Tuesday is Election Day and partially responsible in determining the country’s future. But how will a young woman or man with no transportation make it to the polls?
The Tallahassee City Commission decided to offer free bus fare on Election Day. Anyone can ride the transit to voting locations throughout the city.
“There are still thousands in the community who rely on public transportation from work to shopping,” said Tallahassee City Commissioner Andrew Gillum. “I don’t want the lack of transportation to be a barrier to voting, waiving the small fare to ride the bus is worth it.”
Gillum was the individual who recommended the idea and strongly believes that everyone should have the option to vote.
“This is Tallahassee’s first time planning a ‘free-fare’ day for the elections,” said assistant to the city manager, Michelle Bono. Bono explained that the buses will all be on the same routes as usual and the majority will be passing the Leon County Courthouse.
“I think it was thoughtful of the city to think about people who don’t have cars. I’m a student and everyone knows that a lot of college kids rely on the bus to get where we need to go,” said Symiria Apedo, a third-year criminal justice student from Miami.
Two of Star Metro’s regular, fixed routes provide service to these voting sites: the Dogwood route D, Northeast Library, located at 5513 Thomasville Road, and the Big Bend route B, Leon County Courthouse Rotunda, located at 301 South Monroe Street. There is more information on the Official Website of the City of Tallahassee as well as Talgov.com/Star Metro.
For information on voting you can visit www.Leonvotes.org.