Carter Lavin

If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight

Each and every one of us can make the world a better place.
islandpress.org/books/if-you...

Imagine having robust transit options where geopolitics don’t affect the cost of your commute.

Mid-day @bart.gov train from 19th St to SF. Chatting a bit with fellow riders.

An elderly couple in from Connecticut visiting their child at Cal

A person in from Kentucky

Some friends talking about their career paths and a dozen others going about their day.

BART is a treasure worth protecting

No idea how all that works.

I recommend getting it from wherever you most like getting books.

You can order from @islandpress.bsky.social 's website and get 20% off with discount code FIGHT

If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight

And building the political power you need to win those improvements for your community can be pretty straightforward too--
Here's a book that'll help you in the process!
islandpress.org/books/if-you...

It's also pretty easy (logistically) to significantly scale up a community's transit, walk-ability, and bike-ability.

Every improvement that makes your community more comfortable and convenient to get around outside of a car helps more people use less oil

Tell California Senators Padilla & Schiff to fund transit through the Moving Transit Forward Act Transit in California has never gotten the support it deserves from the Federal Government even though Californians send more in taxes to the Federal Government than we get back. This lack of Federal ...

Would be nice if the federal government helped fund transit though, so call your senators & congressional rep to demand transit operations funding!

Or write a letter here actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

Bay Area transit agencies face massive budget shortfalls now and the funds from the Connect Bay Area regional measure (if it passes) won't start coming through til next year.

So the loan is needed to stop cuts til the regional measure money starts flowing.

They are unrelated.

The federal government pretty much does not fund transit operations (they do give some crumbs to transit capital projects).

So there is no delay in transit operations funding from the feds since they don't really fund it in the first place.

The loan is needed cuz...

Huzzah!

The book mentioned in the post, on a Library New Additions shelf.

Hitting up the Anacortes Publoc Library and look.what they have on the shelf! "If You Want To Win, You've Got to Fight" by @carterlavin.bsky.social

Thanks for having me!

a man in a sweater and tie is holding a yellow folder with an airplane pin on it ALT: a man in a sweater and tie is holding a yellow folder with an airplane pin on it

We hosted a community conversation with @carterlavin.bsky.social discussing his book If You Want to Win You've to Fight: A Guide to Effective Transportation Advocacy. It's now on our YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAx-...

Warning: This video will make you do this a lot:

Morally- yes
Strategically -- also yes.

When asking someone to do something hard, you'll have more success if you take steps to make it easier/less punishing for them to say yes.

Knowing the cost of your ask helps you understand what you need to do to make your ask easier to say yes to

Just another case study ahead of this event tomorrow evening in Oakland.

bsky.app/profile/seam...

Good to know, thanks!

How many people per train? Also, how easy/hard is it to add sections to the train & expand capacity that way?

If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight

Sometimes activism is stuff like writing a book to help train your fellow activists

However more commonly activism is stuff like getting 120' of PVC pipe, dozens of connectors and lots and lots of poster board to prep for a big night of crafting

islandpress.org/books/if-you...

File this under "I can't believe that worked"

I used to keep my to-do list on a tiny note pad and I'd fill each page with tiny written to-dos.

Switched to using a much larger note pad, writing larger and having more space b/w items

Same number of to-dos, but it feels a lot less stressful

If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight: A Guide to Eff… Your transit and street safety dreams are within your r…

Aww, a new (and positive) review of my book just came through. Check it out! www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...

And if you've read it (and liked it) please consider taking a minute or two to write a review to help others find it

Climate coverage is shrinking. We're expanding it. Announcing a new weekly video podcast!

the epidemic of men launching podcasts about nothing has gotten out of control

to combat this I am launching a podcast WITH A WOMAN (veteran climate journalist Tracy Wholf) to talk about stuff that actually matters (the planet being destroyed by the worst people alive)

Find subscribe links here:

MAKE AN EMERGENCY DONATION to Trans Continental Pipeline right now.

They are a Colorado based org that helps trans people relocate there and they are overwhelmed with requests. CO borders KS, and TCP has the infrastructure to help get people out.

GO DONATE.

tcpipeline.org

Seems like the sort of smart, big cost savings pro-transit policy that @votealexlee.bsky.social would be interested in championing!

Who sets that policy?

Victory!

Want to help save transit but would rather not talk to strangers? Consider making poster holders out of PVC for us to give to the volunteers who are talking to strangers!

instructions are here drive.google.com/file/d/1YgSt...

and DM me to coordinate a hand-off

ICYMI, great conversation on fighting for change on the ground, to get us all moving. With @carterlavin.bsky.social

Book: If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight Podcast Episode · Redeye · February 16 · 19m

@carterlavin.bsky.social, transportation activist and author of If You Want to Win, You've Got to Fight, talks to @redeyeradio.bsky.social, sharing strategies for creating the change we want to see in our communities:

Thanks! This part is fun and the interviewing advocates across the country to get their wisdom into the book was fun.

Editing the book to make political organizing as easy to understand as possible was....a memorable experience