The Will Hudson Transit Center, also known as the North End Terminal or “NET”, is MATA’s most used transit hub. 23 of MATA’s 31 routes begin at the NET, which was built in 1998. The terminal serves as more than just a place to transfer or wait for your bus. You can buy your monthly pass, converse with fellow riders, and access critical information about service changes. The NET has working pay phones, plenty of seating and bathroom facilities. It also provides climate-controlled shelter from severe Memphis weather – the sweltering hot summers or freezing rainy winters – a protection that most bus shelters simply don’t provide.
Riders who remember when the NET was built will tell you it was beautiful – a brand new facility for people who ride the bus. But after two decades of wear and tear the NET has become a symbol for the inequality of transportation planning and development. Further, the NET physically sits in the shadow of a more significant symbol for inequitable development just a block away, the Pyramid. Incredible funding has been poured into to building, maintaining, and then redeveloping the Pyramid, a massive vacant property built by the City set to house a new Bass-Pro mega store. Projects like this have siphoned off hundreds of millions of public dollars for improvements and new buildings for the benefit of private companies, while the NET is allowed to crumble.
We have begun to increase pressure on MATA to improve conditions at the terminal, a move sparked by the recent assault on a rider by one of the Pro-Tech security guards who are contracted by MATA. At the next MATA Board meeting, board members will vote to expand their contract with CDA/MaxSent, the security company who serves all other MATA facilities, to replace Pro-Tech at the NET. MBRU members have also brought attention to the terminal by sharing pictures of the conditions through social media and giving tours to members of the board.
In the pictures below, you can see some of the problems with cleanliness and security – namely, a bucket of soap riders are expected to dip their hands into, and a secret holding cell used by private security companies to detain riders.
MBRU members want improvements that go beyond a touch of paint or even a functional soap dispenser, (although that would be nice!). Members have suggested such improvements as multiple working electrical sockets near benches that allow riders to charge cell phones, free wireless Internet, and public art. The NET should be a place where people feel comfortable and welcome. A desirable environment with plants and color, not an institutional concrete shell that feels like a corral for cattle. The second floor of the terminal used to be home to the Tennessee Career Center, a much-needed resource for bus riders, which moved out this year due to leaks in the ceiling. Perhaps structural improvements would bring this kind of supportive service back to the building.
MBRU will be creating a new vision for the NET by collecting input from riders as they pass through the terminal. You can also bring your ideas to our monthly meeting this Saturday from Noon to 2:00pm at the Memphis Center For Independent Living, 1633 Madison Ave where we start building a broader proposal for improvements to shelters, routes and service.
To contact MBRU, call or text 901-205-9737 or email MemphisBRU@gmail.com.