Brianna Datta-Barrow: I'm joined now by Brittany Lantz, managing editor for Input Fort Wayne. Brittany, thank you for being here.
Brittany Lantz: Thanks for having me.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So, could you tell us what Rethink Your Route is, and what people can expect when they attend the event at the YLNI Farmers Market on September 13?
Brittany Lantz: Yeah, Rethink Your Route is a kickoff event for a series we're doing that's called Moving Fort Wayne Forward, and this series is asking Fort Wayne residents to rethink or reimagine what the future of transportation in Fort Wayne could look like.
So, this event specifically, we're asking people to ditch their personal vehicle and join us in walking, biking or bussing, really, any other mode of transportation, to the YLNI farmer's market. Once people are at the market, they can meet us and share their transportation experiences, what they'd like to see the future of transportation look like, and they'll also have the opportunity to meet transportation advocates who are already working to pursue better transportation options here in Fort Wayne, and there's also an opportunity to score some free merch from those partners and from us. And like I said, this is part of our series, so the information we gather at this event will help inform how we report on transportation for the next year.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: This sounds like a really cool way to engage the community. So, you're inviting attendees to leave their cars behind, try to find their way to the event, whether it's walking, biking, taking the bus, or even skateboarding. What do you hope to achieve by challenging the Fort Wayne community to find alternative transportation?
Brittany Lantz: Yeah, we're really hoping to just ask people to rethink how they use the transportation options that are already here. We know that people in Fort Wayne are really likely just to get in their car to get from point A to point B. I also do this as somebody who is thinking critically about transportation right now, and so we want to invite people to take a moment to rethink how they might use the options that are already in place now.
We know that some people may not have any options but their car, or the options to get to the market might be really challenging. So, if you decide to show up to the market using your car, there's no problem there. We still want to hear about your experience.
So, if you hear about this event, and you try to plan out a route, by foot, by bike, by bus, by skateboard, and you decide that it's not accessible to you, we still want you to show up to the market and share that experience with us.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Got it. So could you tell us what motivated you and the Input Fort Wayne team to create the Moving Fort Wayne Forward series?
Brittany Lantz: Yeah, as a resident of Fort Wayne myself, when I think about what we're covering, there are so many things right in Fort Wayne that we could be covering as news organizations, and specifically as an organization that tries to focus on solutions journalism, when we were trying to figure out what we would like to devote a year's worth of reporting to... transit was really at the front of my mind, just because it is something that no matter how many times you cover it, there's so much more to cover.
So I've written transit stories in the past myself, and I feel like every topic could have five more stories on it. And so we really feel like there is a lot to learn here and a lot to explore. And it's also something that has a lot of opportunity in terms of solutions journalism. So it's something that other places are paying attention to, which is important in solutions journalism. So there's a lot of solutions to look at, and a lot of things that could work here in Fort Wayne.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So a big part of the Moving Fort Wayne forward series will be investigating solutions from other peer communities. Do you have any examples of initiatives that you found in other cities to be successful?
Brittany Lantz: Yeah, so we have done a lot of planning for this series, so now we're getting ready to do the reporting. A few of the solutions we're looking at address funding issues, like we've seen with City Link and how other organizations have solved fiscal cliffs as well.
Our first story actually looks at Cleveland, who just announced a comprehensive plan to address pedestrian safety and walkability in their city, and that's a five year plan that government and other organizations work together to create. It's a really public facing plan. They started with a small traffic calming measure to kind of get the public on board, and now they have a lot of support for this plan.
And the plan really succinctly looks at like, what can we achieve in the next five years that makes the city safer for pedestrians and cyclists? And so we're kind of asking, what would that look like if the city of Fort Wayne were to do something similar?
Brianna Datta-Barrow: That sounds really cool. And how will the Rethink Your Route event shape the stories that you tell in the Moving Fort Wayne forward series, what kind of voices do you hope to center on this conversation?
Brittany Lantz: Yeah, that's a great question. The information we gather at this event will be used in two ways. First, we have a survey for anyone who's attending the market to take it will kind of help us gauge how residents, or at least individuals at the market think about transportation in Fort Wayne and the current options, and it'll also help us understand what people would like to see happen in Fort Wayne in terms of transportation options in the future.
The other way we'll use the information we gather at the market is one on one time with residents. So myself and project editor Josh Schipper will be at the market having conversations with anyone who wants to talk with us about their transportation experiences.
So if you're someone who maybe has a unique perspective about using the bus or walking around town, we want to hear from those people. It could potentially be a narrative point in one of our stories in the future. But we also think it's really important to gauge how people are feeling about this topic before we speak with experts about the solutions that could work here.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: That makes sense. What are some things that work already about the Fort Wayne transportation system?
Brittany Lantz: Yeah, I think the folks over at CitiLink are doing amazing work with what they have. I interviewed them for a story earlier this year, and I've been attending some of their community meetings that they've held recently, and they're really trying to be innovative, despite the fact that their budget is really limited and they're kind of focusing on two fronts at once, trying to adjust that budget while also meeting what they know to be the needs of their riders and potential riders. So, I would give kudos to them for what they're working on.
And I think there are a lot of plans in action right now that are slowly chipping away at some of the issues. I know the city is implementing record investments in neighborhoods to kind of develop that infrastructure. When we think about the Connected Neighborhoods Initiative that Mayor Tucker announced earlier this year, both of those projects are going to address in some ways, transportation within neighborhoods, whether that's sidewalks, bike lanes, things of that nature.
So, there are already some programs that are working to chip away at what we know to be issues of transportation here. Those are, those are a few of the things I think off the top of my head.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Yeah. So, you already mentioned CitiLink, but you have a range of community partners that will be at Rethink Your Route, including CitiLink, including Three Rivers Active Streets. Could you talk about the importance of these organizations who are already working to improve Fort Wayne transportation system?
Brittany Lantz: Yeah, so if you're attending Rethink Your Route, we'll have representatives from the Active Transportation Coalition, Three Rivers Active Streets, CitiLink and the Community Transportation Network. All of these folks are working to address transportation in some way in our community already, and so we thought it was really important to have them there.
So if you're attending and you have questions about how to safely bike in Fort Wayne right now, or how to use the bus, there will be people there who can answer those questions for you. We thought it was important to engage them because they're already doing the work.
I often say, as journalists, it's not necessarily our jobs to be the expert on the subject matter ourselves, but we should rely on the people who are experts, and so that's why we're bringing them in. We certainly don't have all the answers as a publication, but we want to share the information that these folks have at these organizations and help connect them to people who care about transit and want to see a more robust transportation system here in Fort Wayne.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Well, we appreciate you guys digging into the issue. Like you said, you know, you can't cover everything as one single publication, but we appreciate you investigating some solutions for the community. So, what would you say to someone who's never biked, never taken the bus in Fort Wayne, and they may be nervous about trying to do that for the first time?
Brittany Lantz: As someone who grew up reliant on a car, I grew up just outside of Fort Wayne in a small town where cars were really the only transportation option, I think it is refreshing to see that Fort Wayne does currently have the options that it has, and so as someone who had to learn how to navigate those systems growing up in a place where they weren't available, I recognize that it can be kind of scary or intimidating to kind of step outside of your comfort zone, but I think that it is really refreshing to try.
So, I would say, give it a shot. There are a lot of resources online that can help you figure out where you can bike, where you can walk, how to take the bus.
I would say, if you're really nervous about it, do some research. But it also helps just to get out there, go for a walk around your neighborhood and see where there are sidewalks, aren't sidewalks. Maybe explore the bike lanes near your house, see what you can get to and just go out and give it a shot.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: What would you want people to understand about how this could benefit them, even if they already have a car? I know that's said a lot, “Fort Wayne is a car city”, you know, but, but what would you want the community to know about how this could improve the city for everybody?
Brittany Lantz: Transportation impacts everyone, and so I think when we talk about transportation, a lot of times, people think I have a car, so I guess maybe I could take the bus if I wanted to. But, I think what gets missed is that walking, biking and taking the bus are all a means of survival for a lot of people, and so making sure that they're accessible, well taken care of, well funded, it really benefits everyone as a whole, both for the economic impact and for the livability aspect, right? And makes Fort Wayne a more comfortable place to call home. For everyone.
For some people, it's a means of survival to be able to take the bus to work or to be able to walk or bike to those places that could be securing transportation to and from work. But it's also transportation to and from healthcare importance.
We learned last year from the regional transportation study that 26% of northeast Indiana residents avoid scheduling routine health care just because they're worried about having transportation to and from those appointments. And so, it's really important for the health of our communities, the economic stability of our communities to be able to have access to these things.
And on top of that, what we often find in our reporting is that when something makes a city better for a small portion of the population, it really, truly does make it a better place for everyone living there.
So having a more robust transportation system, having something that's accessible and safer, you know, could really, really benefit smaller subsections of the population, but overall, it makes it a better place for everyone.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Well, we appreciate you guys covering that. I think it's great that you're doing that. I think it's important for everybody to have access to transportation, no matter their income level. So thank you guys for the work you're doing. Where could listeners learn more about the event and follow the Moving Fort Wayne Forward series?
Brittany Lantz: Yeah, anyone interested in learning more can visit our website, which is Input Fort Wayne dot com. We're also on Facebook and Instagram, at Input Fort Wayne. We have an event page on Facebook that individuals can find through our website or just by searching it on Facebook.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Thank you so much for speaking with me today, Brittany.
Brittany Lantz: Thanks for having me.
