Justin Fox Burks
The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) board is postponing its vote on a set of service changes until after it assesses public feedback.
The MATA board of commissioners was originally set to vote on the proposed changes this week, but Nicole Lacey, MATA’s chief communications officer said the staff needs more time to review feedback collected at recent public meetings.
The vote is now scheduled for Thursday, October 25th at 3:30 p.m. at the MATA headquarters. If the board approves the service changes, they would now not go into effect until Sunday, December 9th.
Ahead of the October vote, Lacey said an updated list of service changes will be posted to the MATA website.
Originally, MATA proposed to make changes to about 30 routes. Some of the changes included limiting service on nights and weekends, as well as reducing frequency on certain routes.
The agency also planned to eliminate seven routes, including 31 Firestone, a demonstration route introduced last year to serve New Chicago in North Memphis.
Justin Davis, along with other members of the Memphis Bus Riders’ Union (MBRU) expressed concerns over the initial proposals, as they would have left areas like New Chicago, Boxtown, and Northhaven with “essentially have no transit service at all.”
“Memphis needs to have a wider conversation about how to fund transit that will fully serve the community’s needs,” Davis said. “A lot of people’s livelihoods are at stake.”
