The phase "Down and Out" only begins to describe the public transportation situation here in Atlanta and other major cities. Deep cuts in service including reduced schedules for trains and the elimination of bus routes come as little surprise. As one who commuted daily on the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) trains for over a decade, a large portion of the ridership were service workers, students, and people traveling to and from the airport for work or travel. And we all know what that situation is right now.
Though I rarely ride anymore, (or drive for that matter these days since retiring last year), I feel for the MARTA financial situation. In a way, it's similar to the support I have for my local restaurants, the neighborhood hardware store, indie bookstores, and charities. So I ponied up for a couple of Breeze transit cards via their website. In the olden days I used to carry an extra Breeze card with me loaded with a couple rides in case I was solicited and felt the person was being honest about their need for help to get to work or home. (But on more than one occasion, I'd offer the card to the person asking for transit fare and the reply would be, "No, I'd rather have the money." Hmmm.)
It seems irrelevant whether I will use the cards or "gift" them as this is nothing more than a small, symbolic sense of duty to the memory of my commuter past combined with the future-Earth-Day-kinda hope for a fewer cars, cleaner air and less noise.
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