Fairfield Residents Need Buses, But Regular Service Changes On July 5
The City of Fairfield is so cash strapped, bus service to the city could be cut off on July 5. That’s because Fairfield owes the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority more than a half million dollars.
Residents say the buses are their link to life beyond the city borders.
Harondra Smith lives in Fairfield and works downtown Birmingham at the Roly Poly sandwich shop. She rides the #41 to work because her car is broken.
“I work right downtown, so I just get off the bus and walk straight to my job,” Smith says.
Without the buses, getting work and just life itself would be more challenging and more costly, she says.
“ I rode it (cab) one Saturday, and it was like $22. I can pay $3 dollars (on the bus)and get an all-day pass,” Smith says.
Wanda Shelby, a small business owner, rides the #41 to stress the importance of public transportation and tell riders what’s going on in Fairfield. The buses not only matter for her city, but also for places like Baptist Princeton Hospital and over the Mountain communities.
“It’s workers that have been there for years. That is their only way of getting transportation,” Shelby says. “Some are going to Highway 280. Some going to Vestavia. Not just Fairfield.”
The crisis with public transportation is just one symptom of the financial ills plaguing the city of 11,000. The largest single revenue source – Walmart – closed in January. Shopping strips with stores and medical offices that once thrived on Weibel Drive are shuttered.
That means public transit for people like Wendy Smith is even more important. Smith boarded the #41 bus just outside the main entrance of Baptist Princeton Hospital. She had just finished an appointment.
“I’m going through therapy right now, so I have to catch the bus, cause I don’t have no other way,” she says.
Two bus routes serve Fairfield. The #41 is the main transport for folks who work downtown Birmingham, as well as points along the way. The #45 is an express route that travels along the Bessemer Superhighway into Bessemer.
Barbara Murdock, interim executive director of the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority says they want to keep service for Fairfield, but can’t afford to do it without pay.
Changes are coming she says.
The #45 will continue running as usual, but the doors won’t open in Fairfield. There’s an alternate plan for the #41.
“We’re looking at starting a route that would go four blocks up to Miles College and up to the back side of Western Hills Mall – all within the city of Birmingham,” Murdock says. “It may require a walk, but at least, there will be some sort of transit in the area.”
Riders like Harondra Smith say buses are more than just a ride to work.
“I have a 5-year-old son. Every day he had been asking — l can we ride the bus? He’s been riding it for three weeks,” she says. “We go to the park. We go to the zoo. He likes it.”
In Fairfield, the big yellow, blue and white buses are a ride toward quality of life. The pilot phase for the new routes starts July 5.
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