TRANSIT STORIES

Boston, Massachusetts I grew up in Boston but went to college in Ohio, and when I went to Cleveland or Columbus I could see how broken their transit was. Anything I said about MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority), it was like, I take it all back.  But there’s still plenty to improve here. I’d majored in environmental studies and thought maybe I could get a job with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) or an environmental non-profit. But this was 2009, and the job market was absolute shit. So, I took a job as a dog grooming assistant at a Petco in Dedham. My family had a car but they used it for their own needs. I didn’t make a lot of money and used transit. A lot of what I earned went to transportation, just refilling the cards. And, because I was taking a bus, a train, and another bus, I spent a lot of time traveling.  Sometimes I’d have to close out the grooming section and, depending on when I was getting out, I’d be getting one of the last buses. I had a 15- to 20-minute walk to the bus stop, and if I didn’t time it just

Cleveland, OH I love taking the bus. I love not having to worry about parking or pay for the upkeep of a car. I love putting on my headphones and using the time that I would spend driving to text my friends and family. But I also rely on the bus for transportation because I have brain injuries that make it very difficult for me to drive.  I got a concussion in June 2018 and after that my doctor suggested that I give up driving. If it wasn’t for the RTA, I would not have been able to get to my classes and my clinical rotations on time so that I could become a nurse. I would not be able to get to work or see my family on the other side of town. Catching a transfer is the most difficult part of using transit; I’ve been stuck in Public Square for more than half an hour before, sometimes late at night coming home to the west side from evening classes at Tri-C. As a student, that was really worrying because I’d have my laptop with me and I was nervous that I’d forget it or someone might try to

Aurora, CO I started going to RTD (Regional Transportation District) board meetings back in 2017. I wanted to know why bus service had gotten so unreliable, and I wanted them to fix it. At the time, I was trying very hard to get my life back on track. I’d gone through a period of mental and emotional disorders and substance abuse. I was on probation and got a job at a grocery store. I’d get off work at 10 pm, 11 pm at night and take the last bus back home. The trip took an hour on a good day. But the schedules they gave out didn’t line up with the actual service. Often the bus would come 10 or 20 minutes late, which meant missing a transfer. Sometimes the bus just wouldn’t show up at all. So, the two hours round-trip turned into four.  The explanation I kept hearing from RTD and in the news was: bus operator shortage. I was picking up my life then, making an hourly wage, with funds really tight. And, in that situation, you’re trying to build your reputation, show you’re putting your life together, start building a career. I wondered, “Will I ever

Chicago, Illinois I’m grateful to have public transportation. I grew up in a town in North Carolina in a town that only had one public bus, but it was very important for me growing up, so living in a place with transit is important to me. When I was thinking of moving to a new city, one of the factors I took into consideration was, “Does this place have a good public transit system?” This necessity was what narrowed down my options. I considered moving to Portland because I have family there and my degree is in sustainable development, but the transit system there would not meet my needs. That’s why I moved to Chicago. I believed the transportation system that exists here would work for me. I sold my car when I first moved to Chicago, before having the job that I currently do. At my previous job, I worked in the city and got around fine using transit. Then I got my current job as an Executive Director of a therapeutic equine center for families with disabilities. To get to my job, I have to commute out from the main city of Chicago and into the suburbs. Although

Atlanta, GA I am the CEO and Founder of House Of Ramirez. I am a mother of three, and I use transit for everything I do. I rely on the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s (MARTA) bus and train service to get around the city and the suburban areas. As such, being connected to different neighborhoods is important to me. From a very young age, public transportation has played a major role in my life. When I was 16 years old and in high school, I was out on my own and employed at a local mall. My school bus did not take me all the way to my job, so I would get off on the main street, walk to the opposite side, and get on a public bus. If I were to miss the connection from my school bus to public transportation for any reason, my job and livelihood would be in danger, and I would suffer. Even a slight delay leaving my high school could delay my route to work. Fortunately, my job understood my predicament and as a result, I was never fired for being tardy due to issues with transit. But I am very much

Cleveland, Ohio My name is La Queta Worley-Bell. I live in Cleveland, Ohio and I have been taking public transit all my life.  It takes me an hour to get from my house to downtown, which is where I do my shopping, pay my bills, and pick up my medication.  When train service was cut during the pandemic, made worse by lack of infrastructure maintenance, it made clear to me how much more support public transit needs to keep operating into the future. If public transit was cut any further, I would have to walk at least 6 to 8 blocks to catch the #11 bus to get downtown. This could add at least an hour to my commute given my severe mobility issues. I do not drive, and I depend on transit to live my daily life.  My partner takes transit to his factory job in the suburbs. He has to wake up at 3:00 am so that he can leave the house at 5:00 am, because his commute to Independence, Ohio takes at least two hours. When we talk about creating jobs in America, we also need to make sure people can access them through fast and reliable