Congratulations are in order for the Waukesha County Transportation Coalition, which received the Sierra Club’s 2017 Special Achievement Award. This award “honors Sierra Club members for a single act of particular importance dedicated to the Club.” This award was presented in Washington D.C. on September 15.
The Coalition, formed in early 2016, was a response to a Sierra Club state-wide “equitable transportation” initiative to encourage public transportation as an alternative to road-building, to better serve people who are unable to drive, and to reduce the pressure on our environment from super highways and suburban sprawl. It has been meeting monthly and is working diligently to reach out to users and supporters of public and subsidized transportation to encourage state elected representatives to commit more resources to public transportation rather than highway building.
“The Waukesha County Transportation Coalition was chosen by their action to bring together activists from a wide variety of groups to push for local transportation solutions,” the Sierra Club annotated in their press release, alongside awards for the San Diego Sierra Club and Doug Harnsberger of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
The Coalition organized two transportation “town halls” in the City of Waukesha, which was attended by public officials, public transportation riders and providers, and businesses benefiting from public transportation, to learn about the needs and capabilities for public transportation in Waukesha County. They participated in the Sierra Club and other organizations’ “Arrive Together” transportation summit in Milwaukee in December 2016, where they received the Sierra Club’s “2016 New Activist Award,” and participated in WISDOM’s Madison Action Day in March 2017, where they met with state legislators to appeal for more support for public transportation. The coalition continues to press for action from local as well as state officials to support the transportation needs of an aging population, and protect the environment from the harm from more roads and pollution.
The Waukesha County Transportation Coalition consists of members of the Sierra Club John Muir Chapter, Lake Country Unitarian Church (Delafield) Green Sanctuary group, SOPHIA (affiliated with WISDOM) Transit Task Force, Lake Country Cares Cab, Common Ground, Green Muslims, Wisconsin Council on Physical Disabilities, Unitarian Universalist Church West (Brookfield), WISPRG, 1000 Friends, and other faith-based and environmental organizations from southeast Wisconsin.
Congratulations to this coalition for their outstanding contribution to protecting people and the planet!