Bike Durham Supports Transit Workers and Riders

This IS Our Mission

Bike Durham believes everyone should have access to safe, affordable, and sustainable transportation regardless of race, wealth, gender identity, ability, or where they live. During this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, our mission has led us to raise awareness that essential workers rely on our public transit system, and many of our most vulnerable residents continue to rely on GoDurham during the stay-at-home order in order to get to essential services. We have lifted up the stories of transit and paratransit operators who continue to drive the buses and vans of this essential service. We are continuing to partner with other local organizations in working with the City, GoDurham, and GoTriangle to ensure that our most vulnerable people can stay safe while riding GoDurham and ACCESS, and can reliably get to work and essential services without long waits. Our work is also connected to a national movement to draw attention to these issues and get more federal support.

Many Durham Residents Still Rely on GoDurham and ACCESS Services

Despite a recent 40% decrease in ridership on GoDurham due to the COVID-19 crisis, many people in Durham still rely on the system to make essential trips for work, groceries, and medical care. The majority (73%) of these riders are black and 53% report a household income of less than $15,000 per year. More resources are needed to ensure that the bus and paratransit employees and riders are protected from the virus, and that Durham’s most vulnerable citizens are not additionally burdened in their essential travel.

Riders are being informed at Durham Station that the number of people allowed on the bus will be limited. Bike Durham supports the decision to limit the number of riders on board each GoDurham bus to maintain recommended physical distancing. However, this policy means that riders are being passed up at bus stops and are having to wait long periods of time to board the next bus if the one they are trying to board is full.

DeArman S. told Bike Durham’s executive director, John Tallmadge, that she has had to wait a full hour to get to and from her home in south Durham to her job at a McDonald’s on Horton Road in north Durham due to full buses on Routes 5 and 9. Brandon W. also has had to wait 30 minutes for the next Route 12 bus when going to and from his job at a Waffle House on Highway 55.

We Can Have Safety AND Mobility

GoDurham recently announced that they are increasing the limit on the number of people who can board a bus from 10 to 16. It is encouraging to see the City taking seriously the issues we’ve raised about customers missing buses leading to long waits, but this raises new questions about whether this allows for recommended physical distancing on the bus. It also does not fully solve the capacity issues.

According to data obtained from GoTriangle for a time period covering March 29–April 11, 2020, there were more than 16 riders on a GoDurham bus on 10% of weekday trips, 7% of Saturday trips, and 13% of Sunday trips. On Route 3, the busiest route in the system, 56% of weekday trips carried more than 16 riders at any given time. 

Riders who cannot board a bus because it has reached the capacity limit are faced with a difficult set of choices. They will either need to wait up to an hour for the next bus, which may also be full, or find another way to get to their destination. These alternatives likely include a combination of shared rides, walking or biking along roads that may or may not be safe, or simply not making the trip at all. This type of uncertainty is an unwanted added stress at a time when many are already risking their own health to make essential trips.

Bike Durham Requests Further City Action

Bike Durham has requested that the City and GoTriangle address the following urgent issues immediately:

  1. Provide face masks free of charge to all customers and operators who need them until the need for them ends. Bike Durham has distributed more than 2,000 masks at Durham Station thanks to Covering the Triangle, but more are needed now and until this pandemic has passed.

  2. Develop strategies to ensure that Durham’s most vulnerable residents are still able to travel to essential jobs or services without extra delays or unreliability due to the new capacity limits. This may require partnerships with other transit agencies to provide more bus service on crowded routes.

  3. Ensure that safe alternatives to riding the bus are provided to facilitate physical distancing, such as temporary walking paths using underutilized road capacity, or partnerships with e-scooter companies currently operating in Durham. This is important now, and will be critical when the stay-at-home order begins to be lifted and more people who rely on GoDurham and ACCESS paratransit will need to travel again.

    For more information about Bike Durham’s request to the City and GoTriangle, please see our letter to Sean Egan, Transportation Director for the City of Durham.

We Want to Work With the City and GoTriangle to Address These Issues

Bike Durham understands that this is a challenging time to make additional requests of the City and GoTriangle, and we would not do so if we did not believe this is an urgent matter. Our organization has volunteers and board members who are ready to assist the City and GoTriangle to help identify and promote solutions to these issues.