U District, Let’s Go is a year long pilot program that kicked off earlier this year and is set to end in December. Thanks to the continued partnerships with Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), the U District Partnership (UDP), and a new partnership with the University of Washington School of Social Work, we are excited to announce that elements of the program will continue in 2019!

“It is critical that programming continues,” said Miriam Castro, Program Manager with U District, Let’s Go.“The neighborhood has experienced rapid growth and will see even more with transportation investments coming online soon.”

This next iteration will be lead by Laura Lee Sturm, a graduate student with the UW School of Social Work. She chose to apply her time, talents, and energy to further transportation programming in the neighborhood through her internship. While she is only part time with 16 hours per week, the work that she will be doing will continue to make a big difference in the community.

Key elements of the program include continuing to coordinate ORCA LIFT, King County Metro’s reduced fare transit card, enrollment events, organizing events, crafting transportation-focused educational blog posts, and connecting with the neighborhood’s minority-owned businesses.

“I am so excited to have the opportunity to work closer with local minority-owned businesses and connecting them with more transportation resources,” Laura Lee said.  “Additionally, I cannot wait to connect and partner with local service providers to discuss what transportation resources are available for their clients and events we can coordinate to make those resources easily accessible for them. The UDP and SDOT have been so supportive, and I am glad to have the opportunity to share the work I will be doing on the UD Let’s Go blog that I am continuing.”

In the next couple of weeks, the program will focus on setting Laura Lee up for success.

“I’ve met with many different types of individuals and organizations from small business owners, service providers, and leadership at the U District Partnership,” said Castro. “Introducing her to the network that I’ve built is a key priority.” In the meantime, if you want to reach out and say hello, drop her a line at: udletsgo@udistrictpartnership.org

In addition to her work, the U District Partnership is also taking point on program elements such as incorporating the U District, Let’s Go website into UDP’s website, folding the Let’s Go’s newsletter into their communications, and most importantly, taking point on convening the program’s stakeholder group, a 60+ group of individuals that have helped guide the program from its inception. “The UDP views this work as vitally important to this neighborhood and we think that it should continue. There is incredible value in bringing people together to focus on opportunities and projects that have an impact on how people and goods get to and through the neighborhood,” said Chase Landrey, Community Engagement Coordinator with the UDP. “The work that UD, Let’s Go fits with our mission of fostering and sustaining a vibrant, diverse and healthy neighborhood.”

U District, Let’s Go has enrolled over 200 individuals into ORCA LIFT, interacted with over 4,500 people, and mapped out a way for how to do effective equity-focused transportation demand management in neighborhoods. “There are so many more successes that we’ve had over this past year and I am incredibly grateful to the neighborhood for welcoming and valuing the work,” said Castro. “We hope you will join us for our end of the year celebration featuring even more program highlights and what we envision for the future.” RSVP here.