One of the sessions at last Saturday's Summit for Neighborhood Leaders put on by the Coalition for Livable Communities (more on that later) was entitled "From Here to There: Getting to Work Using Public Transportation."
Not to beat a dead horse, but I've heard (I think directly from MATA pres Will Hudson's mouth) that MATA's system was designed to get poorer workers to their jobs. This was several years ago, and I was asking if a grid system could better serve the larger general population.
After hearing his explanation of the system, I thought, well, okay, they're trying to serve their current market. It's a market that relies and depends on public transportation, so if serving those people — and serving them well — is their mission, I can understand that.
But findings presented Saturday by the Memphis Area Women's Council put that in question.
Deborah Clubb, executive director of the Memphis Area Women's Council, said that transportation was one of the main barriers to employment among the women they surveyed.
"One thing we heard over and over was that using public transportation to get where they need to go was difficult and often impossible," Clubb said.
For example, Clubb related the example of downtown hotel workers who, if they got caught up at work after their shift, would miss the last bus of the night and have to walk home.
Karla Davis of Urban Strategies Memphis HOPE helps the former residents of Lamar Terrace and Dixie Homes work toward self-sufficiency. But Urban Strategies has to hire private transportation to get those families to whatever program they are enrolled in.
"It would be so helpful if there was a public transportation system they could use," Davis said.
Which leaves me wondering, just who is MATA's system designed for?
Does it work well for anybody?
Maybe a full system redesign is in order?
We have one of the leading logistics companies in the world here; maybe they could help come up with something?
In the short term, the women's council is proposing a pilot project in Frayser that would use a mini-hub and community based routing.
They also have an interesting idea to use day care vans. Mothers and their children would both board the day care van. After the children are dropped off, mothers would be taken to a MATA hub. I don't know how feasible it is, but it makes a lot more sense than those alarms to remind drivers to make sure all the kids are off the bus.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Fair Bus Fares
Johnnie Mosley says he's been riding the bus for "a looong time."
Mosley founded Citizens for Better Service, a MATA watchdog group, in 1993.
"At the time, MATA had a proposal to increase bus fares and decrease routes," he says. "A group of us riders thought it would be best to form a group to speak for the concerns of bus riders."
Though they speak out any time MATA proposed to increase fares or cut routes, Mosley says the group also deals with complaints against bus drivers. Though MATA has a complaint line, riders don't always feel they have been heard when they use it.
"MATA has some good bus drivers, but occasionally drivers won't even answer a simple question," Mosley says. "Once my group becomes aware of their complaints, we'll take their concerns directly to [Will] Hudson."
With higher gas prices — MATA's next gas contract will charge them $4.52 a gallon versus the current $2.87 — Mosley is worried that the transit company will once again try to raise fares or cut services. He would like to see them increase services instead.
"There are some areas of town where, if you miss one bus, you may have to wait another hour, an hour and a half for the next one. That's terrible," he says. "The more people see buses running in their neighborhoods, the more likely they are to get on one."
"If push comes to shove and they have to cut routes and increase fares, we want to make sure that it's fair and equitable," Mosley says.
To reach Citizens for Better Service, call Mosley at 789.6463.
Mosley founded Citizens for Better Service, a MATA watchdog group, in 1993.
"At the time, MATA had a proposal to increase bus fares and decrease routes," he says. "A group of us riders thought it would be best to form a group to speak for the concerns of bus riders."
Though they speak out any time MATA proposed to increase fares or cut routes, Mosley says the group also deals with complaints against bus drivers. Though MATA has a complaint line, riders don't always feel they have been heard when they use it.
"MATA has some good bus drivers, but occasionally drivers won't even answer a simple question," Mosley says. "Once my group becomes aware of their complaints, we'll take their concerns directly to [Will] Hudson."
With higher gas prices — MATA's next gas contract will charge them $4.52 a gallon versus the current $2.87 — Mosley is worried that the transit company will once again try to raise fares or cut services. He would like to see them increase services instead.
"There are some areas of town where, if you miss one bus, you may have to wait another hour, an hour and a half for the next one. That's terrible," he says. "The more people see buses running in their neighborhoods, the more likely they are to get on one."
"If push comes to shove and they have to cut routes and increase fares, we want to make sure that it's fair and equitable," Mosley says.
To reach Citizens for Better Service, call Mosley at 789.6463.
Neighborhood Watch
The Coalition for Livable Communities will host their Second Annual Summit for Neighborhood Leaders tomorrow at 9 a.m. at 600 Jefferson Ave.
The event is free (registration required) and will include presentations on the CLC Neighborhood Survey, the city/suburb connection, how to "green" your home, and how to get to work using public transportation. And it appears Mayor Wharton might be speaking about his Sustainable Shelby initiative.
Should be interesting ...
The event is free (registration required) and will include presentations on the CLC Neighborhood Survey, the city/suburb connection, how to "green" your home, and how to get to work using public transportation. And it appears Mayor Wharton might be speaking about his Sustainable Shelby initiative.
Should be interesting ...
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Made in/of the Mist
Maybe artist Olafur Eliasson never heard TLC's mid-90s hit "Waterfalls" and their advice not to go chasing them.
Or maybe he did.
Four "New York City Waterfalls" — a more than $15 million public art project — opened in the New York harbor this morning. The waterfalls will be turned on most mornings at 7 a.m. and 35,000 gallons of river water flow/gush/pour through them each minute until 10 p.m. At night they'll be lit by light-emitting diodes.
The city is billing the waterfalls as their largest public art commission project since 2005 "Gates" in Central Park and will remain until October 13th.
In a NYT story, Eliasson is quoted as saying that New York has generally considered the center city the "prime part of the city" but in the last few decades has been "turning its face around ... and trying to create different values and recreational ideas."
Photo from the NYT slide show.
Of course, the city is hoping that — like "Gates" — the project will drive tourism. They've even created a bike route around it.
I'm not hoping for anything this grand, but I think our riverfront could really use some interesting water features. Preferably ones that would let little hands actually touch water.
(I know, Mud Island and the Main Street Mall both have water features that kids love. But we're located on the banks of the Mississippi. Do we really need to limit ourselves? And it's just so frustrating to be at Tom Lee and looking at out an incredible vista of flowing water and just feel hot and dry and very removed from the water. But I digress ...)
When "The Gates" opened, I talked to former urbanArt Commission director Carissa Hussong about temporary public art installations in Memphis. Since then, the commission's done a number of cool projects as part of its 10th birthday, but if you're interested in a look back, you can find it here.
Or maybe he did.
Four "New York City Waterfalls" — a more than $15 million public art project — opened in the New York harbor this morning. The waterfalls will be turned on most mornings at 7 a.m. and 35,000 gallons of river water flow/gush/pour through them each minute until 10 p.m. At night they'll be lit by light-emitting diodes.The city is billing the waterfalls as their largest public art commission project since 2005 "Gates" in Central Park and will remain until October 13th.
In a NYT story, Eliasson is quoted as saying that New York has generally considered the center city the "prime part of the city" but in the last few decades has been "turning its face around ... and trying to create different values and recreational ideas."
Photo from the NYT slide show.
Of course, the city is hoping that — like "Gates" — the project will drive tourism. They've even created a bike route around it.
I'm not hoping for anything this grand, but I think our riverfront could really use some interesting water features. Preferably ones that would let little hands actually touch water.
(I know, Mud Island and the Main Street Mall both have water features that kids love. But we're located on the banks of the Mississippi. Do we really need to limit ourselves? And it's just so frustrating to be at Tom Lee and looking at out an incredible vista of flowing water and just feel hot and dry and very removed from the water. But I digress ...)
When "The Gates" opened, I talked to former urbanArt Commission director Carissa Hussong about temporary public art installations in Memphis. Since then, the commission's done a number of cool projects as part of its 10th birthday, but if you're interested in a look back, you can find it here.
MATA Misses its Moment?
After this week's Flyer cover story about public transit in Memphis, we received an interesting email from Johnnie Mosley, founder and chairman of the public advocacy group Citizens for Better Service.
Citizens, which was founded in 1993, is a MATA watchdog and tries to make sure that bus riders are treated fairly. In 2000, the group opposed a MATA rate hike, saying that the transit authority should cut administrative expenses before raising fares.
Mosley had this, in part, to say in response to the story:
"I was warned by Mr. Hudson that this was a bad time for mass transit, expecially MATA some time ago. My response to Mr. Hudson was that this is the best time to implement creative ways to get new rider on the bus and things like an increase in fares and cutting service should be a last, not first resort."
"If MATA would take the time to look at the routes and find ways to increase routes, instead of cutting routes, it would send a strong message that MATA is serious about getting and keeping new passengers. If you talk to people who do not ride public transportation ... they will tell you that they would like to ride a bus but the buses do not fit in their schedule. In other words, if MATA finds a way to get the buses in their daily schedule so they could get to their destinations in 25 minutes instead of 2 hours, they would park their cars."
Mosley concluded by saying that Citizens for Better Service had been bringing up similar issues for the past 15 years and they would continue watching the transit authority as it deals with "what you called 'MATA's Moment of Truth.'"
Citizens, which was founded in 1993, is a MATA watchdog and tries to make sure that bus riders are treated fairly. In 2000, the group opposed a MATA rate hike, saying that the transit authority should cut administrative expenses before raising fares.
Mosley had this, in part, to say in response to the story:
"I was warned by Mr. Hudson that this was a bad time for mass transit, expecially MATA some time ago. My response to Mr. Hudson was that this is the best time to implement creative ways to get new rider on the bus and things like an increase in fares and cutting service should be a last, not first resort."
"If MATA would take the time to look at the routes and find ways to increase routes, instead of cutting routes, it would send a strong message that MATA is serious about getting and keeping new passengers. If you talk to people who do not ride public transportation ... they will tell you that they would like to ride a bus but the buses do not fit in their schedule. In other words, if MATA finds a way to get the buses in their daily schedule so they could get to their destinations in 25 minutes instead of 2 hours, they would park their cars."
Mosley concluded by saying that Citizens for Better Service had been bringing up similar issues for the past 15 years and they would continue watching the transit authority as it deals with "what you called 'MATA's Moment of Truth.'"
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wheels up, flights down
In light of news that Delta and Northwest pilot unions have worked out a tentative deal with Delta management, USA Today has an interesting graphic on decreasing flight capacity.
Using airline schedule data for October 2008, the paper showed a 6.7 percent decrease in flight capacity for Tennessee.
Specifically, MEM is expected to be down 7.6 percent, BNA (Nashville) is expected to be down 5.7 percent, and surprisingly, TYS (Knoxville) fares the worst with a drop of 8.7 percent.
That doesn't necessarily mean fewer daily flights, however. Airlines can decrease capacity by cutting the number of daily flights or by using smaller planes for regular routes.
Only eight states — Washington, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Colorado, Vermont, Maine and Louisiana — were expected to see an increase in flight capacity.
Using airline schedule data for October 2008, the paper showed a 6.7 percent decrease in flight capacity for Tennessee.
Specifically, MEM is expected to be down 7.6 percent, BNA (Nashville) is expected to be down 5.7 percent, and surprisingly, TYS (Knoxville) fares the worst with a drop of 8.7 percent.
That doesn't necessarily mean fewer daily flights, however. Airlines can decrease capacity by cutting the number of daily flights or by using smaller planes for regular routes.
Only eight states — Washington, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Colorado, Vermont, Maine and Louisiana — were expected to see an increase in flight capacity.
Light Recycling
Okay, here's my public service announcement for the month, maybe even the year, so listen up:
Home Depot — my dad's favorite — is the first national chain store to start a compact fluorescent light bulb recycling program.
Customers can bring in any expired, unbroken CFL bulbs and give them to the associate behind the returns desk. The company says the bulbs will then be "managed responsibly by an environmental management company who will coordinate CFL packaging, transportation, and recycling to maximize safety and ensure environmental compliance."
I don't know how much this is going to cost them, but to me, this seems to make good business sense. You have to think that people who buy CFL bulbs rather than traditional light bulbs are perhaps already trying to be more environmentally conscious or are trying to save money. Giving those people an easy way to recycle them seems like a good way to lure people into your store.
(Every time I go to Home Depot, I always end up buying more than I came for. Usually plants.)
What I don't understand is why Home Depot Canada has had a similar program since last November.
Home Depot — my dad's favorite — is the first national chain store to start a compact fluorescent light bulb recycling program.
Customers can bring in any expired, unbroken CFL bulbs and give them to the associate behind the returns desk. The company says the bulbs will then be "managed responsibly by an environmental management company who will coordinate CFL packaging, transportation, and recycling to maximize safety and ensure environmental compliance."
I don't know how much this is going to cost them, but to me, this seems to make good business sense. You have to think that people who buy CFL bulbs rather than traditional light bulbs are perhaps already trying to be more environmentally conscious or are trying to save money. Giving those people an easy way to recycle them seems like a good way to lure people into your store.
(Every time I go to Home Depot, I always end up buying more than I came for. Usually plants.)
What I don't understand is why Home Depot Canada has had a similar program since last November.
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