Home > Opinion > Commutants! > Archives > 2005 > November > 09 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USAt 70, she hikes to the bus stop
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Judging from the responses I’ve gotten so far, maybe MARTA should shut down and start from scratch. But then, what would Lorraine Samples do?
Samples, 70, lives near me in South DeKalb. Her husband of 51 years used to drive her most places, but he died last year of lung cancer. Now she rides MARTA almost everywhere. Wednesday, she was on her way to the beauty parlor on Buford Highway where she’s been a customer for 20 years.
The trip takes so long she literally has to pack a lunch. But it’s no picnic. Tiny and stooped, she walks 2.3 miles from her home to the nearest MARTA bus stop with her belongings strapped to a rickety luggage carrier.
Sometimes the bus comes on time. Sometimes it doesn’t. She doesn’t complain, though. “It would cost me $10 to catch a cab. But I’m on a fixed income. I can’t afford that and I don’t want to be stuck at home.” A monthly MARTA pass costs her $52.50.
It takes about a half-hour for Samples to reach the Indian Creek train station by bus. From there, she catches a westbound train to Five Points and then a northbound train to Doraville. After a mile hike to the beauty parlor, she will have traveled for nearly three hours – one way.
Samples was the only white person on the bus this morning. But she says that doesn’t bother her, and despite some of the MARTA horror stories you’ve posted, she’s never had a problem with other passengers. “It’s the way I was raised, I guess. When I was growing up in Cherokee County, my father always taught me that everybody is God’s creation.”
Amen to that. But why in God’s name can’t we create a transportation system that does a better job of serving people like Samples who can’t or don’t drive?
Any ideas?
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Lyle V. Harris
Comments
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By Margaret
November 10, 2005 03:37 AM | Link to this
Mrs Samples can get a Half Fare Marta card and ride for .85 cents. She has been eligible since age 65.
By Karama Neal
November 10, 2005 12:14 PM | Link to this
Thanks for sharing this story, Lyle. MARTA allows riders to meet new people, and that can change our perspective on things. For those who cannot drive, because of disability or other reasons, MARTA is the often only way to go to work, the doctor, or do the things outside the home that so many of us take for granted. Our entire society benefits when we make accommodations that allow us all to be productive citizens.
By ja simon
November 10, 2005 06:04 PM | Link to this
I have made the comments to MARTA Reps before: in its service area, Marta should cover every major or arterial road with a bus, and buses should circle the metro (just as I-285 does) going from station to station at the end of the transit lines. In this part of MARTA’s existence, no one its service area should have to take a trip lasting more than 90 minutes (to go anywhere). Really, a trip to anywhere in the metro by public transport should no last that long unless it is rush hour. Public Transit is so fractured and unattractive at times is government leaders never really bought into the system (still don’t)for fear of losing control and constituent trust. Now, we have fractured systems that still do not connect properly. Yes, I take MARTA when it is convenient. But I cannot take it to work (5 miles away) because it would take longer than 90 minutes. My job and I are on the same major thouroughfare. MARTA is not.
By SM
November 11, 2005 01:34 PM | Link to this
Okay, I’ll bite… WHY THE HELL IS SHE GOING TO DORAVILLE TO GET HER HAIR DONE??????? Are you trying to tell me there isn’t a single hair salon in South Dekalb? This isn’t a case of a poor public transit system, this is a case of stupid human who has a martyr complex.
By Nel
November 11, 2005 02:15 PM | Link to this
SM, you must be very young, because your comment about this lady is extremely insulting and disrespectful! One supposes you don’t have elderly family members so you can’t understand. Why this lady goes to her hairdresser is because she is comfortable and obviously has a relationship with them…not something a lot of people these days understand. MARTA is ridiculous in that to get someplace 10 minutes from your house, they want you to travel for 4 hours. They need to take a page from NY for example and let people get transfers so they can hop on bus going the other way instead of going all the way to the MARTA train station and coming back to a place you already passed.
By Michelle
November 11, 2005 02:41 PM | Link to this
Race is often an undercurrent in transportation issues, and it shows up here as well. I am a young-ish white woman. I ride MARTA all over the place and at all different times. I have never had an issue or confrontation (knock on wood!) with other riders. In fact, I’ve had some great, friendly chats with people of all sorts, about everything from politics to favorite restaurants. Ridership is predominately black. And that means precisely nothing, except that our city is still economically segregated, and that some white people do have racial misconceptions. However, it is much easier to meet people and break down those misconceptions when you are sitting near someone on the bus or train, rather than honking at them in traffic!
By Erica
November 11, 2005 05:11 PM | Link to this
The problem isn’t really with the transit system as much as it is with sprawl: if Ms. Samples could live in the central core of the city it would take her maybe an hour to get where she’s going — but how could she afford the rent? I don’t drive at all, but that means I pay a tremendous amount to live three blocks from a MARTA station in Midtown. Lucky me, a college grad with a good income. How many out there are forced to live where the rents are low but the commute is impossible?
By gregory francis
November 16, 2005 03:25 PM | Link to this
as a native new yorker & daily marta rider,i feel that certain marta bus routes should run 24 hours,like routes 23,39 83,120,121 & a few others.the rail system must be expanded up ga 400 to alpharetta,east to the mall at stonecrest,south to forest park & fairburn,northeast to norcross & duluth & finally northwest using the proctor creek line to marietta,with the state of metro atlanta traffic as it is currently,the cities involves as well as the state & federal government need to come up with a viable plan that will find a transit system capable of moving folks around metro atlanta quickly & comfortably.