Bus riders are waiting longer for buses or sometimes waiting for a bus that never arrives due to a Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) staffing shortage.
MATA’s goal for on-time performance, which measures how often buses arrive within a seven-minute window of their scheduled time, is 76 percent. Since May it’s been at 63 percent.
Gary Rosenfeld, MATA’s CEO, said that number is “totally unacceptable.” He said a shortage of bus operators has affected MATA’s ability to improve its on-time performance and meet the expectations of customers.
MATA has about 200 fixed-route bus operators and needs about 30 more just to have enough manpower to provide reliable daily services. Rosenfeld said this is especially true as the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise in the county.
“We’ve been hit with Covid-related absences at a much higher rate this month than last month or the month before,” Rosenfeld said. “We find ourselves with not enough operators to put all the service in the streets according to what’s posted in the schedule.”
Rosenfeld said he knows this puts additional stress on passengers, as well as the employers whose employees depend on MATA to get to work on time.
“I emphasize and sympathize with our passengers,” Rosenfeld said. “It just creates a really bad situation for them and for our employees who catch the brunt of people’s stress and anger over poor service conditions.”
There is also a shortage of mechanics who are needed to regularly inspect the buses. On average, buses need to be inspected every eight to ten days, Rosenfeld said. Without a full complement of mechanics, the inspections back up and those buses can’t run.
“So you can see the gravity of the situation,” Rosenfeld said. “If we fall behind a day or two because of a shortage of qualified mechanics, we quickly fall behind in the number of buses that are available to provide service. And we will not sacrifice safety and put buses in the street that are not inspected.”
‘It’s Not Pretty’
With late buses, or buses not showing up at all, Sammie Hunter, co-chair of the Memphis Bus Riders Union, said he and other bus riders struggle to get to jobs, school, and other essential destinations like the grocery store. Hunter said August has been particularly rough as temperatures rose above 90 degrees most days.
“You have people that have to stand in the heat and the sun when the bus they’re waiting on might not even show up,” Hunter said. “I’ve seen it all and it’s not pretty.”
Hunter said he relies on the 69 route to get home after work and often waits two hours for it to arrive.
“When I get off work, it’s the end of the day, I’m tired, and I’m ready to go home,” Hunter said. “Taxpayers deserve reliable, sufficient transportation. We should be able to go to a stop, get on a bus, and get where we need to in a reasonable amount of time.”
Hunter said he understands “things happen,” but there needs to be contingency plans for situations like bus operator shortages.
‘Doing All We Can’
Rosenfeld said the issue is not limited to MATA or Memphis. There has been a shortage of commercial drivers in the country for the past several years, he said. The pandemic has exacerbated that.
“Just like the medical profession is seeing an exodus because of what nurses and hospital workers are going through, our frontline folks are dealing with many of the same issues,” Rosenfeld said. “They have to deal with the public and trying to enforce reasonable rules for public safety while operating a bus is not necessarily an easy job.”
As a result, employees are finding jobs with less responsibility or retiring.
“Employees are in charge right now in terms of the market,” Rosenfeld said. “Employers are really at a disadvantage.”
“Just like the medical profession is seeing an exodus because of what nurses and hospital workers are going through, our frontline folks are dealing with many of the same issues.”
Rosenfeld said MATA has been working to recruit employees for “quite some time” with signing bonuses, a modified training program, and revamped benefits packages.
“We’re doing all we can to generate interest in our program for new employees,” Rosenfeld said. “At the same time, so is every other employer in the service industry in the greater Memphis area.”
One way MATA attempted to recruit more employees is by raising its starting wages to $19.35 an hour for bus operators after they complete training and $26 an hour for mechanics, but Rosenfeld said that still isn’t enough to compete with other major transportation companies in the region.
The average starting wage for commercial operators has increased from $12 an hour to over $25 an hour in the past 18 months, he said. In retail, there’s an avenue to generate more revenue to pay employees more, but MATA has a fixed revenue.
“From a wage and benefit perspective, we’ve probably done all we can do for right now,” Rosenfeld said. “But if we end up at the top of the hill, it won’t take long for other companies to either match it or exceed it.”
Fleets of self-driving cars don’t pilot Memphis streets, but it’s time we started to think about the day they will.
Prepare the streets. Prepare the technology. Prepare local policies. John Zeanah, director of the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development, said the advent of connected and autonomous vehicles in Memphis is still far out on the time horizon. But the potential is here and there’s already opportunity for pilot projects, so Memphis should be ready.
Self-driving cars may be a cool vision for the near future. But for Zeanah, “government efficiency is really cool,” and the time to plan for technology’s role in our near future is now.
For some things, the future is already here. Fiber lines connect and coordinate about half the city’s traffic signals. Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) riders can access free wifi on the bus. In-pipe sensors tell Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) if a drain is clogged with fat, oil, and grease.
Though, when Zeanah and his team looked around Memphis, they found technology integration across the city system was uneven, ad hoc — usually driven by individual departments solving a single issue and not by high-level policy. More fiber lines were needed. Broadband subscription rates were lower in the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
When Zeanah and his team were about a year away from finishing the Memphis 3.0 Plan, the underlying document for much of the city’s current development, they were also asked to begin research on a “smart city” plan. The culmination of that work is the multi-pronged, multi-year Smart Memphis Plan. Approved in April, the plan will touch nearly every department at Memphis City Hall and services across the city.
“You’ve observed the same thing that we have that’s happening nationwide and worldwide,” Zeanah said. “Technology is changing a lot of the ways in which companies do business, governments provide services, and now how the built environment is being shaped.”
Smart City Overview
Years ago, new technology brought a wave of new products to the market, and homeowners were scrambling to Google “internet of things” to see what the fuss was all about. Early adopters came home in the early 2000s with products somehow connected to their internet that they somehow commanded with their phones.
The Nest Thermostat, though, was the earliest, smart-home introduction for most in 2010. Apple’s HomeKit smart-home hub launched in 2014, the same year Amazon’s Echo (with Alexa) was introduced. These brought smart-home solutions to the masses. Now, homeowners are comfortable controlling tens of thousands of devices with their phones, with their voices, or with automation.
Homeowners use the products to run a better household, helping to control systems like security, lighting, and energy use. Cities use smart technology to run better city services, helping to control systems, like transportation, healthcare, wastewater, education, and law enforcement.
Before you think this is some tech trend, consider that Forbes Business Insights projects the global smart-home industry is expected to grow by 29 percent through 2026, with an estimated value of $622.5 billion that year. The smart-city tech industry is expected to grow by about 20 percent each year, according to a review by Research and Markets, for a total worth of $2.51 trillion in 2025.
Certainly don’t think Memphis is alone in reaching for “smart city” advances. In fact, it would be hard to find a city not working to squeeze government efficiency from technology. The “smart city” movement is big enough, for example, to support the nonprofit Smart Cities Council, with hundreds of member cities worldwide, and Cities Today, a magazine devoted to urban tech innovation.
Smart City Profile: Chattanooga
EPB, Chattanooga’s power and telecom company, installed 1-gig, high-speed internet in 2010, the first city to do so in the United States. It doubled down in 2015, offering community-wide 10-gig service.
For it, PCMag called the city a “tech hub.” Vice magazine said Chattanooga was “the city that was saved by the internet.” The online Techdirt said the city was the No. 1 remote-working town in America. Maybe more importantly, independent research from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga found the fiber network’s 10-year return on investment was $2.69 billion.
In Chattanooga, the “world’s fastest internet” can be yours for $68 per month.
“No Dinosaurs”
The Smart Memphis Plan looks ahead only three to five years. That’s on purpose, Zeanah said. His team started with a blank slate and a short-range plan would really outline the immediate steps needed in the next few years, instead of trying to predict the future.
Tech usage in city division here is gauged on a maturity index that asks: How far along are city departments in their use of technology? On a scale from 1 (using tech in an ad hoc, stand-alone way) to 5 (using tech for shared solutions across divisions), very few Memphis city services make it to the third level. Most hover around 1 or 2 on the scale. Some are at 0 (not working to advance tech).
But this wasn’t a surprise to Zeanah, and he said that “it’s not uncommon for most cities.” So, the starting point for the Smart Memphis Plan was for services that were just beginning to use technology or not using technology at all.
“‘No dinosaurs’ was a mantra we used to try to train our thinking as we were moving through our recommendations not only for our team but for other divisions as well,” Zeanah said. “That was always a good touchpoint to keep coming back to … as we’re moving beyond some of the systems and processes of the past and embracing smart technology in a more integrated way.”
Smart City Profile: Birmingham, Alabama
The city won a Smart Cities Readiness Grant from the Smart Cities Council in 2018 to push a host of improvements.
City leaders want to create an open data portal for citizens, a real-time bus tracker for public transportation, a gunshot detection system for public safety, online energy payments, LED upgrades for streetlights, and a collection of bike-share data to prioritize future bike-lane projects.
MATA
Board a MATA bus today and your phone will find a relief for any modern commuter, a wifi signal.
MATA buses recently got massive tech upgrades: onboard vehicle health monitoring systems, camera security systems, and a next-generation fare system that is slated to come online next year. This all required cellular phone service data for buses.
But the systems didn’t need all of the data, so MATA took the unused portion and made it available to customers as on-board wifi, said MATA President and CEO Gary Rosenfeld.
He and his team found a huge surprise when the wifi system went live. Nearly 500,000 wifi requests came from customers in the first 30 days. In June, the system was hitting about 500,000 wifi requests per day, Rosenfeld said.
The next tech step for MATA was the GO901 Mobile app. On the app, users can already buy tickets, manage their accounts, see where their bus is on a map, find schedules, plan trips, and subscribe to system alerts via text, voice, or email. But Rosenfeld says the next version of the app will have on-time data for customers, and it could transform much about the way we now think about transit tickets.
Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies and diamonds: Those are but two things Hong Kong subway riders can buy with their transit passes, Rosenfeld said. It could work the same way in Memphis, he said, as long as any company out there was willing to think outside the box. He envisioned, maybe, buying Graceland tickets or Memphis Zoo tickets through the GO901 Mobile app.
Such a system could also benefit those with little money. The app could be connected to social service providers in Memphis, just the same as businesses. Partnerships with nonprofits, schools, churches, and more could find pools of funds to pay for bus fares for those who can’t afford it and add it straight to their transit ticket account.
Rosenfeld said there’s even a more direct way the new tech system will help MATA’s poorest users: fare capping.
“About 80 percent of our passengers today buy their bus fare on a daily basis,” he said. “They don’t take advantage of [cheaper] monthly passes in many cases because they can’t afford that much cash at the beginning of the month.”
With the new fare system, MATA will be able to track a customer’s use of the system. Once they use the system a certain number of times in a month, MATA will stop charging them.
MATA data also turned up the need for a new kind of transportation system Downtown, in the Medical District, and in New Chicago. Groove On-Demand allows users in those zones to call for a ride on an app, just like Uber or Lyft. It was eyed as a tool to provide affordable, efficient, and convenient public transit in an area brimming with growth in the pipeline and to help those there get to work, to stores and restaurants, and to medical appointments.
The service was launched in February in a collaboration with the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) and the Memphis Medical District Collaborative. Given COVID-19 restrictions still in place at the time and a still-small Downtown population, Rosenfeld said the service has carried “a couple thousand passengers” and is still “somewhat limited service.” However, he said to expect to see some additional Groove On-Demand services added this month.
MATA’s technological leaps and service opportunities for customers would not be possible, Rosenfeld said, without data.
“You can’t really manage anything you don’t track,” he said. “So the first step is setting up an accountability system you can track and [to be able to] respond and react to changes in trends or for directions.”
A “smart” Long Beach does not mean flying cars and a monorail down Ocean Boulevard, according to the city’s website. It does, however, mean using data and technology to solve community problems and taking a citizens-first approach to it.
Many Long Beachers had never heard of a “smart city” when leaders there began researching its 2019 smart plan, according to a story in Cities Today. Many worried about data privacy. Some could see benefits to a smart city; others could not. So, those leaders flipped the conversation, citizens — not tech companies — would dictate the city’s “smart” vision.
The city is now using tech to monitor air quality, moving police reports from paper to digital, gathering resident feedback on policy decisions, and giving them a digital dashboard to track development projects.
Memphis Fire Services
Memphis firefighters are sometimes called to help women giving birth. Seasoned firefighters knew these OB-GYN calls came from certain areas of town. But that was institutional knowledge, not data points — that is, until numbers were crunched and plotted on a map.
“The community risk assessment enabled the command staff to visualize all of this information and make decisions,” said Andrew Cole, a senior data analyst with Memphis Fire Services (MFS).
With this new tool, MFS leaders could easily spot the need in the community. They could then ensure areas that needed extra OB-GYN care were staffed with personnel with the right kind of training.
Decision-making tools like this got a boost recently, Cole said. Leaders can now see MFS’s equipment fleet spread across the city in real time. How many trucks responded to one incident? Is that too many? Should we shuffle some equipment around?
Thanks to new tech from a third-party vendor, fire leaders have up-to-date situational awareness on their phones, tablet, or laptop.
“[Firefighting equipment] is a finite resource,” Cole said, “so they’re able to see that we’ve got this much availability and these resources are at the ready or these resources are currently committed.”
Dashboarding data is a big push for MFS, Cole said, and is used in the agency’s day-to-day operations. Data informs decisions on everything from service calls and training to how well a firefighter employs a piece of gear compared to their counterparts.
Smart City Profile: Columbus, Ohio
Thanks to a $69 million investment of federal, state, and local funds, Columbus concluded its mobility-focused Smart City Challenge in June. The city’s locally produced Pivot app brings together payment for buses, bikes, rail, taxis, and rideshares and offers turn-by-turn navigation throughout central Ohio. You can find and reserve parking in the ParkColumbus app.
A $10 million private grant helped electrify the city’s transportation network with more than 900 EV charging stations, which influenced more than 3,200 residents there to buy electric cars and lower greenhouse gases.
Fiber Challenge
Street design and pedestrian safety measures aided by speed cameras. Increased free public wifi at city buildings, parks, and bus stops. LED street lights. Alternative energy production at wastewater treatment plants. Greener building codes. Predicting blight. Clear policies on use of police body-camera footage. Sensors that alert crews when trash cans are full.
All of these are recommendations in the Smart Memphis Plan. They’re all achievable, according to the plan, but they all have a common challenge, Zeanah said: broadband access.
“It’s going to be necessary for the city to have that fiber backbone to be able to support advancement of many of the recommendations in the Smart Memphis Plan,” he said.
Telecom companies laid miles of fiber here in 2019 in the run-up to Verizon’s 5G service launched here in late 2019. A map in the Smart Memphis Plan shows the city’s existing fiber lines, heavily concentrated Downtown and far fewer across the city.
On the map, it’s easy to see how scanty fiber lines in North and South Memphis correlate to low broadband internet subscription rates there. But the Smart Memphis plan aims to fix this, too.
First priority for fiber expansion will go to neighborhoods with low broadband rates that have community anchors as outlined in the Memphis 3.0 plan, and are close to existing fiber lines — think Uptown or Hollywood. Next will be areas with no close access to fiber, and the final push will focus on neighborhood anchors with regular broadband subscription rates.
Memphis is certainly not alone in the digital divide. Broadband rates are lower across the country for racial minorities with lower incomes and less education and for those in rural areas, according to the latest data from the Pew Research Center, which has tracked Americans’ internet usage since 2000. In Shelby County, 99 percent of the population has access to broadband internet but only 43 percent of the population uses broadband internet speeds, according to the latest data from the Federal Communications Commission and Microsoft.
In many ways, Memphis is just starting its “smart” journey, but the Smart Memphis Plan gives a road map to the future. That future is not sci-fi with flying cars, hoverboards, or self-lacing Nikes. But it’s cool if you think getting development permits online is cool. Zeanah does. If your next encounter with city services (paying a bill, requesting a new recycle bin, or needing emergency help) is made easier, you will, too.
Groove On-Demand will offer affordable ridesharing options to Memphians
The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA), Downtown Memphis Commission, and Memphis Medical District Collaborative have partnered to create a new transit service that will offer an alternative to Uber and Lyft in the city of Memphis. Called Groove On-Demand the dynamically routed public transit service will launch on the 10th of February.
The goal of the new service is to give to affordable, efficient, and convenient public transit for all riders in the greater Downtown Memphis area. In a statement, the partnership mentions Downtown Development and an increase in population as the basis for the creation of the program.
“Nearly three years ago, MATA was selected to receive free technical assistance to help develop mobility-on-demand projects such as this one,” said Gary Rosenfeld, chief executive officer at MATA. “The launch of Groove On-Demand is another opportunity for MATA to improve how people connect to their destinations using an on-demand-response service that transports riders directly from their doorstep to their destination. Another great benefit of this service is that it will greatly improve transit service to people who live in density-challenged neighborhoods.”
Groove On-Demand will work in a similar fashion to other ride-sharing services, with riders hailing a vehicle directly from their smartphone using the Groove On-Demand mobile app. Riders will be able to travel to any location within the service area from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. Rides will be similar to that of a bus trip starting at $1.25 and going up to $0.75 for each additional passenger. Concessions for seniors, students, and riders with disabilities are $0.50 per ride.
“Our work to create a ‘Downtown for Everyone’ includes increasing mobility options across this geography. Working with MATA and MMDC to provide equitable transit options in Downtown just makes sense. Whether you are a commuter, resident, patient, or student the new Groove On-Demand provides a low-cost shared-transit opportunity,” said Lauren Crabtree, transportation program manager at Downtown Memphis Commission.
“Additionally, increasing mobility choice is a core function of Downtown’s new Transportation Management Association or TMA. Providing an on-demand transit service like this a great start.”
As a part of their pledge to ensure accessibility for all riders, Groove On-Demand will provide wheelchair-accessible vehicles and booking for those without a smartphone by calling them directly at (901) 763-8422. For more information about Groove On-Demand visit their website.
Last week Memphis Area Transit Authority launched a redesigned website and new app aimed towards modernizing and streamlining its bus service.
The app, GO901 Mobile, is a free mobile fare app that allows passengers to purchase single fare tickets and all-day passes on their smartphones using a debit or credit card. The app also enables users to add money to and manage their account balance allowing them to buy multiple passes or tickets and store them for future use.
Once downloaded, riders will be able to hit the “use ticket” or “use pass” button to display their single-use ticket or all-day pass. They then need only to scan their pass on the scanners located in the front of MATA vehicles.
With the launch of the app, MATA also rolled out a new version of its website. The changes included a new sleek design as well as integration for the new mobile app. The website allows users to more easily manage their account balance and ticket purchases with the new GO901 app.
“A few years ago, we began making a concerted effort to improve communications by implementing a series of actionable recommendations,” said MATA spokeswoman Nicole Lacey. “When we met with key stakeholders at that time, one of the biggest takeaways was that we needed to improve the mobile interactivity of the website. We think we have accomplished that and hope that visitors find it to be more appealing, more informative, and more engaging.”
The redesigned website and new app are the most recent changes in a long line of modernization efforts by MATA. Last December, MATA began offering wi-fi access on all of its fixed-route buses, para-transit vehicles, and rail trolley cars. The next step for MATA will be the implementation of new ticket vending machines and point of sale systems.
While MATA had plans to introduce new buying options before the outbreak of COVID-19, the pandemic heightened the need to offer cashless fare options.
“We’re seeing all across the country how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused more industries — including public transportation — to take a second look at how to operate in a cashless economy,” said MATA Chief Executive Officer Gary Rosenfeld. “With the introduction of the new GO901 mobile app, it will hopefully remove the fears associated with the virus and paper money as well as offering passengers more convenient payment options and the possibility of attracting new customers who don’t want to carry cash or go to the transit centers to purchase passes.”
After discussions with the Memphis City Council, the Memphis Bus Riders Union, Citizens for Better Service, and the Boxtown Neighborhood Association, the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) announced that fixed route service will be resuming formerly retired routes.
The Route 6 Northaven, 31 Firestone, and 38 Boxtown will resume effective Monday, September 14th. The routes had been temporarily reduced in response to COVID-19.
The resuming routes are listed below.
Route 6: Weekday service only, frequency every 45 minutes from 5:40-9 a.m. and 3:15-6:15 p.m.
Route 31: Weekday service only, frequency every 35 minutes from 6-8 a.m. and 3:15-6:15 p.m.
Route 38: Weekday service only, frequency every 90 minutes from 5:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
The resumption of routes comes amid a push by MATA to implement a new on-demand micro-transit project in Boxtown, Westwood, and parts of Whitehaven in 2021. The project’s goal is to improve access to its fixed route service and combat declining ridership.
During the announcement, MATA also revealed that they would be making general service improvements. MATA plans to go into detail on the extent of the improvements via public virtual meetings occurring on September 8th and 12th.
The Shelby County Commission approved a $2.5 million allocation in CIP (capital improvement plan) funds to the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) last week, which the agency plans to invest in three projects.
Since then, many, including representatives of the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH) who have played a prominent role in the conversation about transit funding, have lauded the commission for making the investment. MICAH leaders said now, and as the regional economy begins to heal, a public transit system is critical.
Justin Davis of the Memphis Bus Riders Union (MBRU) expressed similar sentiments, saying the group is “happy to see the county stepping up to help fund MATA, especially in times like these.”
CEO of MATA Gary Rosenfeld told the county commission that the agency plans to use the funds to implement a demand-response system in the entertainment district and the Westwood/Boxtown area, a mini-transit station near Third and Brooks, and an investment in the Bus Rapid Transit project. All three projects are in line with MATA’s Transit Vision Plan.
Davis said the MBRU supports MATA’s proposal of a demand-response system in Boxtown/Westwood, as the area has been a big focus of the group for a while.
Davis said if the demand-response model is successful and has community support in Boxtown/Westwood, then MATA should consider using that model in other low-density neighborhoods that don’t have frequent service, like Northaven.
Rosenfeld said he expects to see the demand-response system introduced in the entertainment district and in Boxtown/Westwood before the end of the year. Moving forward, Rosenfeld said, MATA is “embracing the new transit paradigm” and will consider implementing this service and other forms of alternative transit models in the future in additional neighborhoods. The Transit Vision plan calls for alternate forms of transportation in about six areas with low ridership density.
Another project MATA plans to invest in, the $75 million Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, mostly funded by federal grants, will be a high-frequency route from Downtown to the University of Memphis.
Davis said many MBRU members are “deeply concerned” about continued investments in Midtown and Downtown, as these areas already have the most reliable bus service.
“It’s vital that MATA starts filling in the huge gaps in their infrastructure in places like North, South, and Southeast Memphis so that riders in those places can stay connected to their basic necessities and get higher quality service,” he said.
However, Rosenfeld said the project is federally funded and needs continued local support in order to maintain federal match dollars. He also said that it will benefit a number of bus riders, not just those living in Midtown and Downtown.
“It’s a community development project that will enhance the opportunities for any bus rider whose ride intersects with the BRT,” he said. “The BRT will improve their connection time and improve their access to jobs within the corridor. Although I understand the Bus Riders Union’s concerns, we can’t just turn our back on a project that we have received funding for on the federal level.”
Rosenfeld added that MATA is not investing in this project on a whim, but that the project was previously selected out of 26 alternate transit projects. The BRT is “well thought-out plans tested against formulas to make sure the federal government gets the maximum return on its investments and that our community gets the maximum return on local dollars.”
He noted that based on the design of the BRT, ridership is likely to increase by between 25 and 50 percent. “There aren’t a lot of other routes in our network or alignments that would even come close to that increase in ridership.”
The BRT project is currently in the development phase. Rosenfeld said he anticipates the service coming online in late 2023 or early 2024.
This map shows new coronavirus cases by ZIP code reported over the last 10 days.
Vanderbilt Downgrades Numbers
Vanderbilt University researchers have downgraded COVID-19 numbers across the state in a new report that shows an improving situation here but does not account for the reopening of the state’s economy.
Three weeks ago, researchers with the school said the state’s virus situation remained “fragile and uncertain.” That report looked ahead at when (or if) the state would need to, once again, close its economy if spikes in the virus returned and hospitals got swamped.
The new report does not contain the words fragile or uncertain. Instead, it shows just how much the data and its model have changed since the first report in early April.
For one, the April report predicted the transmission rate (the number of people infected by one person) would reduce to 1.0 by mid-May. That number was reached — statewide, anyway — by mid-April. Current transmission rates in Memphis and Nashville hover around 1.0, according to the paper. All of this changed their predictions altogether.
MLK50 Sues the City
Wendi Thomas
The editor of local news organization MLK50: Justice Through Journalism is suing the city of Memphis for refusing to include her on its media advisory lists.
The complaint was filed in federal court Wednesday by attorneys for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the press on behalf of Wendi Thomas, editor, publisher, and founder of MLK50.
The lawsuit alleges that the city, along with Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and chief communications officer Ursula Madden, violated the U.S. and Tennessee constitutions by repeatedly denying Thomas’ requests to add her email address to the media advisory list.
MATA CEO Talks Money
The city’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal
year allocates $10 million less to the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) than this year’s.
In Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s proposed budget, which he presented to the Memphis City Council earlier this month, MATA would get a little under $19.2 million in fiscal year 2021, down from this year’s amount of $29.2 million.
Justin Fox Burks
However, Gary Rosenfeld, CEO of MATA, said he does not anticipate this affecting the agency’s ability to provide services over the next year, largely due to a substantial stimulus package from the federal government.
Under the federal CARES Act, MATA is slated to receive approximately $35.7 million in aid. Rosenfeld said the guidelines for spending CARES Act funds for transit is fairly liberal.
“This money is available and we will charge whatever we can legitimately charge to these accounts,” he said. “We should not see any type of degradation of service because of the city’s financial situation. We should be okay as long as we move cautiously and make sure every expenditure we want to use the stimulus package for is legitimate based on the rules and regulations.”
Graceland to Reopen
Graceland is reopening on Thursday, May 21st, and you won’t have to fight the crowds.
Like other attractions that are easing back into operation, there are changes that focus on social distancing, capacity, and health and safety guidelines. Mansion tours are being reduced to 25 percent capacity and restaurants will be at 50 percent capacity with outdoor patio seating available. The Elvis Presley’s Memphis exhibition complex will also limit the number of visitors.
Other changes include having Graceland employees wearing masks and guests being encouraged to wear masks. There will be temperature checks for guests and employees, enhanced cleaning and sanitization procedures, social distancing markers, hand sanitization stations, and touchless payment options.
The Horseshoe Casino, Tunica
Horseshoe Tunica to Resume Gaming
Horseshoe Tunica will resume gaming operations at 8 a.m. Thursday, May 21st. The casino will operate at 50 percent capacity in accordance with the Phase One Casino Reopening Guidelines issued by the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
Slot machine banks will be arranged to allow for social distancing, and table games will be offered with limited seating. Poker, the Sportsbook, Village Square Buffet, the Laurel Lounge, and the WSOP bar will remain closed until further notice. They are expected to reopen in phases according to public health authorities and consumer demand. A full list of the amenities that will be available is at Horseshoe Tunica’s website here.
Clock Tower Comes Down
The massive clock tower that straddled the trolley tracks on Civic Center Plaza is gone. It was demolished this week by crews making way for new developments Downtown.
This is the briefest of descriptions for the demolition given by officials in the city of Memphis website:
“Beginning Friday, May 8th, at 7 a.m., and lasting until Thursday, May 21st, Main Street between Poplar Avenue and Adams Avenue will be closed to traffic. The section of Main Street around the area of the [Memphis Area Transit Authority — MATA] clock tower will be fenced off to allow public works in association with MATA to demolish the structure.”
The tower had to go, specifically, to make way for the development of the Loews Hotel (below), which is to be built on Civic Center Plaza.
Vehicle traffic will run on Main Street right where the clock tower stood earlier this week, according to Robert Knecht, director of the city’s public works department, which is overseeing the Main Street project. You can sort of get the gist of the thing in this image:
Pepper Rodgers Passes Away Pepper Rodgers, who was head coach of the Memphis Showboats of the USFL in the mid-1980s, has died at age 88. A former football player, Rodgers also was head coach of the Canadian Football League’s expansion Memphis Mad Dogs in the mid-1990s.
He and his wife, Livingston, lived in Reston, Virginia.
Born in Atlanta, Rodgers was a quarterback and kicker for Georgia Tech. He was later the head coach at Kansas, UCLA, and Georgia Tech.
He’s the author of the 1985 novel, Fourth and Long Gone, and his autobiography, Pepper, which he wrote with Al Thorny.
Longtime friend Steve Ehrhart, AutoZone Liberty Bowl executive director, says, “He was one of the most creative and clever and ingenious people — not just a football coach. He was a very bright and intelligent guy. He always shook up the coaching world wherever he was.”
People Are Walking, Biking More
The number of people biking and walking here is higher than usual, according to new data from the city.
The city’s Bikeway and Pedestrian Program looked at data from nine automatic bicycle and pedestrian counters installed at different spots around the city that revealed a surge in activity, largely corresponding to the city’s Safer-At-Home order issued in late March.
The counters located in parks, along trails, and on city streets detect passing bikes and pedestrians to provide a total count of both modes or a combined count.
Survey Reveals Business Needs, Concerns
Businesses here are concerned about revenue, cash flow, and employee well-being, according to an ongoing survey conducted by the Greater Memphis Chamber.
The Chamber surveyed 600 businesses across the city to assess the impact that the COVID-19 outbreak is having on business and their arising needs.
The results include responses from surveys given between March 19th and 23rd, and then again between April 22nd and 27th.
There are 20 industries represented in the surveys, including manufacturing, real estate, restaurants, and entertainment. Of the 600 respondents, 55 percent indicated they were women-or-minority-owned businesses. Nearly three quarters of respondents estimated that their business is down year over year for February through April compared to the same time period last year, while 25 percent indicated business was about the same during those months. For the majority of affected businesses, or 20 percent, business is down between 11 and 20 percent.
The city’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year allocates $10 million less to the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) than this year’s.
In Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s proposed budget, which he presented to the Memphis City Council last week, MATA would get a little under $19.2 million in fiscal year 2021, down from this year’s amount of $29.2 million.
However, Gary Rosenfeld, CEO of MATA, said he does not anticipate this affecting the agency’s ability to provide services over the next year, largely due to a substantial stimulus package from the federal government.
Under the federal CARES Act, MATA is slated to receive approximately $35.7 million in aid. Rosenfeld said the guidelines for spending CARES Act funds for transit is fairly liberal.
“This money is available and we will charge whatever we can legitimately charge to these accounts,” he said. “We should not see any type of degradation of service because of the city’s financial situation. We should be okay as long as we move cautiously and make sure every expenditure we want to use the stimulus package for is legitimate based on the rules and regulations.”
Rosenfeld said MATA has spent a “considerable amount of money” in response to the coronavirus, on expenditures such as PPE, cleaning, and hazard pay for employees.
These expenses can potentially be offset by CARES Act funds, he said: “We don’t anticipate a negative impact on this fiscal year.”
Service will continue, but there likely won’t be enough funds to make significant improvements in the upcoming year, based on the city’s budget. MATA was also on track to receive a $10 million investment from Shelby County next year.
Since September, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, backed by a number of county commissioners and community members, has been leading the charge to generate dedicated funding for MATA.
Harris’ proposal to generate the funds would have implemented an annual fee of $145 for a household’s third vehicle. Early this year two county commissioners presented an alternate plan that would have increased the countywide motor vehicle tax, also known as the wheel tax, by $20 for every vehicle owner.
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But in the midst of a pandemic and economic uncertainty, both plans have been thwarted. Now, Harris is proposing to increase the wheel tax by $16.50 but to supplement the county’s budget.
“Given the financial situation of the city and the county as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I don’t think the county is going to move forward with that plan, at least not for this next fiscal year,” Rosenfeld said.
MATA was planning to use the additional funds to make major improvements along the agency’s core routes that would have increased service frequency.
With these improvements, Rosenfeld said 80 percent of riders would have been able to get from point A to point B in less than an hour. “Well that’s going to be on hold for a bit, and that’s unfortunate. As we plan to bring routes back on line in the future, we will be looking to make changes to bring our routes in line with the transit vision plan. Any opportunity we get to move in that direction, we will certainly be doing that.”
On Board
Rosenfeld said the level of service MATA is able to provide is being affected by the pandemic, but the agency is doing its best to meet passengers’ needs.
Per city guidelines, which heed the advice by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 10 passengers are allowed on MATA buses at a time.
“There’s still social distancing issues, and that puts a limit on the resources available to provide service to the community,” Rosenfeld said. “We’re having to run three or four buses to provide the same level of service that one or two buses did before. That’s also additional costs.”
Rosenfeld said he believes MATA has been “fairly successful” at filling the gaps with extra buses to shorten wait times and maintain continuity of service.
Typically carrying about 22,000 passengers in a given day, MATA has had between 7,000 and 8,000 passengers a day since the pandemic began. Rosenfeld said these numbers are similar to other transit agencies across the country since COVID-19 has caused ridership to decrease: “So from a statistical standpoint, we’re doing good.”
Still he knows service hasn’t been “100 percent accurate” and is aware that customers are frustrated.
“Have we received complaints from the public that they don’t like the route network in its current form?” Rosenfeld said. “Certainly, we have. We share that frustration with customers in the fact that we have had to limit our core network. We also fully understand that it’s frustrating to have a bus pass when there are ten people on a bus already and you can’t get on.
[pullquote-2]“However, the safety of passengers and employees is of greater concern to us. We’re making these decisions with their safety in mind. It may not necessarily be with their convenience in mind, but it certainly is with their safety.”
Rosenfeld also urges employers to recognize some of the inconveniences that transit riders are facing now and be understanding.
Preparing for the Future
From fare boxes to reopening its transit centers, Rosenfeld said MATA has a lot to consider as it returns to “normal.”
“When we resume fare collection, what is that going to look like?” Rosenfeld said. “The fare box will still be something that everybody is touching and it’ll be taking money that’s dirty. So we’re reviewing what that will look like. What technology is available to enable us to be able to collect fare safely.”
MATA is also looking at how to change the seating configuration on its buses so that passengers can practice proper social distancing, while also considering what type of barriers can be installed on board to protect bus operators.
“We’re looking at all of these things and trying to gain as much information as possible,” Rosenfeld said. “I’d be foolish to say I know what tomorrow is going to bring. There’s a lot of information out there. Rules keep changing. We do a lot of work to find out the guidance has changed and now the end zone is in a different place.”
Rosenfeld said this is one reason why MATA has to take a cautious approach, especially when it comes to how to allocate the CARES funds.
“If we invest it too quickly, we might find that we are overspending on one thing and not spending enough on something else,” he said.
Map shows coronavirus concentration, colleges seek alternative graduation plans, groups want to postpone water permits
Commencement Canceled
The coronavirus pandemic has upended all parts of life and halted plans here, around the country, and across the globe — from weddings to funerals to long-awaited graduation ceremonies.
Thus, colleges in the Memphis area have begun looking at alternative ways to celebrate their seniors. Those alternatives include virtual ceremonies, in-person ceremonies at a later date, or combined spring 2021 ceremonies.
Travel Distance
Travel distance in Shelby County was among the top in the country on Friday, according to a report by The New York Times.
Using anonymous cell phone data from 15 million people, The Times released a report on Thursday morning showing travel patterns in every county in the country.
On Friday, March 27th, residents of Shelby County traveled an average of 2.5 miles (see below). It’s 12th on the list of average travel distances in counties with more than 500,000 residents. Florida had the most counties listed, followed by Utah, California, and Oklahoma.
Call 311
What can you do if you see someone violating the city’s Safer at Home order?
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said Memphians can call 311 to report violations of the order.
Dan Springer, chief media affairs officer for the city, confirmed that this order also applies to private gatherings at residences. If a neighbor witnesses a gathering or disregard of social distancing guidelines, they can call 311, and Memphis Police Officers or other city employees will respond.
Coronavirus Hot Spots
New data from the Shelby County Health Department shows the county’s highest concentrations of coronavirus are in Cordova, East Memphis, and South Memphis.
The ZIP codes with the highest coronavirus are 38106, 38108, 38028, 38119, 38120, and 38109 — all with between 28 and 40 cases each. Downtown and Midtown ZIP codes have between 12 and 20 cases.
Mental Health Help
Shelby County employees will now have access to unlimited virtual counseling services, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris announced last week.
The expansion of employee benefits will allow all county employees to receive video, phone, or in-person counseling for free, regardless of if employees are insured through the county.
Art Funds
ArtsMemphis is allocating $50,000 to provide funding to artists most impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences.
The flexible funding will be used to help in recovering from lost income due to canceled events, job layoff, or furlough. Applications are being accepted from self-employed artists of all arts disciplines as well as artists employed or contracted by nonprofit arts and culture organizations in Shelby County.
Artists may request up to $500 to compensate for work that was scheduled or contracted and canceled or lost. The fund is not available to compensate for potential future loss of business or income.
Essential Service
With a smaller staff and a slightly different set of operating procedures, CHOICES, one of two clinics in the city that performs abortions, is still open and providing services.
Katy Leopard, assistant director of CHOICES, said the clinic’s call volume has been up, some staff members are working from home, and the clinic has had to decrease the number of patients it sees, but services will continue. CHOICES’ main focus, she said, has been to provide the essential services patients need, while ensuring that staff and patients remain safe and healthy.
Job Loss
The Memphis metro area could lose around 20 percent of all jobs due to the coronavirus, according to a new report from the Brookings Institute.
The report analyzed metros from across the country, predicting which ones would be hardest hit by the pandemic. Not all areas will be hit the same, according to the think tank. Those with concentrated energy sectors like mining, oil, and gas will likely be hardest hit. Hit hard, too, will be metros with concentrations of transportation, employment services, travel arrangements, and tourism (like Memphis).
Coronavirus Projections
About 1,067 Tennesseans will die from coronavirus.
Tennessee won’t run short of hospital beds or ICU beds during the coronavirus pandemic, and the state can expect to see 26 deaths per day until a peak of 35 deaths in one day on April 26th.
Those are projections released late last week by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine.
Park Access
The city began limiting access to public parks last week. This comes as hundreds of people have been flocking to city parks as the temperatures rise in the city. Last week, many noticed the large crowds of park-goers and took to social media to express concern.
Strickland moved to limit the number of people in parks, by restricting the number of cars allowed in parks. To aid this effort, Riverside Drive and “as many roads in and around parks that the fire marshal will let me” will close.
Clean Water
Clean-water advocacy groups are asking state officials to postpone new water permits until after coronavirus orders have been lifted here to ensure the public has a say on projects that affect the “lives and lands of Tennesseans.”
State officials can now legally hold meetings electronically. But members of the Tennessee Clean Water Network (TCWN) and more say public input is vital to decisions that allow permits under the federal Clean Water Act. These permits include permissions to pollute or to alter a stream, river, lake, or wetland.
The request was formalized in a letter to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and members of his administration Monday.
Maintaining Access
Though understanding the need for the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) to reduce its service amid the spread of coronavirus, a spokesperson for the Memphis Bus Riders Union (MBRU) still worries how the cuts will limit people’s access to necessary locations in the city.
MATA announced late last month that it would be reducing its service in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the community and the number of businesses across the city that cannot currently operate, due to orders by the mayors of Shelby County and Memphis.
Justin Davis, secretary of the Memphis Bus Riders’ Union, said the group understands MATA’s need to adjust its service hours and coverage for public health reasons, but wants to ensure people are still able to access the services they need.
The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) is reducing its service in response to the spread of COVID-19.
As of Thursday afternoon, there were 198 confirmed cases of the disease in Shelby County.
Beginning Monday, March 30th, MATA will operate its Sunday schedule, along with a few additional routes to essential services every day until further notice. MATA said this is in response to the number of businesses that cannot currently operate due to orders by the mayors of Shelby County and Memphis.
These bus routes will be in service:
Trolleys will operate on the following schedule:
MATAplus paratransit service will be available from 4:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. every day, but will only transport passengers to work, medical care, grocery stores, or other essential businesses.
MATA is offering free fare on all of its vehicles until April 30th. Earlier this week, MATA announced a list of social distancing guidelines for riders, including limiting the amount of passengers allowed on each bus.
Downtown Memphis Comission 
Justin Fox Burks 
Justin Fox Burks 
Vanderbilt University 
Justin Fox Burks 
Facebook/MATA 
Facebook/MATA 
