The current level of transit service in Memphis is bleak. So a week ago, 11 Shelby County public defenders took part in Bus Rider’s Day, which Commercial Appeal columnist David Waters called “an exercise in empathy and, as it turned out, endurance” to understand the transportation challenges facing their clients.
The group, organized by assistant public defender Kelly Pretzer, spent the day waiting for buses that never came, trying to figure out which buses stop where, and hearing stories from riders who say drivers sometimes stop mid-route with a bus full of passengers to get lunch.
