Buffalo, NY: Coalition for Economic Justice
I grew up in Niagara Falls, and I have lived in Buffalo for a while now. I am a substitute teacher and work in a school in North Buffalo. I grew up taking buses and took good transit in Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, and cities in other countries where transit was much more convenient. Transit just makes sense to me. It is more affordable and ecological, and I hate having to depend on a car.
Thankfully, I can walk or bike to work in good weather if I have to. When I take the bus, even if they tell you about cancellations, I can’t count on getting to my destination on time or making proper connections. Often, I must wait for long periods in very cold weather and then have to climb over snow drifts left by plow trucks in order to get on to the bus.
The #23 bus goes up Hertel, and I use it to connect to all the other buses. It should run every 20 minutes. But, because of the driver shortage, it doesn’t.
My whole life is dependent on buses and connectivity to transit. When I shop, have an appointment, or go to meetings because I’m active in several organizations, I rely on the buses.
I carry a lot of stuff especially when I am going grocery shopping or bringing materials back and forth to school for work. I usually take a roller suitcase so I can manage my trips as best as I can. However, when I’m dealing with multiple bags of groceries, it’s difficult to transfer and get on and off of more than one bus.
I not only take the bus to get back and forth to work and run errands, but I also rely on it to keep up my connection with others. On weekends, I like to go out with my friends. I take the #23 and connect to the #20 which goes to Elmwood. The issue is that the evening and weekend bus service is very limited. This makes it difficult to keep in touch with friends which is an important part of life.
Buffalo’s train systems also need to work better. Even customer service representatives will say the train isn’t reliable. I left early one day to take the train based on their planned schedule. I should have been able to arrive early based on their published schedule, but I still got to my destination late.
Closer stops would also be nice. But, bottom-line, we really need more frequent service on evenings and more bus service on weekends. We need consistent, reliable bus and train service without cancellations every day. It’d also be great to have customer service be open and available to transit riders after business hours and on weekends to deal with any issues that arise.
I really hope that federal, state, and local elected officials join together and look at ways to increase funding for our area’s transit system. Transit is essential for me and all our families.