Transit Stories: Paul Ryan Villanueva
Seattle, Washington I was born in the Philippines. I grew up in Egypt and then moved to Pennsylvania, then NYC, and finally, I moved to Auburn, Washington, when I was 16 to finish high school. Auburn is 30 minutes south of Seattle. When I moved to Auburn, I lived with my aunt and cousins. They […]
Transit Stories: Taylor Jaffee
Catskill Mountainkeeper – Livingston Manor, NY I grew up in Livingston Manor, NY on Snowdance Farm. Livingston Manor is in a rural part of the Catskills in Sullivan County, so when my parents moved our family upstate from New York City after the 9/11 attacks, they assumed that most people in the region were farming […]
Transit Stories: Flordelis Medina
Helena, Montana I was born and raised in Manila, Philippines on May 1, 1938. I was always interested in healing people, and decided to pursue, and eventually graduated, with a medical degree from Santo Tomas, a Catholic University in Manila. After medical school, I married my husband who was a music teacher. In 1967, we […]
Transit Stories: Barbara Manson
Bike Durhman – Durham, North Carolina I want to tell you about my brother Bradlee. We grew up together in Dallas, Texas, where he was the oldest of my five siblings. He attended trade school, worked for the State of Texas for many years before retiring recently. He was once given an award by the […]
Transit Stories: Abby Griffith
Portland, Oregon: OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon I was born in Ethiopia. I moved to the US in 2008 when I was 14 years old. I am blind and was adopted by a family that lives in Richfield, Washington, a very rural area. In Richfield, where I grew up, there is no way to get around […]
Transit Stories: Karen Mack
Los Angeles, CA: Move LA I am a native Los Angelino and grew up in Compton. I was a lifeguard when I was in my teens in Watts. Spending time in the Watts neighborhood really had an impact on me in terms of my social justice learning and has guided my journey into community work. […]
Transit Stories: Jenelle Harriff
Rochester, NY: Reconnect Rochester I grew up in Webster, just outside Rochester, and started riding the bus when I was sixteen. My first job was as an intern at the Board of Elections, and I later attended Monroe Community College (MCC) downtown and in Henrietta. I lived in the Neighborhood of the Arts, so I […]
Transit Stories: Niya Banks
Washington, D.C. – Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 689 I was born at DC General Hospital in 1983. My mom worked for the federal government for forty-two years, and my dad was a teacher at John Tyler Elementary School. I grew up around my cousins, and there was always someone around to watch over me. We […]
Transit Stories: Crystal Harden-Lindsey
Baltimore, MD: Central Maryland Transportation Alliance I’m a Baltimore native and was born and raised in East Baltimore. I’ve always defined myself as a servant-leader. I was a teacher, then a principal, and now I am the Vice President of Community Impact for the Baltimore Community Foundation. My core values are centered on giving and […]
Transit Stories: Timothy Cardner
New Orleans, LA: Ride New Orleans My name is Timothy Cardner, and I am a musician, barista, and board member of Ride New Orleans. I moved to New Orleans to study music at the University of New Orleans in 2017, and graduated in 2022. My first experience with transit was taking the 55 Elysian Fields […]
