I grew up in a small-ish town, on a dirt road, close to a horse farm, tucked about an hour away from the Motor City. Most things in my life, from school to friends to work, were at minimum a 30-minute drive away.
I knew I needed a car as soon as I was able to drive because public transportation surely wasn’t going down my pothole-stricken gravel road. Thankfully, my brother or my parents would let me borrow their car until I saved enough money to buy my own. But for a lot of people, owning or borrowing a car is not an option.
Public transportation is a lifeline for so many. It creates access to our basic necessities and offers a way for people to engage in their community in meaningful ways. From grocery stores to doctor’s offices, schools and parks, workplaces or places of worship, public transportation not only connects us to our community, it is an intentional way to care for our most vulnerable populations.