Transit Stories: Kim Yancey

New York City, NY My name is Kim Yancey, I’m 45, and I’m a licensed social worker living in East Harlem near the 125th St 4/5/6 subway station. I have a disability and access the subway system using a power wheelchair. Having lost my job shortly before the pandemic, my efforts to reenter the workforce […]

Transit Stories: Kenny Uong

(He/Him) | Glandale, CA My name is Kenny Uong. I’m an Urban Studies and Planning student attending Cal State Northridge in Los Angeles. I grew up in a household that relied on public transit to get around. We would take transit to go get groceries in Chinatown, to go to the shopping centers, and mostly […]

Transit Stories: Jess Wallace

(She/Her) | Cleveland, OH I moved to Cleveland 16 years ago, from a small town in Ohio where there is no public transit. As a person living with a mobility disability, Cleveland’s public transit system gave me a newfound freedom. I am able to commute to my full-time job at Downtown Cleveland Alliance in downtown […]

Transit Stories: Jacquelin Alcala

(She/Her) | Los Angeles, CA I am a first-generation college student and attending Los Angeles Pierce College for the past three years, soon to be attending Cal State University Northridge, both being heavily commuter schools. Before that, my whole life I’ve been taking public transit. It has been a very integral part of my life.  […]

Transit Stories: Jackie Williams

My name is Jackie. I’m in my 60s, and I use transit everyday to get to work, attend meetings, do my grocery shopping, and to visit friends and family. I wasn’t always dependent on transit, but once I made that switch, I noticed all the barriers that exist for where I can go. I live in […]

Transit Stories: Grace Kalmus

Brooklyn, NY I’m Grace, I work at Home Depot and I use public transit to travel to Hempstead Bay in Long Island from Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. Before the pandemic, the trip to get to work took me roughly three hours, two trains and a bus. By sticking to the bus and subway, I would […]

Transit Stories: Freda Tepfer

(She/Her) | Erie, PA My name is Freda Tepfer. I live in Erie. Growing up in New York City, public transit was my ticket to a world of possibility. I saw sites and met people I wouldn’t have crossed paths with if it wasn’t for transit. These people and places taught me lessons that I […]

Transit Stories: Dena Driscoll

(She/Her) | Philadelphia, PA I am the Director of Development and Communications in a nonprofit, civil rights law firm in Philadelphia and mother of two children. Like many mothers in Philadelphia, I have relied on public transit as our main form of transportation. Over the past decade I have relied on public transit to get […]

Transit Stories: Deborah Olson

Gresham, Oregon I am almost 65 and live alone. I have been disabled for thirty-one years, next month. It is an anniversary I would like to forget. I can walk and I am not in a chair or walker yet. Six years ago I was a half-a-block from a good running bus. And with high […]

Transit Stories: Cynde Soto

Los Angeles, CA Hi, my name is Cynde and I live in a beach town in Los Angeles County California. Riding transit allows me to live independently in the community, which is what we all want to do, right? My wheelchair will not be able to get into a car or a taxi of any […]