On Missing the Bus

Columbia funds public transit at about $45 per capita, while Greenville funds it at roughly $8 per capita. Simply put, if my Grandmama lived in Greenville, should could not have made it on her own.

I’ve hit the “Big City” tour over the last couple of months. Philadelphia, DC, Chicago, and my beloved Pittsburgh, all since March. And I used public transit to get around in all of them.

I went to Philly to watch the NCAA Tournament, as my Furman Paladins (aka, the Lord’s Team) faced the ogres from UConn, along with their dark and sinister coach (aka, Steven Miller’s evil twin–prove me wrong).

Game was close until the last couple of minutes. This meant that 19,000 people hit the exits around midnight, looking for a taxi, Uber, Lyft, etc. Realizing that it would be hours until I found one, I saw a sign near the arena that said “Public Transportation.” I headed straight for it and hopped the last train out.

Of course, I had no clear idea of where I was going. But a little help from Maps and some people on the train told me where to hop off to get back to my VRBO. An Uber would have cost $100, while the train cost me nothing.

This is just one of many reasons why I love and support public transit, particularly in my home city of Greenville, SC.

On Tuesday, July 21 at 6 p.m., Greenville County Council will vote on allocations from the Penny Sales Tax referendum. Greenlink, our public transit system, is set to receive 3% of that money (if the referendum passes).

But transit advocates are asking for a bump to 5% for Greenlink. Funding public transportation at that level begins to put us on par with other cities of similar size. Hopefully, it will put us on a track to fully fund one of the most important drivers of mobility, traffic relief, and greater economic impact.

My grandmother lived in Columbia, SC for 98 years, working in a sewing factory until she was 82 and living on her own until she was 95. She never had a license. It was the Cola public transit system that allowed her to do that. She rode the bus most days and taught me to ride it as well.

For context: Columbia funds public transit at about $45 per capita, while Greenville funds it at roughly $8 per capita. Simply put, if my Grandmama lived in Greenville, should could not have made it on her own.

Why would we not offer the same opportunity to people who are unable to drive? Cannot afford a car? Or simply prefer not to deal with our growing traffic problems?

Try going from East North Street to Greenville County offices at 10 a.m.; then try it at 4:30 p.m. You’re looking at 30-45 minutes for a 5-mile drive. Funded, effective transit could cut that to 15 minutes by bus. Why would we not fund something that saves roads, provides better mobility, and cuts down our drive times?

Going all the way back to Mayor Max Heller, Greenville has battled over providing and paying for public transit. We love our cars and our freedom and our ability to go where WE want to go and WHEN we want to go. Understandable as that is, now is the time to move towards

Transit studies reveal that Greenville could get a $2,000,000,000 (as in two billion dollars) in economic impact for our county. As much as we all dislike an extra penny per purchase, such a return on investment seems like a no-brainer.

But we only get that return if we fund transit as well as road repair.

In June, I took a week-long trip to Chicago. I landed at O’Hare, and started to search for an Uber. It was $78 to get one from the airport to my hotel. So I went to the public transit station to see if they had more reasonable options.

I bought a week-long transit ticket for $15, and took the train from the airport to one block from my hotel. I used that one ticket all week to get anywhere I needed to go in Chicago. I had to walk a little here and there, but usually less than half a mile (much easier in the Chicago summer, for sure).

$15 for a week. Can you get anywhere in Greenville, car or otherwise, for that price?

We’re not Chicago. We’re not likely to get bus routes to the airport anytime soon. But 5% will go a long way to pointing us in the right direction–and certainly get us closer to investing in something that lesser cities have done for a long time.

Better roads are great and badly needed. Yet, funding something that decreases traffic, provides for the “least of these” in our city, and increases the capacity of our entire community makes a lot of sense.

Let’s fund that.