TRANSPORTATION
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City Council OKs histonc kf ??.=
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I 5TQP I'ts ^us routes
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem City
Council approved the
biggest overhaul of bus
routes in Winston-Salem
Transit Authority history
during its meeting on
Monday, Dec. 21.
The new routes will be
implemented January 2,
2017. The WSTA will
spend the next year prepar
ing for the new routes by
reprograming its computer
systems, moving bus stops,
and training employees. It
will also be implementing a
massive campaign to
inform riders about the
changes.
"This is an important
undertaking," said City
Council Member Dan
Besse, who heads the
Public Works Committee.
"We've had a
bus system in
Winston-Salem
run by the city
of Winston
Salem for
decades. It has
never been sys
tematically
reviewed and
revamped until,
now."
The Public
Works
Committee and
City Council
directed WSTA
to review their
routes and found
that the incre
mental changes
made to the
Besse
Montgomery
mm
msrotbSAtiu transit authority
routes, some of which are
decades. old, had made
them inefficient and didn't
provide the best service
possible, particularly when
ii came 10 now long 11 iook
riders to get where they
needed to go. The 28 new
routes are designed to
shorten ride times and pro
vide more service to popu
lar destinations with
crosstown routes and circu
lator routes. Riders will no
longer have to go to the bus
station downtown to trans
fer for most routes, since
there will be numerous
transfer points throughout
the city.
City council members
said that it was important
that rider feedback was
incorporated into the new
routes and they felt WSTA
had been responsive to its
riders.
"We have a bus system
that has historically served
people who have had no
other choice in terms of
transportation," said City
Council member Derwin
Montgomery. "It is very
important in the process
that we take it into high
consideration that this is a
lifeline that links individu
als to jobs, to access to
shopping, to access to
healthcare."
WSTA initially used
automatic passenger count
er information and a survey
of passenger's origins and
destinations to design new
routes. Bus rider feedback
on the new routes was
gathered in May and June
as the WSTA held more
than 20 public comment
meetings. Feedback also
came from riders online
and from City Council
members who passed on
their constituentys' con
cerns about the changes to
WSTA. Feedback resulted
in changes to at least a
dozen of the new routes,
including the inclusion of
places like Green Street
United Methodist Church's
Shalom Project, Crystal
Towers apartments and
Industries for the Blind.
New routes also came
about from feedback, such
as the circulator route for
the Southeast Ward to fill
in an area that was left
unserved by the new
routes.
The WSTA was initial
ly instructed to create a cost
neutral plan for new routes
and make adjustments. The
final plan ended up taking
the annual cost of the bus
system from $5.3 million to
$5.8 million, which was
too much for City Council
Member Robert Clark,
chair of the Finance
Committee, and who was
the one "no" vote on the
new routes. Other city
council members said they
felt the additional cost was
a good investment in a
needed service.
Atkins CDC will run part of Union Station
, BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
' The City Council voted Mon., Dec
21 to put the Atkins Community
Development Corporation in charge of a
part of the planned Union Station trans
portation center.
Renovations on Union Station are
planned to start early next year. The for
mer train station located beside Winston
Salem State University will be turned
into a local and regional bus hub, aug
menting the nearby Clark Campbell
Transportation Center downtown, and is
eventually envisioned to be used for
regional and long
distance rail serv
ice. Atkins CDC
will manage one
third of the building
devoted to com
mercial use.
"We'll be look
ing for tenants who
can supply com
mercial uses that
are complementary
Davis
to the transporta
tion focus of the project," said Atkins
CDC Executive Director Carol Davis.
Davis said while there are no plans
yet as to exactly what will occupy the
space, businesses offering food, drink,
reading materials and other things
appealing to travelers would be a good
fit.
Union Station was built in 1926 and
is on the National Register of Historic
Places. It housed an automobile repair
shop for years before it was purchased
by the City in 2012. Renovations to
Union Station are funded with limited
obligation bond money, which only
required City Council approval and not a
public vote, and are separate from the
bonds approved by voters last year.
Atkins CDC was started by Winston
Salem State University to be a catalyst
for economic development in the areas
around the campus. The CDC is respon
sible for turning the building that for
merly housed the Salvation Army Boys
and Girls Club on Martin Luther King Jr.
Drive into the Enterprise Center, a small
business center that currently houses 24
businesses.
The city will pay Atkins CDC
$ 120,000 a year to manage part of Union
Station. The CDC will pay the city a
lease of $120,000 per year plus 85 per
cent of the revenue it makes from sublet
leases of the space in the building. The
agreement is for ten years and rates
could be renegotiated after five years.
Father of Travis Page speaks
against racism and hate speech
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Protesters gathered at
one of the city's busiest
intersections Saturday
afternoon to rally against
all forms of hatred that are
currently sweeping the
nation.
While residents raced
to the mall to grab that last
minute gift, a number of
organizations including
Occupy Winston-Salem,
Winston United Against
Hate, Black Lives Matter
and others gathered at the
corner of Stratford
Roadand Hanes Mall
Boulevard in the spirit of
solidarity and unity against
the rising tide of hatred that
the country has seen in
recent months.
Rally organizer Kim
Porter said she is tired of
seeing refugees scapegoat
ed, Islamophobia, and tired
of seeing blacks killed by
police officers. Porter men
tioned if you're black in
America, you are four
times more likely to be
killed by a police officer.
"Wefe tired of all the
hatred that is going on in
this country today," said
Porter. "What gets played
out in the media is the hate
speech and not the message
of love, justice and equality
that most of us believe in."
While many held signs
referring to immigrant
bashing and hate speech,
the majority of the protes
tors attended the rally to
call for immediate and
timely release of the police
body cam footage of the
death of 31-year-old Travis
Page who died in the cus
tody of four police officers.
As cars zoomed by
blowing their horns in sup
port of the peaceful protest.
Porter said that although
she understands an investi
gation is underway and an
autopsy has to be complet
ed, the citizens are
demanding the video
footage be made public.
"We don't know the
facts and we don't pretend
to know the facts, but we
want the video to be
released as soon as possi
ble." She continued, "We
don't want to interfere with
the investigation, but we
want the truth."
Darryl Williams, the
father of Page, spoke dur
ing the rally as well.
Williams said he
believes God brought this
situation in his life for a
reason. For the past ten
years or more, Williams
has been advocating for
equality and justice.
"When this came to me,
I felt it was really a catalyst
for me to be able to say
some of the things that
need to be said," Williams
said.
Williams mentioned
that the media has painted a
negative picture of his son
and as a result, human dig
nity is lost. According to
Williams, "People don't
feel it's necessary to treat
Travis like a human or with
any dignity and this is an
issue that we are seeing too
often in America.
"I have a lot of ques
tions that need to be
answered," he said. "Was
there gun residue on his
hands? Were there any
drugs in his system? These
are all accusations that
have been made about my
son and I need answers
before 1 sign anything."
>
Photo by Tevin Stinson
Darryl Williams, father of Travis Page, holds a sign
that reads "Honk 4 Justice" during a recent rally
held on the corner of Stratford Rd. and Hanes Mall
Blvd. on Saturday, Dec. 19.
ELLISON
Eric S Ellison
Attorney At law
"Dedicated To Providing You The Best Service. m^y
Is Your License Revoked or
even Permanently Revoked?
I May Be Able to Get You a
Driving Privilege.
Is the Ball Bondsman Too
Expensive? Maybe You
Need to try a Property Bond.
Call Mel
112 North Marshall Street
Winston Salem. NC 27101
(Just Sorth of 1st Street I
Phone: <336)723 7 <70
1a\:(336)>23 7372
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