Minneapolis, MN – My name is Zaira Rodríguez, and I am a retail janitor at the Mall of America in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. I help keep our mall clean by vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, and washing the floors, which is especially important during the rainy and snowy seasons here. I am also a proud member of my union, SEIU Local 26. When many people think of the twin cities, they often think of the bustling downtown areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul. I live on the outskirts of the city in the suburbs, which means going to and coming home from work can be a bit of a challenge, especially since I don’t own a car or have a drivers license.
I have to get to work by 5 a.m. and when I use public transit to get there, it takes two buses and 1 hour and 20 minutes of ride time. But the buses start running at 4:35 a.m., so there’s no way for me to take the bus to get to work in the mornings. Most days, my partner drives me, but on the days he can’t, I have to call my boss and say I can’t get to work before 6 a.m., or I have to pay for an Uber. To get home, I’m able to take the bus, but it takes just as long to get home. By car, it only takes 20 minutes.
I run into similar problems when I have to pick up my check every two weeks. The bus doesn’t have a stop near the office where I need to go, so I have to walk 45 minutes. When it’s really cold or snowy, I usually take an Uber for about $25, which is almost two hours worth of work for me as someone who only gets paid $16 an hour. If I could afford to live closer to where I work, it would be easier, but many of us who work at Mall of America live in the suburbs. The lack of public transportation also limits my ability to find other work. My boss offered me the opportunity to transfer to a Target or Cabelas closer to where I live, but unfortunately, the buses don’t run there. So, while my partner could drop me off in the mornings, I’d have no way to get home in the early afternoon while he’s at work.
Without a car, it’s difficult to even do some of the basic parts of life. For example, getting to the grocery store by public transportation isn’t really an option. I have to either wait for my partner to come home and go late at night, or I don’t get to go at all because there aren’t any stops nearby.
That said, I feel safe on the bus and I like being able to use public transportation. My son takes the bus to school and we’re able to use public transportation to get to his extracurriculars or to the doctor, but if it were more accessible, I would use it a lot more often. If more investments were made into public transit, maybe we could afford more bus drivers to fill the gaps in the nighttime when they aren’t running. We also might be able to have more stops available near the places we need to go. Funding could also help pay for heating at the bus stops. Only the downtown stops have heat, and in the winter, it’s difficult to wait at my stops in the cold. Having more accessible public transportation would also help reduce air pollution from people depending on cars. It’s important because changes to the climate might mean harsher winters here and the snow already gets in the way of my daily life. Having more accessible and efficient public transportation would definitely make it easier for me and my community to get to work and make better use of our time and paychecks.