To mark the birthday of Rosa Parks, LA Metro, Metrolink and transit agencies in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties will not charge for rides on Sunday, Feb. 4, Transit Equity Day.
The day of free rides remembers Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white man and move to the back of the bus as was required by Jim Crow laws in 1955. Parks resistance to racist laws in the Montgomery, Ala. transit system helped launch the civil rights movement.
Today, transit agencies and public transit advocacy groups talk of the day as putting a stamp on public transit as a civil right, a place where equal rights are part of the system.
“Transit Equity Day is a reminder that transit agencies like Metro have a duty to embed equity into everything we do,” said Stephanie Wiggins, CEO of Metro in a prepared statement.
The nonprofit, pro-LA County transit organization, Move LA, said the day should highlight the need for full funding of mass transit in all of Southern California.
“We make the connection to this act of resistance to highlight the rights of all people to high-quality public transportation run on clean/renewable energy,” the organization said in a statement released on Friday, Feb. 2.
Move LA wants all agencies and residents of Southern California to throw their support behind The Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act (H.R. 7039), authored by Rep. Hank Johnson, D-GA. The bill has support of many California representatives, including Nanette Barragan, D-Long Beach; Tony Cardenas, D-Pacoima; Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles; Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles; Grace Napolitano, D-El Monte; Linda Sanchez, D-Whittier, Adam Schiff, D-Burbank; Katie Porter, D-Irvine; Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, and Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles.
“This bill will help our community. We know transit is essential and this is why we celebrate transit riders on Transit Equity Day. It is a driver of economic growth and sustainability. It helps our community thrive,” said…
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