NWA GO

Recently I posted we have two main goals. One is a short term goal of dedicated funding for Ozark Regional Transit Authority. It is political season and soon we will need to step up our game to campaign for a small sales tax raise. One quarter percent is not much but it means everything to what we want to accomplish. 

With dedicated local funding ORTA will expand bus service. Without that bus service we don’t get anything else we want. No battery electric vehicles. No light rail. No Rapid Bus service. With dedicated local funding ORTA gets access to Federal funding they wouldn’t have otherwise. We are talking a lot of money here. It means that grant money can pay for special projects like recharge stations along bus routes and at the main bus yard. Or BEBs built to look like trolley cars. Or nicer bigger transit loading platforms and stations; which aren’t just ascetic but functional for faster boarding/alighting, and easier access for mobility impaired folks. Dedicated funding is everything and we want these measures to pass in all 4 Cities. They must pass in all 4 Cities because everything is at stake. 

The second and medium to long term goal is passenger rail in NWA. That’s all versions from commuter rail to light rail to integration into the national passenger rail network to High Speed Rail from NWA to Little Rock and beyond. 

To reach these goals we need to start finding volunteers to work farmer’s markets, and other public events to raise awareness. So we need some juice and by that I mean money to buy materials that tell our story. The plan now is to sell merch with our logo on it with the aim to raise working captial for ORBTS and awareness of our goals with the general public. 

I’m grateful to Quinn Montana for creating a logo for us and we will continue to use it. But if we want to put our mark on tees, coffee mugs, and the like it needs to be a simpler design. Sheena Woods came up with several logos that work better on a hat or a hoodie. 

This is a poll to see which two our members want to see on a product you wear in public. One design we will put forward while we work on dedicated funding. (one of the bus designs?) Another while we work on our broader long term goals around rail. 

Choose wisely, get ready to expand your wardrobe, and get ready for some action. This is going to be fun.  

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Once a design (s) is/are chosen I will move forward to contact vendors to provide our products. I’m going to look at Tee Spring, Bonfire, and some other national brands. Do you have any recommendations with local shops? I would rather work with a local vendor. 

Thanks for your time in taking the poll.