Tag: MATA

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Group Supports $20 Transit Fee to Fund MATA, Promote Equity

CREDIT: Maya Smith

Maya Smith

MICAH members gather to support $20 transit fee

Members of the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH) gathered near city hall on Tuesday to show support for a Shelby County Commission resolution that would create a county transit fee to generate funds for the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA).

The resolution, sponsored by Shelby County Commissioners Willie Brooks Jr., Tami Sawyer, and Van Turner Jr., is an alternative to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ plan to implement an annual fee of $145 for a households’ third vehicle. That plan, which would generate $10 million in funding for MATA each year, was first introduced by the mayor in September.

The proposed resolution seeks instead to increase the countywide motor vehicle tax, also known as the wheel tax, by $20 for every vehicle owner. The wheel tax was first established in 1987 and was dedicated to repaying the county’s bonded indebtedness. Then, in 2016, the county adopted a resolution mandating that 100 percent of wheel tax revenue be allocated to school operations.

Now, the commissioners seek to increase the wheel tax by $20 for every registered vehicle in the county and use the additional revenue — limited to $9 million annually — to fund MATA. Currently, the tax for a private vehicle is $50. It’s $20 for motorcycles, scooters, and ATVs, $80 for commercial vehicles, and $25 for nonprofit vehicles.

Brittany Thornton, co-chair of MICAH’s economic task force, said this resolution is a reasonable compromise between the mayor’s proposal and MICAH’s suggestion of a $20 to $50 fee on all vehicles. Based on a survey of 225 Memphians, Thornton said MICAH leaders believe that a fee of $20 to $50 is more favorable to citizens than Harris’ proposed $145 on third vehicles. Still, Thornton said MICAH applauds Harris “for even taking on transit.”

“This conversation on transit has been around for a long time and under other administrations, we haven’t even gotten this far,” Thornton said. “So to have a mayor that’s willing to keep the conversation at the forefront of what we’re focused on, we applaud that. We appreciate that. But we want to get the figures that are actually going to set MATA up to do what it needs to do.”

Improving transit plays a huge role in MICAH’s commitment to economic equity, Thornton said, which requires “we work to dismantle the systemic barriers that keep our neighbors from thriving.

“Whether it is being able to get to education and training, arriving on time for a job or an appointment, filling the many third shift job opening that currently MATA hours does not allow, exposing tourists to more of Memphis and all of Shelby County, or reducing the amount of pollution and road wear and tear, Memphis and the metropolitan area’s potential to thrive must include a high-performing transit system.”

Ultimately, Thornton said “sufficiently funding MATA” must be one of the top priorities of local government in order for “any kind of equity to be achieved” in Shelby County.

The resolution stipulates that the allocation of the funds to MATA are contingent on four factors. First, the commission is asking that two members appointed by the Shelby County mayor and approved by the county commission are added to the MATA Board of Commissioners.

Another factor is that MATA creates bus routes that connect to the county’s largest employers. The resolution’s sponsors are specifically seeking a new bus route to the FedEx World Hub.

Additionally, the resolution calls for MATA to reduce the scheduled commute time to the Raleigh and Frayser communities by 50 percent, because economic and job development are underway in the area. Finally, the commissioners are asking that these terms be formally agreed upon in a memorandum of understanding between MATA and Shelby County.

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If approved, the $20 wheel tax increase would go into effect on July 1, 2020. The commission is slated to discuss the resolution Wednesday at 9 a.m. during its General Government committee meeting ahead of its vote on Monday.

Ahead of this discussion, Harris will make a presentation to the committee in support of his plan, explaining the potential economic benefits of investing an additional $10 million in transit each year. There are 16,000 unfilled jobs in Shelby County, according to state data, and Harris contends that improving transit would help fill these jobs.

The mayor also said that an investment of $10 million would have an economic impact of more than $40 million because of expanded job access.

“We currently have over 16,000 jobs available in Memphis, most of which do not require any type of specialized skill,” Harris said in a Tuesday press release. “A large reason for so many open jobs is that too many individuals in our community do not have transportation that they can rely on to get to a job and keep a job. Our residents should be able to get to a job, keep a job, and able to get home from that job in time to have dinner with their family.”

The economy is just one of the “Three E’s” Harris has assured that the $10 million investment would address. In November the mayor told the commission about the environmental benefits the $10 million would lend, such as reducing emissions by the thousands of metric tons. In December, Harris, joined by University of Memphis associate professor Elena Delavega, made the case for public transportation’s role in addressing poverty and equity.

Harris’ administration hopes that the commission will vote on the plan by the end of next month.

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Poverty Expert: Funding Transit ‘Critical’ in Bringing Memphians Out of Poverty

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

University of Memphis associate professor Elena Delavega, made the case for public transportation’s role in addressing poverty to the Shelby County Commission Wednesday.

Delavega, whose research largely focuses on poverty and sustainable economic development, said having reliable transit is “critical” to bringing people out of poverty.

“It promotes business. It promotes economic investment. It allows for more investment in tourism, more use of businesses, more job opportunities,” Delavega said. “In general, an efficient, effective, comprehensive transit system seems to have a very solitary effect on the overall economy and on the economy of poor people.”

Delavega said the median income of those who depend on public transportation here is about $14,500. That’s “very low,” she said, attributing the low income levels to bus riders being “excluded from most of the participation in the economy.”

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For 60 percent of those who drive to work in the city, Delavega said it takes an average of less than 25 minutes for them to reach their jobs. For more than 40 percent of those who depend on public transit to get to work here, it takes more than 45 minutes, and for 28 percent, it takes more than an hour.

U of M

Delavega

“I want you to think about this for a minute,” Delavega said. “Not everybody has 24 hours in a day. That’s a lie. If you have to spend two, three hours of your day in transit to work, that is time that is not available to work. It’s not available to take care of your family, to read, to study, or to do any of the other things we need to do to advance our lives and our futures.”

Delavega calls it an “issue of critical fairness,” as poor transit “essentially robs time from people.”

This comes as the county commission considers a plan proposed by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris in September to generate $10 million for the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) each year.

Under Harris’ plan, households with more than two vehicles would be required to pay a yearly $145 sustainability fee.

The additional funds would be used to improve eight routes, while implementing recommendations laid out in the Transit Vision 3.0 Plan, Harris said.

“There are plenty of bright spots in our community,” Harris said. “We see tremendous investment in Downtown and in other places in our community, and we’re quite proud of that momentum. However, our poverty numbers are alarming, and they are growing.”

Harris says out of the approximate 1 million residents in the county, about 200,000 live in poverty. The mayor said this number is increasing, reporting that 25,000 residents who were not living in poverty 12 months ago are now living in poverty.

“I would suggest to you all that that is a sign that we must do something — something transformative,” Harris said. “I believe transit is one piece of the puzzle.”

Alternative Plan

Brittany Thornton, co-chair of the Memphis Interfaith Coalition of Action and Hope’s (MICAH) economic equity task force, was also at Wednesday’s meeting. Thornton presented an alternative plan to raise the $30 million MATA officials have said was needed in the past to carry out the Transit Vision Plan.

MICAH conducted a survey with 225 respondents gathering input on vehicle fees, as well as on alternative ways to generate funds, such as using funds from expiring PILOTs (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes incentives), implementing parking garage fees, or adding a transportation fee to utility bills.

Thornton reported that 31 percent of respondents supported utilizing expired PILOT funds, 28 percent backed a fee on all vehicles, and 25 percent were in favor of a fee for households with more than two cars.

The remaining 14 percent supported either garage parking fees, a transportation fee, or parking meter fees.

Of the respondents who support fees on vehicles, Thornton said about 77 percent are in favor of a fee of up to $25 per car, while 50 percent support a fee of up to $50.

Thornton calculates that a $25 fee per residential vehicle and $40 fee for commercial vehicles would yield just under $18 million a year.

Funds from expired PILOTs could add another $8 million.

MICAH

Thornton speaks to reporters after presentation


Harris said that the revenues from expiring PILOTs does not “represent a new revenue source for the county.”

Those funds are already accounted for in the county’s budget and placed in the general fund.

“However, I will say Ms. Thornton and MICAH are very much on to something,” Harris said. “And there is a revenue source associated with PILOTs and TIFs, so if it’s the will of this commission to use that as a revenue source to fund transit, as other communities have done likewise, then that could be a new revenue source for transit.”

The commission is slated to vote on Harris’ proposal for a $145 dollar fee on third cars in February.


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Opinion The Last Word

Scooters Are Seasonal: Memphis Needs Year-Round Public Mass Transit

CREDIT: Mkopka | Dreamstime.com

Driving down North Watkins/Cleveland Street, I fumbled as the four-lane road turned into two to make way for the bike lanes. I’ve driven down this road many times since the lanes were repainted following all the redevelopment in and around the old Sears building, but, somehow, I still manage to forget that the right lane ends.

My friend Diana is riding along in the passenger seat. As we pass the fleet of bicycles and electric scooters parked around the Concourse, she says, “If people were just given free bikes, I think they would use them more.” I look back at the scooters and imagine a world where everyone has a bicycle. Would we even have the fleets of e-scooters in our city?

When the scooter companies were setting up shop in Memphis, I remember one of the biggest selling points was that these scooters would be the solution to the first/last mile problem. The first/last mile refers to the “getting to the door” parts of a commute that a bus or car can’t get you to. Scooters are for short-distance trips to fill these gaps.

Mkopka | Dreamstime.com

A closer ride with thee?

We now have at least four options to choose from: Bird, Spin, Bolt, and the recently released OjO seated-scooters that operate through Explore Bike Share. Lime pulled its scooters from the streets in October, and although they didn’t provide concrete reasons for the move, they did mention that in the winter, the size of Lime’s fleet can’t compete.

The companies promoted that the scooters are here to help folks make their connections. When the Bolt Chariot scooters came in, they claimed that addressing transportation needs and gaps of “under-served neighborhoods where there isn’t transportation or infrastructure to the interior” is part of the company’s philosophy. Ideally, this would mean connecting people from where they are to public transit (i.e. the closest bus line, train, subway). This could work in cities with more robust and well-funded public transit, but in Memphis, where we have an under-funded bus system, it just doesn’t cut it.

The city’s now-permanent Shared Mobility Program, which kicked off in June after a pilot phase, is planning on expanding the fleet of micro-mobility vehicles in Memphis to 3,000. During the announcement of the program, a city spokesperson made the statement that “More options means more access.” There definitely will be more companies to pick and choose from, but these options do not necessarily mean more access. It’s actually about who has access to those options.

When you look at a map of the city and see where these scooters are located, the “who” becomes clearer to define. So, I downloaded the Bird, Bolt, and Spin apps to look at their scooter distribution. I didn’t go into Explore Bike Share because their scooters and bicycles have docking stations. I also found that the organization is more transparent about their ridership and data than the scooter companies.

A majority of the scooters are where you would expect: Downtown, Medical District, University District, and Midtown. Bolt and Spin have a handful of scooters in neighborhoods outside of this corridor but not in significant numbers compared to Downtown.

If you put the scooter locations over a map that shows the percent of workers by ZIP code who use public transportation to get to work, it aligns almost perfectly. The ZIP codes along the east to west corridor that runs in the middle of the city (the districts mentioned earlier) have significantly fewer people who are dependent on public transportation. North and south of this corridor have higher concentrations of people who depend on the buses to get to work. But you won’t find many scooters in these areas.

Scooter companies will come and go, and it’s pretty clear that they tend to stick to high-traffic tourist areas. I’m interested to see what data these companies will report back through the Shared Mobility Program. In the next year, we will hopefully have the numbers to see how many people are using the scooters and where, and we’ll also know whether or not they are using them to connect to a bus line.

If micro-mobility companies are coming in, then public mass transit must be built up along with shared-mobility options. Independent of scooters and other micro-mobility connections, we must have reliable bus lines that can get Memphians to and from work, school, and hospitals. We need public transportation that is sustainable, reliable, and truly accessible to all Memphians.

Aylen Mercado is a brown, queer, Latinx chingona and Memphian exploring race and ethnicity in the changing U.S. South.

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News News Blog

Harris Amends County Plan to Fund MATA

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris announced today that he is amending the previously announced plan to invest $10 million in transit here.

Harris presented a plan to the Shelby County Commission last month that would generate $10 million in funding each year for the Memphis Area Transit Authority.

The original plan would have implemented an annual $145 registration fee for households’ third vehicle and beyond. Harris said at the time this would only affect about 17 percent of residents here.

But, after meeting with the public and receiving feedback on the plan, Harris said Thursday that instead of requiring households to pay $145 for each another vehicle over the second, households would only have to pay one yearly $145 fee.

“We have been pleased by the willingness of residents to engage in a conversation about how public transit could help lift thousands out of poverty and preserve our shared environment,” Harris said. “We have had many great suggestions from the residents, including tailoring the plan to have an even more narrow impact.”

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Alternative vehicles, such as motorcycles, trailers, antique cars, and boats will not require fees.

Under the amended plan, Harris said the county will still provide $10 million a year to MATA.

“The investment would still have zero impact in most families,” Harris said. “This plan does not call for a broad tax or fee on all citizens…. Furthermore, the idea is to try as best we can to tie the solution the problem. We know that traffic congestion and car emissions are problems that will only get worse. We believe that households or business with thee cars are using that infrastructure more and producing more wear and tear. Our proposal focuses on that problem or cars on the road while supporting a solution to congestion and emissions, public transit.”

This is the county’s first effort to provide dedicated funding for MATA. The plan is slated to go before the county commission by February 2020.


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MATA to Demo Protective Shields for Drivers

CREDIT: Maya Smith

Maya Smith

MATA demos protective shields for drivers

The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) is demoing a new security measure meant to keep drivers and passengers safe.

The agency will introduce bus shields, or a sliding glass window that puts a partial barrier between drivers and passengers, for a trial period beginning next week, the agency announced Tuesday at its Airways Transit Center.

Gary Rosenfeld, CEO of MATA said bus shields, having been in the transit industry for a while, are not a new concept. MATA is exploring installing them now after the recent request by a group of bus drivers.

Compared to other transit agencies across the country, Rosenfeld said “relatively speaking,” MATA has not seen a high number of incidents.

“We’re always concerned about passenger and employee safety aboard our buses,” Rosenfeld said. “That’s our number one priority at all times. We recognize that incidents do occur from time to time. There has been no real uptick in incidents, but, nonetheless, we recognize that there are incidents we need to take affirmative action to try and deal with them.”

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The idea of the shield is to deter passengers from physically interfering with the bus operator. At roughly $5,000 a piece, Rosenfeld said the shields are a “tremendous capital investment,” but that MATA is “willing to invest in safety.”

“If we can be proactive in this situation, that’s great,” he said. “If it demonstrates that it prevents something bad from happening, even better. So it’s just a matter of working hand in hand with out bus drivers.”

For now just two of MATA’s buses will be equipped with shields during the demonstration period as MATA determines whether or not they are effective.

The demonstration period will continue “as long as it takes,” Rosenfeld said. This will give MATA time to collect data on the number and severity of incidents involving drivers when a shield is in place in order to make an “informed decision” on whether or not to add them to each of MATA’s approximate 120 fixed-route buses.

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MATA Bus Drivers Sue for Alleged Unpaid Overtime

CREDIT: Facebook/MATA

Facebook/MATA

Bus drivers with the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) are suing over alleged unpaid overtime wages.

The lawsuit was filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee by Donati Law, PLLC on behalf of the drivers. The defendant is MidSouth Transportation Management, Inc, (MTM) the Ohio-based company that MATA contracts to hire and manage its drivers. The company is a subsidiary of First Transit.

The drivers are alleging that the company has violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to pay them required overtime wages. The FLSA mandates that employees are paid at least 1.5 times their regular pay rate after exceeding 40 hours of work in a week.

Carlos Boyland, one of the drivers in the lawsuit, has been working as a bus driver here since 1997. He regularly works 100-hour weeks, but isn’t paid full overtime compensation, according to the complaint. Instead, the company paid Boyland and other unnamed drivers their regular rate and, at times, half their regular rate.

“[The] defendant does not and has not made a good faith effort to comply with the FLSA,” the complaint reads. “[The] defendant knew plaintiffs and the punitive collective worked overtime without proper compensation, and it willfully failed and refused to pay.”

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MATA bus drivers have been bringing concerns to MTM management about the failure to pay proper overtime wages for more than 20 years, according to William Ryan, one of the attorneys for the drivers.

“We are hopeful to come to a resolution that fairly compensates these hardworking individuals who work long hours to keep our city connected and accessible,” Ryan said. 

The firm is seeking back pay and liquidated damages for drivers who have been denied overtime pay within the past three years.

Nicole Lacey, MATA’s chief communications officer said the agency could not comment on the allegations at this time, as the litigation is ongoing.

First Transit, the parent company of MTM did not immediately respond to the Flyer’s request for comment.

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Harris Presents ‘Landmark’ Funding Plan for MATA

CREDIT: Memphis Area Transit Authority

Memphis Area Transit Authority

Mayor Harris wants to give MATA $10 million.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris presented a plan to the Shelby County Commission Wednesday to generate $10 million in funding each year for the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA).

In the past, MATA has said it needs an additional $30 million in funding to build a more robust, frequent, and reliable system.


Gary Rosenfeld, CEO of MATA said Wednesday that the mayor’s proposal is a “landmark plan” that would “dramatically change the trajectory of funding for public transit in this community.”

Harris said the plan would have “zero impact” on most families and does not include an increase in property taxes. Instead, the plan would implement an annual $145 registration fee for households’ third vehicle and beyond. Harris said this would only affect about 17 percent of residents here.

“Today I presented out #Future4Transit plan to the Shelby County Commission,” Harris wrote on Twitter. “If adopted it will have a big impact on transit.”

If the commission adopts the plan, the county would also allocate 1.5 percent, or $1 million of its capital improvement budget, to transit.

Harris anticipates the additional funds will be used to implement recommendations laid out in the Transit Vision 3.0 Plan, such as an express route to the airport and increased frequency on MATA’s most popular routes.

The additional $10 million would have an economic impact of more than $40 million, Harris said, citing expanded job access and a reduction in car accidents.

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The mayor also said the plan would have a significant impact on poverty, noting there are 15,000 available jobs in the county: “More frequent transit helps people get a job and keep a job.”

The transit investment would also have a “big impact on our shared environment.” Harris said. With more frequent and reliable transit options, there would be more ridership and a reduction of automobile emissions by thousands of tons.

“Everyone has to play a role in trying to preserve our shared environment, even local officials,” Harris said. “We will all enjoy the benefits of clean air, reduced congestion, and a reduction in poverty. This sustainable investment in transit helps achieve all those objectives.”

Harris is looking for the commission to vote on the plan by February 2020. County approval could be contingent upon MATA giving the county a place on its board.

Earlier this year, the county commission approved $2.5 million of the county’s 2020 budget going toward MATA and related infrastructure improvements. This was the first investment in public transit by the county.

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County Looks to Make First Ever Investment in MATA

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

The county is looking to make its first ever investment in public transit, beginning this fiscal year.

Five Shelby County Commissioners pushed Tuesday to amend Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ budget proposal to include funding for the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA).

The amendment, sponsored by Commissioners Tami Sawyer, Van Turner, Eddie Jones, Edmund Ford Jr., and Mickell M. Lowery, would allow for $2.5 million in county funds to be allocated to MATA “to support improvement of transportation services provided by MATA.”

The funding is contingent on MATA providing two board seats to the board of commissioners and final approval by the commission. 

Harris has previously said that he would be presenting a proposal for MATA funding to the commission in September.

But, commissioners like Sawyer said it’s important to begin funding MATA now. The $2.5 million of proposed funding became available after it was left over from $5 million set aside for the county election commission, according to Sawyer.

Sawyer said Tuesday that “this isn’t a formula for how we continue to fund MATA, but it’s a start.”

“In conversations that many of us have had with representatives of MATA and representatives of the community and the mayor’s administration themselves, we know that this is something that people want to see now,” Sawyer said. “But also we have to figure out one, what can we really do in this amount of time? And two, once the county gets into the transportation game, what ability will we have to participate in the oversight?”

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Nicole Lacey, chief communications officer for MATA, said that “yesterday’s action by the Shelby County Commission is a positive step in the right direction for Shelby County Government to begin investing in public transit.

The Memphis Area Transit Authority executive team looks forward to continued dialogue with the Shelby County Commission and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris regarding the possibilities of funding that could begin this fiscal year.”

In April, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland included in his proposed 2020 budget an additional $2.5 million in funding for MATA for a total of $29,170,000. The mayor said then that would bring the total funding increases for MATA to $5 million since he took office in 2016.


In the past, MATA officials have said that in order to provide a more frequent, reliable, and robust system, the agency needs an additional $30 million a year.

With the additional funding, Lacey said MATA will pursue the recommendations laid out in the Transit Vision Plan — a piece of the Memphis 3.0 plan.

Lacey said the plan includes more frequency, weekend and evening service, and new and redesigned bus routes that help people connect across the city and county.

Members of the Memphis Bus Riders Union (MBRU) said the city’s current proposal for MATA funding might not be enough to pay for new buses, routes, or service hours.

Justin Davis of the MBRU said the city and county governments can’t keep putting off a large investment in transit “if we want to increase ridership and improve MATA’s public perception.”

“If MATA does get that new funding for fiscal year 2020, we want to see it going to operations first: more bus routes, more frequent service, and more service on nights and weekends,” Davis said. “But if MATA doesn’t get a significant investment, we’re worried that they will be pushed to cut service again to balance their budget — just like what happened last fall.”

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MATA Head:Trolleys Have Set Stage For Success in First Year

In three weeks, it will have been one year since the Main Street trolley line has been revived, and the head of the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) said it’s met nearly all expectations so far.

President and CEO of MATA, Gary Rosenfeld said since the steel-wheel trolleys returned to the tracks after a four-year absence, there have been no real issues with the line. The five-car system has been running “smoothly” — other than one trolley car that hasn’t been able to be revived and put into service yet, he said.

“All and all the system is running pretty well for what we’ve been through,” he said. “It’s setting the stage for future successful years of service.”

The main issue is keeping those using the trolleys and those around it safe, Rosenfeld said. One precaution he advises pedestrians on the Main Street Mall to take is to avoid wearing headphones while walking near the trolley tracks: “We want everybody to be safe.”

There are red and white signs on the Mall instructing pedestrians to yield for the trolleys.


Ridership has been as expected, Rosenfeld said.There have been approximately 372,000 boardings since the service was reinstated on April 30th of last year.

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Rosenfeld said that number is in the “range of expectation,” and that he anticipates it rising in the summer months.

“We’ve certainly had respectable ridership,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s demonstration that the Main Street line is viable and that more lines will be viable in the future. The community has accepted the trolleys.”

As for the future, Rosenfeld said the goal is to bring back the Madison and Riverfront lines at some point. However, he said MATA has had trouble securing a vendor for trolley parts. That’s a “critical point in the flow chart,” Rosenfeld said.

“Until we get passed that critical point in flow chart, we’re not going to go one way or another,” Rosenfeld said. “The cars have to be refurbished or we’ll find some other method.The critical issue with the trolleys since the beginning of the recertification process has been safety.

“We’re not willing to compromise safety and we’re not going to sign a contract for the sake of signing a contract.”

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News News Blog

New Ad Hoc Committee Looking to Secure Funding for MATA

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

A hotel/motel, ride-hailing services, and green tax were among the future funding options for the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) discussed at a new ad hoc transit committee’s first meeting Tuesday.

The city/county committee, chaired by former Memphis City Councilman and Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr., also includes county commissioner Tami Sawyer, MATA’s CEO Gary Rosenfeld, Tom Needham of Shelby County Public Works, Innovate Memphis’ Suzanne Carlson, and Justin Davis of the Memphis Bus Riders’ Union (MBRU).

Tuesday, members of the MBRU presented several options for raising the additional $30 million Rosenfeld said MATA needs to improve its service and add an additional 200,000 hours of bus service.

Davis said the MBRU wanted to “open the conversation, keep it broad, and think outside the box” with “progressive” ideas that haven’t already been proposed, such as adding a tax or levying a fee on ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft — a move that the group cited has been successful in other cities, such as Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

Other new proposals included a hotel/motel tax, rental car tax, and a green tax on carbon and cigarettes.

Davis said it’s important to look at solutions that are won’t “put the burden on backs of bus riders who are already spending most of their money on transit.” That’s why the bus riders’ union knocked previously proposed options of a sales tax surcharge, calling it “regressive.” The group believes this would disproportionately affect low income households.

MBRU also feels that Ford’s proposed transportation utility fee, which could yield up to $60 million a year, might be “unpopular with low income households.” Going forward, the transit committee will start looking at how much money each of the options would generate.

“It’s really nice that we’re at this point where the city and county are talking concretely about what are some things we can do to raise enough money to make MATA a good service,” Davis said.