City council got a standing ovation for unanimous approval of the fy 2017 operating and capital budget, which includes $7.5 million increase for MATA.
This additional funding will help add new buses to the system and prevent further service cuts! We’ve never seen a budget approved so quickly.
Thank you all for your emails and phone calls and meetings with Mayor Stricland and the City Council. A special thank you to the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 713, The Memphis Advisory Council For People With Disabilities, the Memphis Transportation Advisory Committee, Innovate Memphis, and the Sierra Club and Lifeline to Success for pushing this issue into the spotlight, and thank you Councilmembers Edmund Ford Jr., Berlin Boyd, Martavius Jones, Janis Fullilove and Mayor Jim Strickland for showing critical support for our public transit system.
This is a good temporary fix that will stave off cuts to service. However, we must continue as a city to push for increased funding from all levels of government to ensure that public transit works for all who need it.