Bike Durham has been considering how to respond to both the unjust murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the many others before them as well as to the violent use of force from police departments across the nation to silence the protesters. We support the protests calling for justice. We are fortunate in Durham to have peaceful protests, and acknowledge it took years of work from the Black community to reform our departments and elect Black leaders into positions of power to enable that peace. But the work is not over, and all of us need to participate.
As a transportation advocacy organization, we are answering the call by looking within ourselves and our own organization, as well as the transportation system and decision-making processes within Durham—not just to undo the harms caused by historical racist decisions, but also to actively acknowledge the ways in which our current system upholds these racist outcomes. We also know that we need to go beyond words, and take actions to support leaders of color working for justice and to develop and strengthen our own relationships with communities of color.
We are using this time to recommit ourselves to our mission statement: We believe everyone should have access to safe, affordable, and sustainable transportation regardless of race, wealth, gender identity, ability, or where they live. Bike Durham empowers people of all ages to walk, bike, and ride transit more often by promoting policy, infrastructure, education, and community events.
We encourage you to also engage in the work of dismantling racism. If you are looking for resources, there are many available online. You may find this one helpful. To deepen your understanding of the concepts of mobility justice, we urge you to read the work of the Untokening collective. We invite you to share resources that you have found informative and helpful via social media or email to director@bikedurham.org.
We have a lot of work to do. Bike Durham is committed to doing the work to dismantle white supremacy culture in local transportation processes and within our own organization.
Sincerely,
John Tallmadge, Executive Director
Allison Shauger, Board Chair
Bike Month Webinar: City Update on Biking and Walking Projects
The final Bike Month webinar on May 27th featured City of Durham Transportation Planning Manager Ellen Beckmann. She laid out the timeline of the City’s upcoming pedestrian- and bicycling-focused projects, and talked about the various challenges to getting them implemented.
At the midpoint and at the end, attendees had the chance to ask Beckmann questions. Text from the meeting’s chat window is reproduced below the video.
Andrew Black: Apologies if this is being addressed, but I’m hoping for an answer on our safe/open streets.
John Tallmadge: Thank you, Andrew. That will be part of Ellen’s presentation.
Andrew Black: What about narrowing streets and adding bike lanes?
Craig Young: YEAH!!!
Lauren Dirgo: That’s great news
Cynthia Bland: Yes, it seems like a road-diet to add a bike lane would be a more cost-effective project, right?
Andrew Black: That’s a lot of progress, nice work!
John Tallmadge: FYI: The Neighborhood Bike Routes are an iteration on the Bike Boulevards concept.
Andrew Black: What is timing for belt line?
Carlye Gates: Question about the neighborhood bike routes project: At least one of the streets included on the map (Gray Avenue) does not currently have any sidewalks, unfortunately. Would sidewalks, in addition to bike lanes, be added to these streets? If not, it would seem concerning to have bike lanes without a safe place for pedestrians to walk, as it would not be safe (for cyclists or pedestrians) to have pedestrians walking in the bike lanes.
Dave + Renee: Would that BUILD grant help expedite the Belt Line?
Craig Young: Is the City updating their Comprehensive Transportation Plan to include the future NCDOT projects that you mentioned, so that the updated Complete Streets Policy will apply and the City will not be responsible for any cost sharing for bike & ped accommodations on these projects?
Jim Svara: How is the City examining how to preserve and expand affordable housing around trail projects, in particular the Duke Beltline?
Nate: On the planning commission, we regularly recommend approval for hundreds of acres of sprawl development. No connectivity. No street trees. What can your department do to help change that precedence?
Andrew Black: Can you provide more detail on slow streets plan? It’s embarrassing and frustrating that nearly every city in the developed world has something except us.
Lauren Dirgo: Does the cost difference between the independent and opportunistic projects have anything to do with the prohibition on using state funding for bike/ped infrastructure?
Steve Hinkle: Without sidewalks, the neighborhood bike routes might exacerbate bike/pedestrian danger.
Carlye Gates: Agreed, Steve. I'm not sure why a street without sidewalks would be included as a street in the neighborhood bike route.
John Tallmadge: The transit tax brings in $30-35 million per year and less than $10 million per year has been committed to ongoing services.
Cynthia Bland: Wow!
James Nishimuta: Is there a reason that the Transit Plan, and funding for it, only considers buses, rather than also biking and walking as forms of transit?
Andrew Black: Seems like the loop could be cut down by one lane and used for walking and biking.
Lauren Dirgo: Any chance of BRT being a part of the transit plan?
Dave + Renee: Triangle Bikeway!
Matthew Clark (he/him): Everyone that buys a candy bar pays that transit tax. As an outsider, I would love to see organizations like Bike Durham focus on what it means to spend the revenue equitably.
Alex M: Why does NCDOT (state gov?) manage city roads? Sounds like a horrible idea.
Nate: Do you think Durham is open to municipally-sanctioned pop-up urbanism projects for short term demonstration of non-automotive facilities?
James Nishimuta: I encourage everyone here also check out BikeWalkNC, an advocacy organization that focuses more on the state level. Seems like a lot of challenges here are related to NCDOT
Cynthia Bland: If biking/walking is such a high priority among residents, why is it so hard to get those funded and built? What can we do to make this happen?
Andrew Black: Love that idea!
Robert Bush: The State ownership of roadways dates back to the Great Depression. Generally the State owns major roadways and cities own the rest.
Cynthia Bland: Good stuff!
Andrew Black: Feel like Foster was closed for a year and it was fine—why not now?
Carlye Gates: Isn't there a two-bike limitation on buses though? Perhaps this is why there are fewer cyclists compared to pedestrians, going to bus stops?
Robert Bush: It’s more related to how many people walk vs bike over the short distance to access buses.
Steve Hinkle: Some buses have room for three. But other options are to bike to the bus and ride bus to destination, leaving bike locked at the stop for when you return. Some bike racks at high use stops might encourage this.
Katherine O'Brien: Bike racks are also very rare at bus stops.
Carlye Gates: Understood. Thanks, all.
Cynthia Bland: Thanks, Ellen! Great presentation!
Steve Hinkle: Thanks Ellen!
Graham Watkins: Thank you very much!
Bike Month Webinar: How Travel is Changing in Time of COVID-19
On May 20, Bike Durham held a panel discussion on how the coronavirus is changing the streetscape in cities across the country. It featured Durham community organizer and BPAC officer Aidil Ortiz; UNC-Chapel Hill professor Tabitha Combs; and special guest Warren Logan, who directs policy on mobility and interagency relations for the mayor’s office of Oakland, CA. The discussion was moderated by Bike Durham member Erik Landfried.
Bike Durham's Letter to the City, May 11, 2020
The City’s vitally important stay-at-home measures have changed the way Durhamites are using our streets. In a letter to transportation director Sean Egan, Bike Durham called upon City staff to address these changing circumstances with concrete action.
Here are the main points of the letter, in brief:
While the governor has begun the slow process of re-opening the economy of North Carolina, evidence suggests that the effects of the stay-at-home orders and physical distancing recommendations will continue to change the way people get around Durham in a profound way. Bike Durham believes there is an urgent need to do more to address the inequitable impacts of this change. This need will only continue to grow as the economy opens back up and more people need to travel around Durham.
For many Durhamites, the current crisis has created new transportation challenges (this is to say nothing of the overall impact of COVID-19 which we know disproportionately impacts people of color and those with lower incomes). The inequities that existed in Durham’s transportation system prior to the onset of the pandemic have only been further exacerbated. Bus operator availability led to the recent decisions to reduce GoDurham to Sunday-level service and physical distancing recommendations (essential to protect bus operators) now limit the number of people on board buses to 16. This has left people behind and created additional delays for those who rely on the service.
To address these inequities and facilitate safe physical distancing on Durham's streets, Bike Durham has requested that the City, with assistance from Bike Durham members and volunteers, do the following things:
For the protection of riders and drivers, provide face masks free-of-charge to all fixed-route and paratransit customers who need them until the need for them ends.
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 on GoDurham buses.
Create a network of Slow Streets, using clearly visible, simple treatments to prohibit through traffic on residential streets, giving people room to exercise in their own neighborhoods, as well as facilitating foot and cycle travel throughout the city based on the City's adopted Neighborhood Bike Routes plan. The main inspiration for this call for comes from Oakland’s “Slow Streets” initiative.
Create a simple permitting process to allow individuals or neighborhoods to create their own Slow Streets, similar to one that was implemented in Kansas City in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The full text of the letter is below.
Celebrating Bike Month During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Bike Month is Here!
The month of May has been celebrated as Bike Month around the country for 64 years. We celebrate the joy of riding, the way that riding for transportation or exercise or hobby can make us healthier, save us money, and connect us with nature and our community. We encourage others to join us in enjoying the benefits of biking, and we call for safer streets so that everyone can ride.
While that remains true, this year’s Bike Month will be like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the stay-at-home orders that are keeping it contained, have forced us all to consider what is important, what is essential for keeping ourselves, our families, and our neighbors safe from this virus. At Bike Durham, we’ve had to consider how travel is changing in our community, and how we should adapt.
With our roots as a bicycle advocacy organization, we have cheered the sights of more people getting out on their bikes for transportation and exercise with fewer cars on the road. As an organization that is wrestling how to center racial equity in our work, we have observed that racial disparities that persist in our community reveal themselves in terms of whose travel is made more difficult through physical distancing requirements, and who has an easier time of keeping themselves and their families safe by staying-at-home. This awareness led us to join many in our community in supporting essential workers, especially those operating and riding GoDurham buses. At the same time we have questioned why Durham hasn’t yet followed the lead of other communities in designating slow streets and neighborhood bike routes to give more space for people to walk and bike safely in this time of required physical distancing.
As we have looked for a way forward through this time, we have tried to keep these priorities in mind:
Everyone in Durham should have safe access to food, medical care, mental health care, and recreational space. Essential workers should have safe access to their jobs and while at their jobs. Safe access now goes beyond traffic safety, freedom from crime and over-enforcement by the police, and extends to safety from COVID-19 through physical distancing, hand washing, and face coverings.
Changes to our streets or transit system should be unwinding racial and economic inequities, not perpetuating it.
When moving about in Durham, everyone must consider not just how our actions affect our own safety, but the safety of others. We need to learn how to expand our thinking about “rules of the road” to cover physical distancing.
These are all priorities that Bike Durham has held, but the pandemic and stay-at-home order has brought them into starker relief and forced us to wrestle with what is essential. We have tried to acknowledge the differences that people are experiencing - supporting those who are finding their way back onto bikes as well as those essential workers who are anxious about safely getting to work on GoDurham. This remains a work-in-progress, but it is the spirit in which we are carrying our work forward into Bike Month.
Just in time for Bike Month, we’ve added a subscription to the RidewithGPS app as a new Bike Durham member benefit. This May, when you’re ready to get out on your bike, we encourage you to try the bike routes we’ve planned in the RidewithGPS (including May the Fourth Be With You, Koala, and a tour of NCCU’s campus). They’ll be fun, and the app should enhance the experience and give us a sense of togetherness, even while we’re keeping physical distance. We’ll have webinars on topics ranging from using RidewithGPS to how to select safety equipment for yourself and bike to a panel on how travel has changed in Durham during the pandemic. We’ll be profiling Durham bike riders throughout the month and encouraging you to share your stories about why and how you bike Durham. We’ll close the month with a Scavenger Hunt week that we each can do on our own, while sharing the experience virtually, with prizes for winners. More details on all of these activities can be found at bikedurham.org/bikemonth.
We want to thank our sponsors the Way to Go Durham program of the City of Durham, and the GoPerks program at GoTriangle.
We also want to thank our partners in rethinking Bike Month and pulling this together - staff from the City of Durham, the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO, North Carolina Central University, Duke University, and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Video: Bike Durham Supports Transit Operators
In these challenging times, some cities have suspended bus service. Durham has kept the buses running, which has provided crucial support to some of the city’s more disadvantaged communities. It’s also moved bus operators to the front lines of the battle to preserve the normal workings of the economy, while placing their personal safety at no small risk.
Bus ridership is down, and service and hours of operation have been cut back. While many customers are able to stay home or have found other ways of getting around, bus and paratransit van operators continue to work their shifts serving the remaining customers.
To protect bus operators and keep customers properly distanced, the City and GoTriangle have instituted fare-free, rear-door boarding. Some seats are marked unavailable, and operators can activate a "Bus Full" sign once 14 people are on the bus. The City of Durham is paying for operators of GoDurham buses and ACCESS vans to receive a 5% wage premium during the Stay-at-Home order.
Bike Durham appreciates the GoDurham operators and staff who are keeping the buses running during this time of crisis. #TransitIsEssential
Video: Bike Durham Supports Transit
As discussed in our two previous blog posts, Durham’s decision to keep the buses running during this time of “flattening the curve” has been crucial to the people who rely on it to get around. Mayor Steve Schewel’s “Stay at Home” order allows for “essential” services to continue operation; along with hospitals, this includes bicycle shops, grocery stores, restaurants, construction sites, utilities, and other places of work.
On March 23rd, GoDurham began offering fare-free, rear-boarding service to protect the safety of bus operators. Transportation Director Sean Egan says “GoDurham intends to provide service for essential trips in our community for as long as it is safe and appropriate to do so.” Bike Durham applauds this decision. #TransitIsEssential
Durham Residents Continue to Rely on GoDurham During Pandemic
After Durham Station, the second busiest bus stop in Durham is in east Durham at the Village Shopping Center, sometimes called Wellons Village, near the intersection of North Miami Blvd and Holloway Street. There is always a crowd, of varying sizes, getting ready to get on a bus headed downtown, out toward Walmart on East Geer Street, toward the Holton Career and Resource Center on Driver Street, or east down Highway 98.
This Tuesday at mid-day, the scene was no different. As the time neared for buses to arrive, people would gather on either side of Raynor Street, ready to get on. Some were clearly concerned about the COVID-19 virus, keeping their distance from one another, or wearing masks and gloves. Talib W., an older man from east Durham was wearing a worn light-blue face mask and winter gloves. He said since the virus, “it’s changed a lot. There are less people, it’s not as crowded as it used to be. You see more people are using protective gear. Masks and gloves. Not all of them, but you’ve got those who are conscientious.”
Others were less concerned, joking with one another, or sitting right next to each other under the lone shelter at this busy location. A young man sitting under the shelter said he’s not worried about being too close to others on the bus. “I think people are taking this virus too seriously.” The young woman with a toddler in her lap said people need to get to work to make money. She said when you have to choose between making money and risking getting sick, people are going to do what they have to to make money.
Earl C.
Photo by John Tallmadge
Others shared their stories about how critical GoDurham was for them. Earl C., a middle-aged man from east Durham, said “If the buses shut down, it would affect me in my responsibilities in going to see my kids, probably to go to work, everyday travel.” He’d continued, ”Education, health, doctor’s appointments, picking up medications, the post office. It would affect a lot for my everyday travel, everyday use. It would be very detrimental to my everyday life.”
Mr. Glenwood J, who lives near Northgate Mall shared, “I use GoDurham almost exclusively. To pick up personal items, to get groceries, especially to get to Durham Tech’s campus to take classes. It’s a critical part of my daily life.”
Ridership is Noticeably Lower
All the people waiting at the Village had noticed that there were fewer people on most buses. That’s confirmed by data from staff at GoTriangle who shared that on Monday, ridership on GoDurham was down about 25% from a normal Monday, and that ridership on GoTriangle was down 60-70%. These figures are in line with results from other transit agencies around the country, where commuter-oriented services have seen precipitous declines in riders who are now working from home or have been laid off. Local transit services, whose customers use the services for work and education, but also for connections to grocery stores, medical appointments, and other services, have seen lower declines in usage.
Here in Durham, it can vary by route. Talib W “was surprised that I got on one bus, and there was nobody but me when normally these buses on Route 3C have 20 or more people on them. But for those who have to go shopping, they can’t help but get on a crowded bus, but [many] still have the protective gear.” According to GoTriangle planners, Route 3, which goes to Walmart, only had 12% fewer riders than a normal weekday. Mr. Johnson said “I just came down on Route 3 and it was probably three-quarters, almost full capacity.”
Earl C. observed that many buses are less crowded because lots of things are shutting down. “I went to Social Security today. Social Security office is shutting down. I tried to get some clothes at CitiTrends [a clothing store] and it was shut down. A few other places where I tried to go do some things were shut down. And the buses are shutting down [early at 9:30pm].” He was concerned about whether GoDurham service would continue to operate. “I don’t know if thery’e going to have the buses too long, because everything is shutting down. And there’s less people on the bus and they don’t really want to be together with each other, so I don’t really know how long that will hold up.”
GoDurham Connects Some Riders Who Donate Life-Giving Plasma
Adjacent to the bus stop is a CSL Plasma donation center. CSL Plasma is one of the nation’s leading producers of blood products. According to their website, “Plasma is the essential ingredient for products crucial to treating patients suffering from a host of life-threatening conditions and bleeding disorders.” At companies like this, donors are compensated for their donation. Again, according to their website, new donors can earn up to $400 in their first month. Continuing donors can earn about $300 if they make donations twice each week. Earl C. said sheepishly, “I go sometimes [to earn money] to pay bills, get groceries, pay fines. City fines for traffic tickets or things of that nature. It’s pretty beneficial to have that open. I was surprised it’s open because of the COVID virus. I don’t know how long that’s going to be open.”
Glenwood J.
Photo by John Tallmadge
As long as it remains open, and GoDurham remains operating, Earl C. and Glenwood J. will continue to ride here to donate plasma so that they have the money to pay their bills and get groceries. It’s an important source of income for them. This is the underlying message in all of these stories - GoDurham is essential in connecting them to ways to earn money and to all of life’s necessities. While some are nervous about exposure to the virus, nearly all are more concerned about what it would mean for GoDurham to stop running.
NOTE: This post is the second in a series about how people are using transit and bicycles during the emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Durham.
Transit Is Essential Connection to Healthcare Jobs
Standing away from the others at the bus shelter in front of the Duke Medical Center, Jani Hale waits for her GoDurham bus. Wearing her light blue surgical gloves, she’s ready to take the bus home at the end of day working for Duke University Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. She rides every day and has noticed that it is a lot emptier on the buses since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in Durham. She has continued to ride because it’s her only way to work, and she appreciates that there is hand sanitizer on-board and that the city of Durham has recently made the buses free of charge. “It kinda lessens the heavy weight that we’re all carrying right now.”
Jani Hale, Duke University Medical Center Employee, waits on GoDurham Route 20
Photo Credit: John Tallmadge
On Sunday night, the City of Durham, followed by GoTriangle, the City of Raleigh, and the Town of Cary, suspended fares and required boarding through the rear doors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As reported Monday in the Raleigh News & Observer, Sean Egan, transportation director for the City of Durham said these measures are intended to keep customers and employees safe. “GoDurham operators and all of our front-line colleagues face the same pressures as everyone else right now,” Egan said in a written statement.
“They have families, kids out of school, loved ones with health concerns, and others may know someone already impacted by COVID-19. Despite these pressures, and despite understandable concerns, our workforce is showing up out of a sense of duty to the community.”
Egan said GoDurham will continue to operates as long as it is “safe and appropriate to do so.” Durham Mayor Steve Schewel shared in an email that he’s “worried about the social distancing on buses.” He is discussing with partners whether to run extra buses on busy routes “so we can cut down on the number of people on each bus. I’m not sure this is going to be able to happen, but I think it would be good if we could do it.”
Jen an Occupational Therapist at Duke Hospital who lives about two miles from the hospital on Route 11B, remarked that “everybody seems to be adhering to the precautions about being six feet apart. I just try to be careful and carry hand sanitizer with me and not touch anything.”
If the local bus systems or GoTriangle stopped running their services, or significantly cut back on their frequency, most remaining passengers would have few, if any, remaining options. While Jen has a car, she does not pay for a parking space at Duke Medical Center, so if the buses stopped running, she believes that “she would be in a bit of trouble.” Jen thinks she “might have to ask friends for a ride, which would be very inconvenient and scary for them. They don’t want to be close to others right now when we’re supposed to be socially distancing. I think that the bus is probably a better way to socially distance oneself than carpooling.”
Masti, a young woman who works in a lab at Duke University Medical Center, rides GoTriangle route 405 and connects to Chapel Hill Transit routes. She has already had to adjust to last week’s cutback in Chapel Hill service to less frequent Saturday levels. Monday morning, she missed her connection to work and ended up calling Uber to get to her job. If GoTriangle were to discontinue or reduce service levels she is afraid she couldn’t come to work or would have to pay for an Uber most days. Doug M., who works at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center, and uses the same route as Masti, expects he would reluctantly switch to driving or taking Uber to work.
Ms. Hale has considered biking, but like in most cities, few of the streets in Durham have been designed to be safe for all users. She mapped out a bike route, but found “they don’t have the bike lane throughout the whole path coming here, so that would be kinda dangerous.” She called out Duke University Road, Academy Road and University Drive as the three main roads along her route where she wouldn’t feel safe on a bike. Jen also considered biking but noted that on day’s like Monday when it was raining, “it wouldn’t really be convenient to have to change once I got to work.”
For Hale, keeping the buses running is essential. “Yeah, I don’t know what I would do if the bus system was to stop running. I wouldn’t be able to get to work. Where I live and where I work was based on the bus route.”
NOTE: This post is the first in a series about how people are using transit and bicycles during the emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Durham.