Judy Ruth clenched her blue jacket a little tighter around her body. Huddled inside the bus stop at Cooper and Union Avenue, she waited for the No. 2 bus to take her to "Mr. Gadd's" barber shop.
"I used to ride the No. 2 and cross the street to see my barber, Lisa, to get my hair cut, but now they (MATA) put that right turn in on Union," said Ruth. "You take your life crossing Union."
Since Ruth moved to Midtown in 1998 after retiring from keeping records at The Med, she also rides the No. 2 to her dentist, her doctor and anywhere else she must travel to run errands.
"I have a problem with my peripheral vision," said Ruth, who will turn 62 next month. "I can't see out of my left eye. I don't drive. I'm too afraid."
According to Ruth, she has been using the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) bus system as her primary means of transportation since her parents moved to Memphis when she was 18 months old. She walks most of the time, but if it's too far, she will take the bus to a connecting bus route to get where she is going.
Though the bus routes are ideal for Ruth's lifestyle, she is becoming a minority when it comes to her method of transportation. Even though ridership across The United States has increased by 3.2 percent in the last six months of 2006, according to a report by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), ridership is down in Memphis from 12.75 million riders in 2004 to 12.5 million in 2005. Ridership statistics in Memphis are not yet available for 2006.
According to Alison Burton, spokesman for MATA, ridership has progressively declined over the last several years. She says that lack of education and funding has contributed to this decline.
"The main problem is education and awareness," said Burton. "Memphis is the largest public transportation system in the state. What makes us different is that this operation does not have a dedicated source of funds."
MATA began in Memphis in 1865 and built the system up to 80 routes around the city. By 1982 service was reduced by nearly 50 percent due to poor ridership and lack of funds. Currently there are 37 fixed routes in operation with 150 buses.
Ruth said she is no stranger to the effects of the changing schedules and routes.
"The buses connect at so many places now trying to save money, you have to be careful about which buses you take," she said, recalling how she accidentally took the wrong bus on her way to a shopping trip after a recent change.
Though the seemingly constant route changes have been difficult for some riders, MATA has tried to keep the costs of fares down. The fare is currently $1.45. However, with an annual budget estimated at $48 million per year and the unstable cost of fuel, keeping public transportation costs down will be difficult in the future.
"In order to keep a viable community, you have to connect people to jobs. In order to keep costs down, you need funding," said Burton.
Whether because of limited bus routes or the convenience of having your own transportation anytime, most Memphians choose to drive personal vehicles. According to Paul Morris, transportation planner for the Memphis Planning Organization (MPO), population growth and suburban relocation has contributed to the movement from public to private transportation in Shelby County.
"The main impact on travel in Memphis is two-fold," said Morris. "Naturally people have moved out (into the suburbs). This has increased the number of vehicles per household."
According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation 25-year plan, Tennessee's population grew by over 800,000 people between 1990 and 2000, a growth rate 27 percent higher than the national rate. With the increase in population - retail, professional service and business type jobs far outnumbered farming and manufacturing. As more people and jobs spread out into the suburbs, commuting patterns began to change. According to the TDOT 25-year plan, between 1993 and 2003 the estimated hours of annual delay for commuters in Memphis increased from 15 to 33 hours.
Fuel costs do not seem to be steering people away from buying personal vehicles either. According to a report released in October by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), Tennesseans consume 8.4 million gallons of gasoline per day at an average of $2.20, a far cry from Tennessee's average of 99 cents in 2000. According to a recent report from Toyota, the company "reported best-ever October sales of 189,011 vehicles, an increase of 13.6 percent over October 2005."
The public seems to react more to immediate gas prices than to the long-term picture in terms of buying gas guzzling vehicles.
"When the gas prices went down, people started buying more and more larger SUVs because the prices have gone down," said Steve Madden, sales manager for Sunrise at Wolfchase. "Anytime there is a change in gas prices, the market is affected."
Not all people are convinced that private transportation is the way to go, but with lack of public transportation availability in surrounding counties, commuting is necessary.
One University of Memphis music industry major, Nathan Waltman, commutes from Southaven, Miss., to the University every morning, traveling roughly 15-16 miles each way and spending at least $30 per week in fuel for his 1995 Chevy S10. He would use public transportation if it were more convenient for his commute, he said.
"Hell, if we had a big yellow school bus to ride, I'd do that," he said.
With more and more people on the road, TDOT and MPO officials have been looking for a way to alleviate congestion on highways and roadways and to make travel safer for residents.
In Alabama, a proposed Interstate 22 would follow the current U.S. 78 to connect Memphis to Birmingham, Ala. Arkansas is working to plan a new multimodal bridge across the Mississippi River into Memphis.
However, several major projects are already under construction, including the development of Interstate 69 (I-69) connecting Tunica to Memphis and Interstate 269, which will circle around Interstate 240 (I-240). According to Pamela Marshall, West Tennessee spokesman for TDOT, the development of these highways will not only link Memphis economically, but they will also alleviate traffic congestion.
"I-69 will link Mexico and Canada," said Marshall. "I-69 is just another link for Memphis' role in the global community. It will play a major role in increasing access and increasing modes to move freight in and out of Memphis."
With I-69 as a link for the economic world into Memphis, I-269 will be the link for commuters.
"Hopefully it will help to eliminate existing traffic," said Marshall. "You can hop on I-269 and get to Collierville in a much shorter time."
Though the development of transportation in Memphis and Shelby County has increased over the years, Paul Morris with MPO agrees that the "hub of the Mid-South" has no idea what it is in for.
"With I-22, I-69, I-269 combined with I-55 and I-40 - you think that Memphis is a distribution center now," he said, "just wait."
