Vendor commutes

Keith’s commute lengthens

When the WeGo 96 express route to Murfreesboro stopped running on April 11, it added a total of eight miles of walking to Keith’s commute into The Contributor office. He also had to cut down the number of papers he could buy. Being hit as a pedestrian in the past also injured his shoulder and he can’t carry as much weight as he used to.

To me it's why are you cutting, cutting, cutting? You know what’s gonna happen when everything opens up. Traffic is going to get worse. I have to walk four and a half miles to get to the nearest bus, then I have to walk four and a half miles back. That route that they cut out let me off 100 yards from my house. It cost a little more, it was an express route, but it was convenient. I didn’t have to worry about walking in the rain or heavy carrying. My arms are not as good as they used to be.

That route ran for [at least] 12 years. Other routes had been deleted or streamlined. When they streamline it, say they picked up at 40 places, now they pick up at 14 places. Whoever is on any of those routes, they’re inconvenienced because now they have to walk further to get to the bus.

Everyone’s complaining about traffic, this and that, but then they keep cutting the bus routes and all that. Any other city this size has 24-hour bus service. You don’t get bus service here from midnight to six at all.

They should first have 24 hour service, and extend existing routes and bring back any that have been deleted. What if the state workers go back to work? A lot of people won’t have a way. When the state workers were on that route, it was a packed bus.

Sometimes, and I'm not exaggerating, sometimes I can walk faster than the traffic. Say I leave my spot at 5:30 in the afternoon, about a mile of my walk home, I'm keeping up with the cars because they're just stop, go. And of course, as they're cutting the bus routes, there's enough apartments within a mile of me that's gonna add 5,000 more people. That’s like 5,000 more people, probably each one with a car.

Lifelong bus rider “Pops” looks for rides

Gary E., also known as “Pops” has been riding the bus in Nashville since he was a kid. He normally walks from his apartment to his selling spot, and the high-rise he lives in does monthly grocery trips. Most of the time, however, he hitches rides with friends or walks to where he needs to go.

By the time the bus comes, sometimes it’s on time, sometimes it’s not. I can call a ride and have already went and done what I had to do. I hate riding the bus. For one, they’re trying to stop the homeless so they tore down all the shelters. So I would just be standing out in the weather. Some of them got a little bitty small heater in the top. There’s nothing to stop the wind, the air.

I don’t like riding the bus, but I will if I have to. I used to ride with my parents. My dad worked downtown, my mom worked at Vanderbilt. They used to give us tokens, not real money to ride the bus. Now you have to pay cash and have a card.

The last vehicle I had, I tried to help someone get a boost. Somebody took the cable off and put it on the wrong cable and burned out the fuse in the box. The cheapest place I could find to fix it was $800. I could buy a car for $800! That was in the 90s.

Some of the busses are on an hourly schedule. But usually I can walk there in about 20 or 25 minutes. A lot of busses don’t run regularly unless it’s early in the morning or late in the evening. I ain’t getting no younger! I’m past half a century now. I got two bad knees, a bad back.

They need to get somebody different in there to do the public transportation. A lot of them, they sit in the office, leave when they’re ready, go home when they’re ready. Without the public you wouldn’t have no bus. The public is what keeps busses going.

Paul looks for equal access

The bus stop is a block and a half away. He depends on a walker, that he lifts up and down the steps. With his sight impairment, he depends on hearing the stops and the talking street signs to let him know if it’s safe to get there. He heads to Walmart once a month, an hour trip and usually someone goes with him.

The first time I rode the bus I got lost. I was trying to get over to 12th and Broadway over at McDonalds. That’s when they had the free busses. I got screwed up and got on the wrong bus twice. So I was like, OK this is a learning experience. I was a little mad about it.

There’s been other times that I missed a spot, but that’s alright. I figure it out. Because they didn’t have it on so I could hear the stop. The bus drivers choose if they leave it on. And it shouldn’t be that way. That should be automatic.

It’s better down here than it is up [in Michigan] because they don’t have the sound to call the stops. Sometimes it’s a pain to have a walker on here. Unless you got a wheelchair they won’t put the ramp out. That’s alright though. I manage. I’ve lived around the city a lot so I get used to it. I hate taking busses because it’s such a pain but it’s alright.

These sidewalks are uneven. Doesn’t work too well for somebody in a walker, or someone in a wheelchair.

Manners are important to Sharon

It takes Sharon one hour to get to her selling spot, an hour and half on Saturdays, sometimes longer if the bus doesn’t show up.

I actually think that they need to be retrained on how to drive these buses. Because they slam on the brakes. They put the brakes on and throws people. Now I understand that if there's someone in front of them. That's understandable. But every time you turn around, they're slamming the brakes and everybody just falls. I don't know how many times I've practically fallen on the floor.

Some of these new drivers are really rude, too. They are really rude. You get on and try to say you know, 'good morning how you doing?' And they won't say anything, they will not. You're trying to be polite.

I've been taking the bus for over 11 years. And I've gotten to know quite a few of the bus drivers, and we're good friends. But they have even said some of these newer ones are not fit for this job. Because this job is a people person. If you're not a people person, then this job isn't for you.

Norma appreciates AccessRide

When I first moved to the Hermitage area one of the most appealing things for me was access to affordable transportation in and around Davidson county. I don’t drive. In fact, I’ve never driven. (I often say, “The world is a much safer place because I don’t drive.” And, “The only driving I do is driving people crazy. I hear I’m really good at that!”)

Either way, I’ve always been dependent on others to take me to my various appointments or anywhere else I wanted or needed to go for that matter.

I came from Sumner County where they didn’t offer anything like the public transportation here. I mean, we had Mid-Cumberland, but it was primarily limited to medical appointments, which had to be called in several days in advance.

There was one taxi service available in Gallatin, but it closed at 5 or 6 p.m. If you had anything to do later than that, you were out of luck. And if you were on a tight budget (and I’ve always been on a tight budget) multiple trips were not really an option. (This was all before Uber and Lyft.)

Then I heard about AccessRide in Nashville for people with disabilities. It was established in the mid 90’s, and currently serves approximately 6,452 active clients in Davidson County.

Of course, there is some paperwork you and your doctor have to complete, but it’s pretty straightforward. There’s also an interview process (they pay your way to and from the interview), so it takes some time, but they’ll let you know if you’re approved usually within 21 days.

In my case, I interviewed on August 4, 2014 and I was approved on August 12, 2014.

In the meantime, you can get a Special Services Card from MTA. It’s a photo ID that entitles the user to a significantly discounted fare (about 50% off), but it has to be renewed yearly.

Unlike the standard MTA bus, AccessRide uses multiple vendors to provide this service. It may be an MTA bus, a taxi, or some other company under contract with MTA.

When I first started riding with MTA’s AccessRide in 2014, the fare was $3.40 each way. It went up to a whopping $3.70 each way in 2020, but it is door to door service anywhere within the confines of Davidson County, which is quite different from the standard MTA bus. You can’t beat the price (although believe it or not, I have heard a few complaints).

On weekdays, the service is available from 4:45 a.m. until 11:30 p.m.; on Saturday from 5 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.; and on Sunday from 5 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. You must set up your trips by 4:30 on Monday-Friday the day before you wish to travel, and by 2:30 p.m. on Saturday or Sunday or Holidays to travel the following day. You can schedule your trips up to 1 week in advance.

Something else to be mindful of when making a reservation, Accessride has a 30 minute arrival time window. If you want to be picked up no later than 9 a.m. for an appointment, you would set your pickup time from 8:30-9 a.m.

Also you need to be ready at your scheduled time, because Accessride only has to wait 5 minutes for you, then they can and often will leave. I know because I’ve had it happen to me MANY times! (Just because the drivers have a 30 minute window doesn’t mean that we the riders do.)

You’re allowed to have a Personal Care Assistant (PCA) ride with you free of charge if needed, but you must let them know when booking your trip if anyone will be traveling with you. You may also have an escort ride with you in addition to your PCA, but they have to pay a fare of $3.70 each way.

In addition to the traditional AccessRide program MTA recently introduced a new program called Access on Demand that allows you to get same day service. The base fare starts at $7 each way, but can increase based on mileage. But in my experience this rate is far more reasonable than Lyft, Uber, or a regular taxi.

This program allows you to choose who picks you up, but the service requires a 2-hour window for pickup, and the service is only available Monday-Friday from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. No weekend service is available, which is strange because doesn’t everyone enjoy going out on the weekend? Maybe it’s just me.

Ultimately it’s a good program, and if you have a disability it’s definitely worth the time and effort to check it out to see if it’s right for you. Occasionally there are issues, but if you call in and talk with MTA, they will usually try to work to find a solution to the problem—it just may not be as quick as you’d like. (I speak from experience.)

If you think you might qualify for the program or if you know someone who would benefit from this service, give them a call at 615-880-3970 and press option #5.