The Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity

has a new Health Equity Certificate Program.  I get to teach a section on public transportation and health. 

Check out my Prezi.

Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action

"Influencing Public Transportation Policy Through Community Engagement and Coalition Building: Process and Preliminary Outcomes" is now available online.  

Please contact me if you would like to access the article but are unable. 

Summers, P., Chao, E., McCoy, P., Perry, J., & Rhodes, S.D. (2020). Influencing Public Transportation Policy Through Community Engagement and Coalition Building: Process and Preliminary Outcomes. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action 14(4), 489-498. doi:10.1353/cpr.2020.0054. 

What a year

One year ago was my last day behind the wheel of a city bus.  It was an emotional day made sweet by singing Christmas carols.  

A lot has happened since and I am grateful for the experience I gained during 2020. 

• Worked with City with Dwellings at the overflow homeless shelter
• Wrote an ebook for Stakeholder Health on public transportation
• Wrote a transit corridor report for CSEM
• Won a bus shelter public art contest
• Case investigation for COVID-19 for the Health Department
• Helped take the US Census as a NRFU
• Arrested at a Black Lives Matter Protest for John Neville
• Returned to WFSM to do project management

Dean Franco can write

His article on our new pedestrian bridges illuminates our city's transportation blind spots.  He eloquently concludes one paragraph with "Now, a multi-million dollar transportation project is completed largely to flatter the city’s vision of itself while continuing to leave the town physically divided by class sequestration and racial segregation."

Read his op-ed at https://triad-city-beat.com/fresh-eyes-creative-corridors-not-creative-not-really-corridors/ 

I shouldn't be surprised that his words are cogent because he is an author and literature professor at Wake Forest University. I am thrilled to know him as a fellow bike rider and hope to see his Humanities Institute flourish.  

Spectrum News

Yesterday I was interviewed by Spectrum News https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triad/news/2020/08/28/winston-salem-uses-art-to-highlight-public-transportation about Marching for Mobility.

  

WSTA Prominent Transit Corridors Report

Winston-Salem was once a leader in public transportation.  I believe it could be again.

Please read my WSTA Prominent Transit Corridors Report that suggests expanding bus service in historic transit corridors.

The report's data tables are online for accessibility and transparency.

Below is Map 1, which illustrates the most prominent corridors that warrant expanded service.

My E-Book is online!

I am so excited to announce that my E-Book is now available from Stakeholder Health online at https://stakeholderhealth.org/bus-community-health. 

Gary Gunderson wrote an intro for the piece and it links to our 3 podcasts. I am so grateful for how the stories are woven together.  

I hope you will enjoy reading it but more importantly I hope it will promote positive change for transit riders!     

Miasma

Fear has a contagious power like Miasma. 

I first read about Miasma in the book The Ghost Map; The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and how it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World.  We are easily made afraid of things we don't understand. John Snow was courageous in following his conviction of how to halt the cholera outbreak. He was bound to find a way to prove his theory and by taking off the water-pump handle he made history. 

As a person who believes in the supernatural power of Jesus Christ, I am aware of how science while rational, is also taken on faith.  Miasma was a working scientific theory until it was discredited. 

COVID-19 is a modern-day example of something that is terrifying because we are figuring it out together.  We will need courageous leaders who work hard to fight prejudices towards neighbors just as Dr. Snow had to convince folks that slums were not the cause of the disease.  Today we know that slums are a symptom of our own greed and fear of neighbors.  Slums are the built environmental manifestation of social distancing. 

As a person of hope, I have to work hard to keep my heart open towards my neighbors when society is practicing social distancing. We have seen that social distancing is a privilege that many can't afford. I am aware of my own impulse to be selective in allowing who my family comes in contact with.  I have to choose courage over fear.

As we move into a new phase of Corona pandemic let's remember that love finds a way forward. I am struck by the prophetic meaning of the name Isaiah.  His name means "God to the Rescue." 

Isaiah wrote 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Maybe we are being called to be part of the rescue operation by loving our neighbors even when it feels scary. 

Dreaming of 2045

Please visit http://www.wsmtpupdate.com and fill out the survey to provide input for transportation planning in our region.  I was thrilled to rank public transit as a priority issue.  I hope you will too.

Also, check out the environmental justice map in the Existing Conditions Report.  Expanding public transportation is a justice issue. 

Please join me in speaking up for transit! 

WS Pedestrian Plan Public Input

Visit the Walkable Winston-Salem project website and online input map to share your ideas on how to improve the safety, accessibility, and comfort of walking routes throughout the City: winston-salemwalks.com.

Every trip on the bus is also a pedestrian trip. Bus riders walk to and from bus stops and they often need to cross busy streets.  I have written about the need to improve the pedestrian safety infrastructure through popular transit corridors.   

Please take a minute to review the input map at https://www.winston-salemwalks.com/ and be sure to add to or like comments, you agree with.  Below is one of my comments related to my neighborhood of Waughtown.