Bernie

 The Progressive Network was having a luncheon in early April 2015, and the MTRA was invited to come and be recognized for our work in getting better bus routes and schedules for the riders.  Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was giving the keynote speech at the luncheon.  It was a cold day, but he probably thought it was warm.  Weather is relative, depending on what part of the country you are from.

 When it came time for our recognition, Bernie hadn't gotten there.  He was running late.  We stood up to the applause of those in the room.  Some gave us a standing ovation.  I kind of wished Bernie had been there.  Just after we sat down, Bernie and his wife walked into the room.  Maybe our standing ovation was really for him.  As you may know, I am a political junkie.  I love being around political figures, even if I may not agree with everything they say.  

 Bernie got up to speak.  He spoke on many things.  After each subject, he would ask the crowd if we thought he should run for President.  He hadn't announced yet.  Many of the folks in the audience would yell out yes.  It was more like a campaign rally than a speech honoring the folks in the room that had made a difference.  Even though he hadn't announced, it was obvious to me that he would soon.  A couple of weeks later, he announced that he would run for President.  He got a boost that day at the luncheon.  

 The MTRA bylaws state that we can't officially endorse a candidate for office.  It is one of those things in the regulations for non-profits.  If one does, they are at risk of losing their non-profit status.  The IRS doesn't allow it, if it is brought to their attention.  I went away that day liking some of his proposals, but not all.  One thing that you have to watch out about politicians is that they make promises that there is no way they can keep.  It may be too expensive to do, or it goes against the beliefs of the majority of voters.  It may sound good, but implementation is a whole other ballgame.  2015-16 would be my opportunity to see and hear a bunch of candidates.  I was in hog heaven.

Accomplishments

  There were many accomplishments that we had with the MTRA and working with The Comet.  I have noted a few previously, but some need to be repeated.  As I stated earlier, we had an advantage with our suggestions, because neither the executive director nor the planner were from Columbia.  The key to all of these things was that we saw a need and figured out a way to get it done.  Some were based on surveys of our riders.  There was one thing though that I had to filter out.  If one person wanted a change, it may have been because that person had a vested interest.  However, if more than one person wanted the same change, then we looked at that situation more fully.  You can't please everyone, but we tried to please as many as we could

 Sundays:  I have already mentioned this change, but it was very important to workers and church goers.

 Holidays:  I have already mentioned this change, as well, but we were surprised how many businesses were open on some holidays.

 Libraries:  We wanted to get a bus to every public library in Richland County.  There is now service to every one except Ballentine, which is too far out.

 The Zoo:  Riverbanks Zoo is in the top ten zoos in the country.  The nearest stop to the zoo is across a freeway bridge.  Walking to it would be dicey, especially for those with small children.  We got buses to go to the zoo.  It has since been amended to people calling an hour ahead of time to alert a route's driver to detour to it, but it is still doable.

 Downtown:  We proposed two downtown routes.  One would go North/South, and the other would go East/West.  They would serve Five Points, the State Museum, the Art Museum, Edventure, the Colonial Life Arena, the Convention Center, the State House, downtown shopping, and across the river into Cayce.  At first, it was free to ride.  Now, The Comet charges $1 to ride.  It was designed to help tourists explore downtown, as well as getting State workers to restaurants on their lunch hours.  Parking is at a premium downtown, so a bus was helpful to get around.  There is also a bus that goes to the baseball stadium at Bull Street during the season.

 Sandhills:  I have already mentioned this route and our recognition by Richland County Council.

 Hospitals:  As with libraries, we saw the need to get buses to go to all of the hospitals in Richland and Lexington counties.  One friend worked at Lexington County Hospital.  Her car broke down, and she had to walk 3 1/2 miles to work one morning.  She didn't have to do that anymore.  On average,  400 hospital workers ride the bus each day in Richland and Lexington counties.

 Crosstown:  One of the bus routes that was eliminated in 2010 was the Crosstown route.  It went from Dutch Square Mall to the Midlands Tech campus on Rosewood without coming into town.  One of my board members named Marsha fought hard to get that route put back.  It now goes from St. Andrews Road to Walmart on Garners Ferry.  It is a two-hour roundtrip, but well worth it.

 Midlands Tech:  We found that the several campuses of Midlands Technical College could be served by the buses.  The main campus on Rosewood was easy.  The one in Northeast Columbia required a short detour, but it worked.  The one out by the airport required us to also focus on Vocational Rehab to get that done.  We also worked to get that bus to go by the Columbia Metro Airport.  The Comet was reluctant at first, but we showed how it wouldn't cost much more money and gas to get it there.  It goes there now.  Also, the bus to the Airport campus only ran twice a day originally.  If someone had an early class, they couldn't go to work afterwards.  Now, it goes at least five times a day to accommodate the students.  The last campus is in Batesburg-Leesville in Lexington County.  There is a pilot program to get a bus out there at least once a week.

 Photo Id's:  The Comet wanted to give half-fare rides to those over 65 or having disabilities.  They needed to issue photo id's to the riders who qualified.  They wanted to charge $5 for the first id.  We pointed out that most of those riders live on fixed incomes, so we got those id's issued for free.

 Amazon:  There is an Amazon fulfillment center in Lexington County near Cayce.  We worked with The Comet to get a bus to go by there, because the nearest stop to that place was about 3 miles away with very few sidewalks.  

 We have had other accomplishments with the MTRA, but these are just some of them.  One we have proposed would be one to go down Lake Murray Boulevard, across the dam, and to Walmart on Hwy 378 in Lexington.  It would benefit a whole bunch of people, including recreation at the lake.  Maybe one day.

Holiday

  There was a woman on a bus one day complaining about not being able to get to work on Memorial Day.  There were six holidays that the buses didn't run:  New Year's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I don't know if the woman recognized me from the numerous local TV interviews I had done, or maybe she just wanted to vent, but I asked her where she worked.  She said she worked for Richland School District One, and she couldn't get to work, because she rode the bus.  I had no clue that schools were open on Memorial Day.

 I went to the next Comet Board of Directors meeting and brought up the woman's complaint.  There were two Richland County Council members on the Board, and they said they didn't know schools were open on that holiday either.  News doesn't travel fast in Columbia.  I suggested to the Board that she couldn't be the only one to have that problem of not being able to get to work.  The proposal was sent to a committee for discussion.

 In the committee meeting, there was debate about which holidays that the buses should run.  The State workers might be off those days, but service and retail workers probably had to work.  So, I made a deal with the Comet on behalf of the riders.  If the bus would run on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day, I would let the drivers off on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I tried to sell it to the Comet by saying that those two holidays were the ones that drivers needed to be with their families.  I don't think the union representing the drivers were too keen working on Labor Day, but it meant more money in the pockets of the drivers, so they said yes.  I then went to the MTRA Board to tell them of the deal.  They agreed that it was a good idea.  Then, we presented it to our membership, and they seemed very happy.  It was a good deal.

 The only downside to the deal was something I discovered later.  Two churches in Columbia did a Thanksgiving Day meal at the Coliseum every year.  Those folks who needed that meal were those who had nowhere else to go.  Many people couldn't get downtown without the bus.  It was a need that couldn't be fulfilled, but I had made the deal with the Comet.  They weren't willing to go back on the deal just because of one event on that day, so I just hoped that folks could find their way to the site.  

Media

  Being the president of the MTRA meant that I was the face of the association.  It also meant that I needed to do media interviews.  My vice president had some contacts in the local media, which helped us get noticed.

 He reached out to the editor of The State newspaper.  We got an appointment to see him.  It was supposed to be a 30-minute meeting that lasted over two hours.  The result was a nice article in The State about our work.  We were put on the map.  That led to a TV appearance on WACH.  It was for a show called "On Point" with Cynthia Hardy.  Keith and I went to that.  She did a nice interview with us.  I was asked back to be part of a focal group on Black History Month.  There were three of us on that show.  I was the only one from the MTRA.  At the end of the show, Cynthia turned to me and asked if I had anything to add.  The words that came out of my mouth were words I had not planned to say.  I said, "History is important, because it helps you move forward."  Where did this profound sentence come from?  I was inspired.

 The next show I went on was "Awareness" on WIS.  It was a show geared toward African-Americans, and I was there to talk about our work to get better bus service to Lower Richland and Downtown Columbia.  My main message involved something that Edventure Children's Museum did for the schoolchildren of Lower Richland.  Edventure gave 400 passes to the children to come to the museum.  The problem was that many of the children couldn't get there without public transportation.  That was the catalyst for our work in getting them to downtown easily.

 Keith and I went on WOLO for an interview about our work.  It was a short interview, but we made our points about the need for better routes.  The only TV station in Columbia that didn't have us on was WLTX.  We made several overtures to them, but they didn't seem interested.  I even reached out to two of their anchors and one reporter to see if we could get an interview.  I always got the same response.  They would have to check with their producers.  I cornered a producer at an event.  He seemed interested, but I never heard back.  One of the places Keith and I did go was on the radio.  We did two shows with Frank Knapp.  

 A reporter from the Free Times weekly newspaper used me to comment on anything that came up regarding transit.  I also wrote a couple of editorials for that newspaper.  That was what it was like being the face of the MTRA.  And, I really enjoyed doing those appearances.  After all, writing and being in front of a camera is what I do best.

Logo

  As the Midlands Transit Riders Association was beginning to take shape, I felt that we needed a logo to distinguish us from the Comet.  Our business cards showed a generic bus on the road.  We needed something more unique.

 I contacted Richland School District One for help.  After all, the bus system (Comet) had a contest for their naming.  I spoke with the head of the Art classes for the District, and she said she would ask the schools to suggest a logo.  First prize would be a 30-day bus pass.  I waited a month and never heard anything.  I had then seen a story on the news about the Transitions Homeless Shelter that had an Art class.  A homeless person would benefit more from the 30-day bus pass, so I made an appointment to talk to the man in charge of the class.  We had a nice talk.  I told him that I had been homeless, so he took an interest in what I wanted from his class.  I never heard back.

 While I was patiently waiting for either group to respond, we had a quarterly meeting of the association.  I asked those that were there if they had any suggestions for a logo.  We got some suggestions, but they just didn't seem appropriate.  So, I asked a friend, who was a graphic designer, if he knew of anyone who could design a logo for us and would work for free.  He said he would give it a go.  My friend was a professional.  I told him we couldn't afford to pay him.  He told me he would do it out of friendship.  He designed a logo that was an abstract picture of motion.  When I presented it to the Board of Directors, I got criticism that it looked like slices of pizza.  There were some on the Board who would object to everything.  They suggested that I put it to a vote at the next membership quarterly meeting.  

 When the meeting came around, I put it on the agenda for a vote.  Some of the members present wanted to know why their suggestions weren't being voted on.  I explained that we discussed those suggestions, and they didn't seem viable.  There was opposition to the new logo, but it passed.  Anyone wonder why I needed professional counseling during my stint as President of the MTRA?  Those who opposed the logo would also say the sky was green, when it was blue.  And, I offered the 30-day bus pass to the artist, but he suggested we give it to a rider, so we had a drawing for it.  Someone was happy to get it.  I was just happy that we had a logo.  It wasn't slices of pizza.  I guess art is in the eye of the beholder.

Financial

  The MTRA was starting to get recognized in the community.  We wanted to have an office downtown, so that we could do the work we wanted to do.  We had been using the Modjeska Simkins house as our base of operations.  It was where to Progressive Network had their office.  We were using their copier for our mailings and brochures.  We were using their meeting space for our Board of Directors to meet.  It would be better to have a place of our own.  There was a house just one block up the street from the Simkins house that was zoned for business, so that seemed like a good place.  It was available.  

 I spoke to a friend at the United Way and asked if he could check around town and see if we could get any donations.  He came back to me about a week later and said that several companies were interested, but we needed a 501c3 for them to donate, so that they could take the donation off on their taxes.  I reached out to the hospitals in town and got the same response.  Keith heard from the Walmart Foundation.  They were willing to give us a sizeable amount, but we needed a 501c3.  No one on our Board knew much about how to go about getting a 501c3, so one of our Board members suggested a friend who was a financial planner.

 The man came to our meeting and said that he could help us out for free.  Free was good.  As I mentioned earlier in a previous story, we were working off of a shoestring.  We were paying for our own stuff, except what we got for free from the Progressive Network.  We were mailing out at least 150 envelopes a quarter, and sometimes more.  We were buying our own stamps and envelopes.  We bought our own business cards.  We bought our own post office box.  All of which came out of our own pockets.  The planner said he would get the paperwork together and send it off to the IRS.  He also said he would help us get grants from the government and people interested in transit.  I had created a budget for the Association based on estimates for an office, utilities, insurance, office supplies, and more.  We also needed a car to travel around town and elsewhere for Association business.  One of the stipulations to be on the Board of the MTRA was that one needed to be a bus rider.  That meant no car.

 So, we gave the planner everything he needed and waited.  We waited.  We waited some more.  After a few months of waiting, his friend called him and asked how the process was going.  He said that he hadn't gotten around to it.  It turned out that the planner wasn't a planner after all.  He had run into some legal problems in Orangeburg and skipped town.  Thankfully, he didn't have any of our social security numbers.  Just our budget.  So, no office, copier, car, nor big donations.  We did find that we could reserve a meeting room at the library for free, so that is what we did.  And, a friend at the library allowed us to meet in their auditorium for free for our quarterly membership meetings.  Free was good.

Sandhill

  There is a shopping area out Two Notch Road in Columbia called the Village at Sandhill, but most people just call in Sandhills.  It is an area with a lot of stores, many of them upscale, in the area.  There are also some apartments and condos in the Village.  Ironically, across the street is a Walmart and Target.  We wanted to get a bus out there, but many of the residents and business owners didn't want one.  They never said it directly, but they implied that the bus riders didn't fit into their places.  After all, only thugs and gangs rode the bus.  That was their opinion.  One thing I hate is stigmas.  It borders on racism, in my opinion.

 I went to the Comet with the suggestion of getting a bus to Sandhills.  They had just gotten a new route planner who had come from Florida.  He took a car out that way and was amazed how many businesses were out there.  He came back and agreed with me that we needed a bus to Sandhills, despite the opposition from the elite.  Many employees of those stores rode the bus.  However, the Comet's Board of Directors were not all on board of putting a bus into a wealthy region.  Some wanted to maintain a bus presence in downtown Columbia and not venture out to Sandhills.  They had heard the criticism from that community, too.  

 My VP Keith and I made an appointment to see the Richland County Councilperson who represented Sandhills.  We told her what the benefits would be to have a bus go to that location.  She agreed with us.  Meanwhile, a woman in a wheelchair went to the Comet's Board of Directors and told them that she worked at the movie theatre out there and needed to get there, without depending on people to take her.  Between her story and our work, we were able to get a bus to go to Sandhills.  The Richland County Council recognized Keith and me at one of their meetings.  That recognition also validated the Midlands Transit Riders Association with the council.  When we spoke, they listened.  That clout would help us moving forward.  It also showed the county that we could get things done, when others were unsuccessful.  It also showed the merchants out there that not all bus riders were thugs or in gangs.