MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Ahh memories. Remember when the wheels on the bus rolled round and round.
They really did.
And there were people on the bus, sometimes lots of them.
These are not the ramblings of a geezer who sometimes forgets where he puts his teeth. This is true life before COVID-19.
The buses never stopped running. They just couldn’t carry a lot of people.
They still can’t, said Memphis Area Transit Authority CEO Gary Rosenfeld.
“We carry 10 or 12 passengers depending on the bus,” he said. “We were in some discussions with the health department about modifying social distancing guidelines. Then we had the big surge, so we properly abandoned those discussions.”
They have not abandoned their transportation plans for the future. Some routes were shortened and changed, to reduce the waiting time for transfers.
Rosenfeld said they have received some complaints, and they take them seriously.
“We’ve got 25 comments in the last couple of weeks regarding the changes, compared to the 65,000 we transport right now, during COVID, during the week. That’s really not a bad number.”
MATA had been getting a lot of attention and more funding before the pandemic hit. Sooner or later, COVID will be just a memory. A bad memory, but a memory just the same.
“I do believe that public transit will return,” Rosenfeld said, “... and may even be stronger because the numbers reflect that it’s pretty safe. Not a lot of transmission of this disease in public transportation and that’s worldwide, not just here in Memphis or the U.S.”
