Recently in Radom….
Last week I was in Radom, a city about an hour south of Warsaw with a population of approximately 195,000 people.
First, I am so incredibly interested and ready to begin to lean back into issues of medium-sized and small cities- from both a personal and professional stance.
On our recent visit to Radom, as we arrived in the city in the early-mid afternoon, I was immediately observant of how the bus stops were full of groups of school-age students.
I have not yet looked up stats for public transport usage in this city but if you have them and are eager to share, please feel free. But it was readily apparent that the bus system is heavily relied upon by school-age students and from brief observation I suspect as well elderly and retired residents.
Public transit equity has many faces. In so many places it allows people with lower income in particular to have a means of commuting for work and daily needs. As many of us know, a well-developed & utilized public transportation system is depended on by many residents, regardless of income status.
I also deeply appreciate acknowledging how certain groups in certain contexts also overwhelmingly depend on public transit systems. For all the school-age children using the bus system independently, there is also the story of parents or other caregivers who are not required to chauffeur them to & fro but rather allow them autonomy of movement as well as preserve that autonomy in their own day and not be dependent on the car for school commutes.