From Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, to Town Square, USA, thousands upon thousands of people rely on public transportation to take them to jobs, shopping, to the doctor, and so forth. But bus lines are closing in cities across the nation and leaving people stranded in their homes, especially poor people and old people. It’s happening in Detroit, Longmont (Colorado), Washington D.C., and in my neighborhood in Jersey City, NJ.
Three neighborhood associations met at the Monumental Baptist Church last night to make plans on how to meet the crisis. While there is some reasonable hope that the abandoned routes will be taken-up by other providers, it is clear that this is a recurring problem that must be met by sustained action.
What’s happening in your neighborhood? Have any bus lines been closed in the last two or three years? Are bus lines being closed in the near future? What will happen to people stranded by these closures?
How is it that the so-called richest nation on the planet cannot figure out how to provide transportation for ALL of its citizens?
If you’ve got a story, put it in the comments.
Other stories below the fold.
Detroit, from The Detroit News, 10.13.11:
The Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation plans to cut bus services by 22 percent in December and lay off more than 120 employees as it struggles to secure concessions from its four unions.
Longmont, Colorado, from the Times Call, 10.12.11:
About 60 clearly unhappy bus users packed into a Senior Center meeting room Wednesday evening to complain about the latest service cuts and route changes the Regional Transportation District is proposing for routes inside Longmont as well as several routes carrying passengers to and from Boulder and Denver.
Washington, D.C., The Washington Examiner, 10.12.11:
Metro is seeking to cut back some of its bus service, affecting trips on more than 30 routes.
The transit agency has called the changes “improvements” that are intended to “provide customers with more reliable, efficient and cost-effective service and to provide additional capacity where it is needed most.”
That means Metro plans to extend service on four lines, create a new route and give more time to other lines, while cutting some of the existing service.
Truth and Traditions 
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