 |
|
|
|||||
Sabina Wohlmuths days used to include long, hot walks across the city of Albuquerque, sometimes 2 or 3 miles at a time. Wohlmuth relies on the bus, but when she was short on cash, she walked instead of paying the fare. It was only a dollar for a one-way trip, but still, if youre homeless and youre poor thats a lot of money, Wohlmuth says. Wohlmuth now takes the bus every day, to her job at McDonalds, to the store, and to the sober living facility where she stays. And each of those bus trips costs Wohlmuth zero dollars. Albuquerque made zero-fare transit permanent in November 2023, becoming one of the largest U.S. cities to implement zero-fare transit. About a year and a half later, transit officials and advocates say the zero-fare program is working as intended, by serving the citys lowest-income residents. As some other midsize cities walk back their plans to make transit free, in Albuquerque the program is sticking around. This is a public service, and the people we serve really rely on it, says Leslie Keener, director of the City of Albuquerques transit department. I think its a way to really just open up access and create mobility so that people have the opportunity to have some upward movement. Mobility for survival Nearly 90% of Albuquerques bus riders have household incomes of less than $35,000 per year, and a similar percentage dont have access to a vehicle. Making it easier for the citys lowest-income residents to get around is part of what Christopher Ramirez calls the first purpose of public transit. Transit equity is giving the people that are most in need the resources, and then build out other aspects of public transit, such as routes and frequency, says Ramirez, the cofounder and executive director of Together for Brothers. In 2017, the organization conducted a community health impact assessment that led to a focus on transit equity advocacy. Since 2019, the community organization has led a coalition to push for free transit in Albuquerque. Many bus riders in Albuquerque are experiencing homelessness, and rely on the bus to get to medical appointments, social service providers, work, and to visit friends and family. Charles Battiste says he takes the bus every day. On a Wednesday in February, Battiste was riding the bus west on Central Avenue, the citys main thoroughfare, from a methadone treatment program to a hotel where hed recently secured temporary housing on the other side of town. Q, a 32-year-old who has been unhoused since they were 18, also rode the bus down Central Avenue that day in the opposite direction, to pick up some cough medicine at a hospital. Like Battiste, Q relies on the bus on a daily basis. Transportation comes up frequently as one of the top barriers for our clients and those we serve in accessing healthcare, jobs, housing, all of the things that we know are the structural solutions to homelessness, says Rachel Biggs, chief strategy officer at Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless. We know people in Albuquerque are stretched really thin, even the folks who arent already . . . experiencing homelessness. The numbers of people living in poverty and who need transportation support just continue to grow, and we have a lot of transit-dependent residents. Biggs says her organization previously spent about $50,000 per year purchasing bus passes for clients so they could make appointments, look for housing, and get to work. This created a really cumbersome system that involved clients shuttling from the citys shelter on the far west side of town to Health Care for the Homelesss office early in the morning to pick up a free daily bus pass, then turning around and getting back on the bus to reach their destinations for the day. Monthly passes were less feasible because of the frequency that people experiencing homelessness lost their passes amid encampment sweeps, Biggs says. Especially when youre experiencing homelessness, time is a very valuable resource, she says. So to be able to get around town and not have to go through all the hoop-jumping, so that you can now hop on and hop off, it does increase access to all the services and all the things that someone would need to end their homelessness. For other Albuquerque residents, free public transit serves as a lifeline, a vital mobility option when money is tight or other transportation falls through. One 67-year-old woman found herself on the bus after her car was repossessed due to difficulties making ends meet recently. Its nice to have something thats free, when youve always driven, youve always paid insurance, and you pay for almost everything, she says. Erica Grier, who works as a part-time caregiver and uses a Section 8 voucher to afford housing, uses the bus every day. She estimates that she previously spent at least $20 per month on the bus, money thats now back in her pocket to pay for groceries and other monthly expenses. Its a good service that the city provides, just like how the library is free, she says. Keener says the city has seen ridership shift since the pandemic launched a new era of remote work and Albuquerque launched free transit: fewer commuters, and more people experiencing homelessness who can now more easily use the bus to reach their destinations or who are using it as shelter from the elements. Recovering ridership Ridership has steadily increased since Albuquerque first piloted zero fares in 2022, with overall ridership up 20% in the past three years. City officials credit the zero-fare program with helping ABQ Rides ridership numbers creep back up toward pre-pandemic levels. Like Albuquerque, Kansas City, Missouri, made headlines when it became the first major U.S. city to go fare-free in 2020. But five years later, the Kansas City Council voted to bring back $2 fares in an attempt to stave off major service cuts amid a budget shortfall. But for now, at least, it seems like Albuquerques free fares are sticking around. Fare revenue previously wasnt much of anything, according to Keener, and brought in about $3 million in revenue before the cost of collecting fare was deducted. That represented a drop in the bucket for the transit agencys $67 million annual budget, comprised of about $23 million from the citys transportation infrastructure tax and about $8 million from the county and other regional government entities. The rest of the budget is subsidized from the citys General Fund to the tune of about $30 million each year. The citys recently approved budget for fiscal year 2026 kept this subsidy, and the city stands behind its zero-fares system, Keener says, adding that the agencys focus right now is on expanding routes and increasing service frequency. ABQ Ride served 7 million riders in 2024, which is about 78% of the agencys pre-pandemic ridership numbersbut ABQ Ride is also operating at only 64% of its pre-pandemic service, with reduced frequency on many routes and some headways of up to an hour. ABQ Ride is in the process of implementing a revamped recovery network that aims to bring the agency back toabout 95% of pre-pandemic service, according to Keener, since returning to 100% of service levels wouldnt be financially feasible. The proposed recovery network includes streamlining and restructuring some routes to offset costs of increasing frequency and evening and weekend service. The reconfiguring is expected to increase the number of residents within a half-mile of a route with frequent service. Ramirez views expanding frequency as the next step after making buses free. According to Ramirez, ABQ Ride has long tried to do a lot with a little, with the recovery plan raising questions of whether the agency should focus on having as many routes as possible or improving service in high-passenger areas. We need more frequency in the places that need it most, he says. The bus should be for everybody, he adds. It should be to connect people who need it most to get where they need to go. Its people getting to schools, its people getting to work, its people getting outdoors, its people getting food, its people getting to healthcare. This story was supported with grant funding from the Neal Peirce Foundation. This story was originally published by Next City, a nonprofit news outlet covering solutions for equitable cities. Sign up for Next City’s newsletter for their latest articles and events.
Category:
E-Commerce
As my family settles into a whole new city and community, Ive been eagerly exploring a variety of sites and services for discovering new gems and getting to know our area. And while our recent cross-country move is what inspired me to seek out such tools, Ive quickly realized these same resources could be every bit as useful in any scenariowhether youre visiting a new locale or even just looking for fresh inspiration in your existing everyday terrain. Today, I want to introduce you to an especially cool tool I encountered for exploring eating options around youcause really, whats more important than finding fantastic froyo and magnificent meatballs? Prepare your appetite, my friend. Its time for a tasty new treat. Be the first to find all sorts of little-known tech treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. One useful new discovery in your inbox every Wednesday! A food-finding supertool If youre anything like me, when you want to find a place to grab some grub, you probably turn to Google Mapsor maybe something like Yelp, or even Reddit. Those are all fine places to find places, but when it comes to cuisine, a site called TasteAtlas is a next-level resource for surfacing spectacular stuff. TasteAtlas calls itself a world food atlas, and thats a pretty accurate description for what the site aims to do: It highlights exceptional local food in a variety of places around the world, with an emphasis on unique dishes specific to different regions. It lets you browse by the type of cuisine youre contemplatingor, more useful yet, by the exact area youre exploring. And it provides you with all sorts of powerful options for narrowing things down and finding exactly what tickles your fancy. TasteAtlas is completely web-based, and itll take you all of two minutes to start using. If you just want to browse around, the sites home page has lots of interesting lists and ideas for getting going. But the most useful parts of the site are its location-specific sections, where youll find endless advice about restaurants and other nearby food establishments in your exact area. And youve got a few fun ways to dig into those details . . . 1 First, you can use the TasteAtlas Map to see and dive deeper into local dishes from different parts of the world. 2 Second, you can use the Destinations tab at the top of the site to hop right to different areas. 3 And third, you can use the Near Me option beneath the search box on the home page to grant the site access to your location and allow it to serve up specific human-curated recommendations for wherever you are. You can also type a location into the search box, if youd rather. However you get there, once youre viewing info for a specific area, youll be facing the finest part of TasteAtlasand thats the sites sprawling suggestions for both local places and local products worth your while to try. TasteAtlas doesnt dive deep into every single city in the world, as youd imagine, but it has an impressive array of places and possibilities to ponder. So even if it isnt in your specific corner of the globe, youll hopefully still find something intriguing to chew overwhether thats a worthwhile option close by or something to order online, or maybe even try the next time you travel. Now, whos hungry?! TasteAtlas is completely web-based and available in any browser, on any device. There are some apps under the same name in the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, but they dont appear to be officially associated with the site, and I wouldnt suggest using em. The site is completely free, with some minimal and not at all obtrusive ads sprinkled in throughout the experience. You dont have to provide any personal info to use the service, and the company behind the site says it doesnt sell, share, or do anything shady with the limited amount of info it does see. Hungry for more tasty tech goodness? Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an incredible audio appand a new off-the-beaten-path gem every Wednesday!
Category:
E-Commerce
Ive spent over two decades on stages around the world as a charity auctioneer. Even in the earliest years of my career, my job exposed me to titans of industry and people at the highest levels of business. But as I became more experienced in my career, I always had the same thought: What am I doing here? Everyone here knows so much more than I do. Any comments or thoughts I planned to share remained exactly thatthoughtsbecause when I opened my mouth, I worried everyone would remember I wasnt supposed to be at the table in the first place. What started as a feeling that stopped me from speaking followed me in my career. That feeling stopped me from putting my hand up for a promotion, a raise, or for anything at all. It made me feel like I wasnt supposed to be sitting in the boardroomor anywhere near the building, for that matter. Talk to any woman who has been in the working world or in a leadership position in the past two decades, and she can tell you all about imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is a feeling that stops many of us, particularly women, in our tracks. It keeps many of us from getting into the room where we would have the chance to fail. As you ascend the corporate ladder, no matter how deserving you are of a new title, a raise, or a new position, you may never truly believe you deserve any of it. When you look around a room of your peers, theres a little voice inside telling you that youre lucky to be in that room. Sound familiar? Its time to surmount the syndrome. Start with this simple three-step process so you can focus on the thing that matters most: you. 1. STOP THE SPIRAL Tell me if this sounds familiar: Youre having a conversation with someone in your lifea friend, someone senior in your office, or someone whose opinion you care deeply about. They mention they are so glad that they get to see you now that your children are getting older and you can be in the office more. The comment stops you cold. Now youre spiraling, your mind filling in a narrative. Ive been out of the game for years. Everyone here thinks I dont work hard enough, that Im not here enough, that I dont do a good job. I need to show them I do care. Ill start working on the weekends, do extra work . . . On and on you go with a spiral of self-doubt and insecurity about everything that you have ever felt about your job performance. What did this person actually say? Its great to see you in the office more now that your children are getting older. Period. Your answer? Thanks! End scene. 2. CONTROL THE NARRATIVE Believe in yourself enough to believe that other people are thinking the best of you, not the worst. To really slam that imposter syndrome, rewrite your own story. Lets go back and rewrite that scene, shall we? What did that person say? Its great to see you in the office more now that your children are getting older. Heres what I want you to hear: You are such a valuable member of this team, its really great to have your positive energy in this office. You must be an incredible multitasker to be raising kids at home and crushing it at work, too. What a role model for the people around you. We are lucky to have you. End scene. Cue applause. 3. ACCEPT THERE ARE NO GOLD STARS IN LIFE Never forget there are no gold stars given out when you are an adult. No one gives you a gold star for showing up to work, just like no one gives you a gold star for making your bed when you get up in the morning. You are responsible for everything that happens in your life and your response to it. Once you stop looking for affirmation from those around you and seek it from yourself, you can realize you have had the power all along.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||