ACTION ALERT!!
Please attend the Memphis Bus Rider’s Union meeting this Saturday, July 20th, 12 – 2 pm at Memphis Center For Independent Living, 1633 Madison Ave (#2 bus route). Help restore an additional $270,000 MATA’s drastically cut budget.
(Mayor A C Wharton defending corporate welfare)
This June, the Memphis Bus Rider’s Union (MBRU) joined hundreds of firefighters, sanitation workers, police and other public employees in what was described by budget committee chairman Jim Strickland as the “worst budget season” he’s ever experienced: weeks of heated committee meetings and two all-day budget hearings where dozens of bus riders stayed late into the night (many missing the last line out at 11:15 pm) in order to speak on the budget before it was finalized.
A decision by the council chairman Edmund Ford, Jr. to hear all budget amendments prior to public comment forced the packed chambers to wait hours into the night, only to speak after all the important amendments had been made and voted on. Nevertheless MBRU’s determination to see it through was unwavering. Thanks to the work of our members and supporters doing outreach, contacting city council members, and recruiting and mobilizing riders, community organizers and local leaders, we were able to restore $606,000 of the $2.4 million slash to MATA’s budget. This money allows MATA to continue providing some services that where proposed to be cut, including :
- Weekday night service after 9:15 pm (annual cost $179,000)
- Service on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence Day & Labor Day ($37,000)
- Route #5-Central ($82,00)
- Saturday night service after 7:15 pm ($44,000)
- Sunday night service after 5:15 pm ($27,000)
Many bus riders will be able to keep their night jobs because of these efforts. But many will still lose access due to reduction in service areas and times.
There is still an opportunity to restore an additional $270,000 to MATA from the operations budget. This money was lined up in Mayor Wharton’s budget proposal for the Economic Development Growth Engine (E.D.G.E), however E.D.G.E. will not need the money this year and thus, it could go into reserves. On the other hand, if the Council diverts the funds to MATA, bus riders would immediately experience less reduction in desperately needed service. MATA officials have prepared a strategy for this additional funding if it passes, applying the $270,000 directly to high-traffic, fixed-route trips:
- 6 additional trips for the 20 Bellevue
- 5 additional trips for the 39 South Third
- 4 additional trips for the 42 Crosstown (NEW ROUTE)
- 4 additional trips for the 53 Summer
Memphis Bus Riders Union will continue to push for this operations budget money to be allocated to the underfunded operations budget of MATA. We meet will meet this Saturday, July 20th, 12-2 pm at the Memphis Center For Independent Living, 1633 Madison Ave. (across from the Cash Saver), which can be reached by the #2 bus. We have plenty of work to do; putting stamps on letters, phone banking, making t-shirts and fans; forging our collective dream in revolutionary fire and hammering out tangible victories. Join the Memphis Bus Riders Union and STOP the destruction of public transportation!
For more information on MBRU and how you can get involved, call (901) 210-3768 and join our email list by sending a request to memphisBRU@gmail.com