Roanoke celebrates Transit Equity Day with free bus rides for the first time

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - A civil rights leader is being celebrated here at home and around the nation.

The Roanoke community celebrated Rosa Parks Saturday for Transit Equity Day, a national day of action to honor Rosa Parks’ birthday and her actions.

“It means celebration of life, it means education, it means civil rights advocacy work, it means freedom,” said BRAG Member Cyndi Jones.

The Bus Riders of Roanoke Advocacy Group, known as BRRAG, partnered with Ride Solutions and Valley Metro to offer free bus rides all day Saturday.

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They held a celebration at the Third Street Bus Station by passing out free tickets, sharing information and giving some refreshments.

Each bus reserved one seat honoring Parks.

“If you think about it, in order to live a good life, you need to be able to get where you want to go and for many people, they rely on the bus to make that happen,” said BRRAG Co-Founder Dr. Laura Hartman. “So, what we do as a group is we advocate for the buses to become better and better and better

In case you are interested in joining this group, it meets every first Thursday of the month at the Gainsboro library.

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