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GRTC Honors Rosa Parks: Pandemic modifies annual observation
November 25, 2020
Press Releases
For Immediate Release
November 25, 2020
For more information, contact:
CARRIE ROSE PACE – (804) 516-4148 – carrie.rosepace@ridegrtc.com
GRTC Honors Rosa Parks
Pandemic modifies annual observation.
RICHMOND, Va. (November 25, 2020) – Although the pandemic is modifying GRTC’s annual observation, GRTC continues its tradition on the anniversary of an historic Civil Rights movement of paying special tribute to Rosa Parks on December 1.
Mrs. Parks is most well-known for her act of defiance on a Montgomery, AL bus on December 1, 1955 that changed the course of history. On that date, Mrs. Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She was arrested and fined. Four days later, in response to Mrs. Parks’ arrest, a year-long bus boycott began. It ended when the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public transportation was illegal.
Mrs. Parks, the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” is normally honored by GRTC in a fitting tribute by reserving the first passenger seat on every GRTC bus on the anniversary. However, GRTC continues to enact safety measures for the protection of passengers and staff during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, GRTC’s priority seating area is reserved for passengers in mobility devices, those needing operator assistance, and families traveling with small children. Every seat is needed for passengers, too, as riders are encouraged to space out when possible.
GRTC Chief Executive Officer Julie Timm explains, “It is most appropriate this year to honor our current passengers in the tradition of celebrating Rosa Parks by ensuring passengers have every seat available. Transit has long been a battleground for Civil Rights and we are committed to preserving transit for our customers who rely on us to get them to work, the grocery store, healthcare, and other essential community services. This has been a difficult year from the multi-faceted challenges presented by the pandemic, economic downtown, and international movement for equity and racial justice. I believe the best way we can honor Rosa Parks’ memory is to save the seat for our current riders today and continue sincere efforts in transportation policy to improve equity in our service.”
Normally the seat reserved for Rosa Parks has a commemorative sign displayed, honoring both Mrs. Parks’ legacy and her dedication to the Civil Rights Movement. This year without the seat display, bus Operators will keep bus headlights on all day to represent her light, and the bus electronic header signs will rotate with a special message honoring Rosa Parks. GRTC continues to temporarily operate with Zero Fare, meaning all bus and CARE van rides are free.
Mrs. Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, AL. She passed at the age of 92 on October 24, 2005 in Detroit, MI, becoming the first woman in American history to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
A dozen years before Parks triggered desegregation of public transit, Catherine Jones Coleman of Richmond, Virginia also refused to move to the back of a Richmond bus in March 1943. Coleman was also arrested, like Parks, and fined $5 and court costs. Rosa Parks represented the culmination of decades of similar acts of defiance for Civil Rights.
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GRTC is a public service corporation providing mobility services in the Greater Richmond area. GRTC’s current operational budget of $60.3M primarily funds daily mobility operations and vehicle maintenance. GRTC provides more than 9.25 million trips annually.