Eshawney Gaston – USSW
My name is Eshawney Gaston and I am a food service worker in Durham, North Carolina. In the past I’ve been a cook, but I’ve also worked the register and have done warehouse work as well. I’m also a proud member of my union, United Southern Service Workers (USSW). I’ve been using the public transit system since I was 15 and have relied on it for most of my adult life to get to work and the other places I need to go. I recently got a car, but due to some maintenance issues, I’m using public transportation as my primary way of getting around.
I generally like the bus system in Durham and think it’s a good service that everyone should have access to, but there are some things about it that could be better. For starters, the bus stops could have better protections against the weather, like coverings for rain, indoor areas where people can sit for longer while they wait for the bus, or some kind of heating so that people aren’t waiting in the cold. They could also have seating available because people shouldn’t have to stand while they wait for the bus, and that’s especially true for people with disabilities. The bus routes are typically fine, but it would be better if the timings were more predictable, or if the buses came more frequently. Sometimes I have to plan extra time into my schedule to catch the bus when it’s coming, even if it means getting to my job or wherever I’m going an hour early just because there isn’t another bus coming later that would be able to get me there in time. Having more stops would make things easier too because then people wouldn’t have to walk as much to get to a bus stop or to get to places like the doctor or a grocery store they want to go to.
Having the buses and stations be safer would make me and others in my community more likely to use the bus system too. There are rougher parts of the city that sometimes I don’t want to ride through, so I take an Uber instead, which eats up my wages. When the weather is bad, or really rainy, I also prefer not to ride the bus because I don’t always feel the safest.
The buses themselves could also use better maintenance or an upgrade. There are times where the routes are unavailable just because the buses are out of service. The heating and cooling on the buses is not super reliable or even, so fixing that would also make the rides better. So would having charging ports available on the bus. Another thing I’ve noticed is that even though there’s some space for people with disabilities on the bus, there isn’t enough. There have been times where someone in a wheelchair or using a walker hasn’t been able to get on the bus because there wasn’t enough room for them, so they had to wait for another one to come.
The biggest issue in my opinion is the working conditions of the bus drivers. They aren’t being paid enough and that definitely contributes to the experience of the ride. Sometimes they talk about wanting to go on strike over the conditions, or they’re disgruntled or running behind because their work just isn’t valued enough.
When it comes to climate change, I support reducing greenhouse gas emissions and I think having better transit systems would make people less likely to rely on cars. Climate change affects everybody. I don’t drink the tap water because I don’t trust that it’s clean. And I don’t want our weather here to get worse because it’s already bad enough when it snows when it comes to being able to use the bus. So if the government decided to better fund the transit system and fix up the stations, routes, and buses, I think that’d be them making a direct investment into workers. More funding could also mean keeping the services here in Durham free. They used to cost $2, or sometimes more in other areas, to ride for the day and for some people that really adds up. If it’s public transportation, it should be free. At the end of the day, workers are essential, and the bus drivers are workers too who deserve to be paid more because we rely on them to get around. We all deserve to have efficient and accessible transportation.