APPLETON, Wis. — When Matt Anderson goes home at the end of the day, he said he knows he’s helped the community where he grew up.
He’s a bus operator with Valley Transit.
“We provide service to anyone who needs transportation,” he said before heading for a circuit of his route in Appleton Friday morning.
Anderson said he sees a cross-section of the community get on and off his bus on every trip.
“It’s never the same thing twice and there are always people that need our service,” he said. “Whether they need it to get to work, to get to some place fun or tourists who are coming through, we’re there for them. It’s just great being able to help people get to where they need to go.”
Transit systems across Wisconsin and the nation are marking Transit Equity Day on Saturday. The day is tied to the birthday of Rosa Parks, an important figure in the civil rights movement known for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955.
Among the cities recognizing the day are Appleton and Oshkosh.
Ron McDonald is the general manager with Valley Transit.
“The way we can become more equitable and have a better system for everybody is for more people to start using the system on a regular basis,” he said. “The more people who use the system, the more equitable we can become for everybody.”
McDonald is well aware of ties between buses, Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement.
“It really highlights to the community the equity component of transportation and transit specifically,” he said. “In my world, that’s just what we do. We are about being equitable in all of our services. I’ve been in for well in excess of 30 years and it’s just the fabric of what we do.”
From the driver’s seat, Anderson said he has a sense of how the world has changed in the last 70 years.
“Just the evolution that’s gone on from then until now,” he said. “It’s incredible seeing us all act like a community together. There’s that connection people have getting on where everyone is kind with one another and helps everyone get where they have to go.”