group bike ride exploring some of Richmond’s green alleys. I’m slowly working on turning my own back alley from a gravel wasteland into something interesting, and this seems like an excellent way to get inspired! Breakaway RVA is one of Richmond’s most chill, most educational, and most fun group rides for people of all ages and skill levels (this months ride is just 11.6 miles across mostly flat terrain). Since tomorrow you’ll (casually) shred a lot of alleys, I imagine you’ll ride on some gravel so probably don’t bring your skinny-tire, carbon-fiber technology bike. Wheels up at 6:00 PM!
 

Reminder: The Richmond Police Department’s next Community Conversation With Chief of Police Gerald Smith will take place tonight at MLK Middle (1000 Mosby Street) at 6:30 PM. Technically, this event is for residents in RPD’s 1st Precinct. WTVR’s Maggi Marshall has a recap of the previous meeting if you want to get a bit of a sense for how these conversations play out.
 

This morning’s longread

Why You Should Buy an E-bike Instead of an Electric Vehicle

Lots of stats in this piece about why e-bikes make more financial sense than e-cars for a lot of folks, but I think “it’s just more pleasant” is one of the better reasons out there. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, either! Could you replace just a third of your trips with an e-bike? Maybe!
 

Other benefits? You get free VIP parking everywhere you go. You’re never stuck in traffic. Commuting or erranding by bike means you get exercise while getting stuff done, creating more free time to spend with family, friends, or doing things you love. And cargo bike converts can all tell some variation of how riding has helped deepen their interactions and adventures with their family, how the kids never get bored and love taking “the big bike” instead of the car. That extra life satisfaction might be one of the biggest dividends of mode-switching, although it’s hard to measure. But it’s not the only quality-of-life metric. Riding instead of driving actively makes your city a more pleasant place to live, for everyone. That’s because electric vehicles sidestep only one small part of what makes personal car ownership such a stubborn problem for cities. They may run on electricity, but they’re still cars, and you don’t fix car problems with a different kind of car.
 

If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.
 

Picture of the Day

A view up the road.