This story is a collaboration with the Institute for Public Service Reporting.
It’s a Friday morning and dozens of people are scattered throughout the William Hudson Transit Station in Downtown Memphis as they wait on their buses.
Among them is Denise Turner, 64, a cancer patient who doesn’t have a car. She relies on public transportation to make her medical appointments and for virtually every other need in her life.
“I go to the doctor's office. I go to the grocery store. I go out to eat, go to church,” Turner said. “Sometimes the buses (come) on time, sometimes the buses don’t.”
If reliability has been a challenge in the past, the future isn’t looking better. Deep cuts at the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) may soon force riders like Turner to find other ways to get around. Last month, the agency announced that as part of those cuts it would discontinue more than a quarter of its bus routes.
Turner’s route, Line 28, is one of them. It was among MATA’s least used during the fiscal year that ended June 30. She doesn’t know how she will make her many appointments if the route is deactivated on Nov. 3 as planned.
“I don’t even have a way to get around,” Turner said. "It's hard."
Amid an enormous deficit, an independent financial audit, and dwindling funding, MATA’s board of commissioners voted in August to lay off more than 200 employees and cut six bus routes. In response to MATA's budget crisis, Mayor Paul Young called for replacing its entire nine-member board of commissioners last week. The Memphis City Council is scheduled to meet with the mayor's slate of nominees today.
Meantime, bus riders like Katherine Asberry, 60, say officials will leave numbers of poor and disadvantaged residents stranded if they go forward with the cuts.
Public transportation is the only option for some, Asberry said, “because we're — what do you call it? — low income. So we can't afford a car, you know. And MATA is the only transportation the city has, and we need it. We need it to survive.”
For Frankie Allen, buses are crucial for survival. He uses them to get to all of his workplaces.
“I'll go to literally all of my jobs,” he said. “I work at Amazon. I work at the University of Memphis and I work at FedEx.”
Allen learned about the proposed service cuts while waiting at a MATA hub on Airways Boulevard. He said he’ll have to adjust his already crammed routine.
“Mainly, I gotta get up even earlier to try to catch other buses to get to work on time if the right bus comes,’’ he said.
MATA’s website states the cuts aim to "optimize resources." But for Allen and other workers, it will make life more challenging.
“You got people getting off late nights. Like, we need rides home. Like, that's our only reliable transportation,” Allen said.
The website also says the agency is expanding service for five existing routes. More tweaks may be coming when a new board is seated.
One of Mayor Young’s nominees is Cynthia Bailey, co-chair of the Memphis Bus Riders Union, an advocacy group looking out for the best interests of bus riders. She said her group and Citizens for Better Service want city officials and stakeholders to consider how many people rely on this service.
“It's no less (important) than the police department. It's no less, no better than the school system,” Bailey said. “So, let's just include transportation as an important [government service] in this city."
The Institute for Public Service Reporting contacted MATA for comment, but received no answer.
Meanwhile, those who may be directly affected by these cuts, like Denise Turner, are pleading for help.
"Just do the right thing, y'all. Get out there for a couple of days and see, then y'all can understand. It's hard,” she said.