A commuter bus line that takes people between Staunton and Charlottesville will honor Black History Month on Tuesday by offering free rides. The Afton Express usually costs three dollars in each direction.
“This day of action honors activist Rosa Parks and highlights the importance of equity in public transportation,” reads a scrolling message on the top of the service’s website.
The Afton Express is operated by BRITE Transit, a service of the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission. The commuter route launched in September 2021 and had a ridership of 16,482 people in 2023 according to that year’s annual report.
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born on February 4, 1913 and an important figure in the Civil Rights movement. Her role in desegregating the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama led to legal victories but she was also fired from a job and was the subject of death threats.
Transit agencies all across the country are commemorating Rosa Parks on her birthday, such as the Maryland Transit Administration.
“Parks changed history on December 1, 1955, when she defied local law and refused to give up her seat to a White passenger on a segregated public transit bus,” reads an MTA webpage on transit equity day. “Her subsequent arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and legal challenges to the segregation law which was eventually ruled unconstitutional in November 1956.”
While services in Maryland are free on Tuesday, some other agencies will offer the free fare day on February 10. That’s the case for Hampton Roads Transit.
“HRT is committed to treating all customers with dignity with the best possible transit experience every day, to every customer,” said William E. Harrell, President and CEO of HRT. “By continuing to offer free fares on this special day for the fourth straight year, we honor the lasting legacy of Rosa Parks and how her courageous act continues to impact transit agencies around the nation.”
Sean Duffy, the new secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, was sworn into office last week and immediately got to work implementing President Donald Trump’s executive orders to eliminate all references to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“The Secretary signed the ‘Woke Rescission’ Memorandum, directing Secretarial Officers and Heads of Operating Administrations to identify and eliminate all Biden-era programs, policies, activities, rules, and orders that promote climate change activism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, racial equity, gender identity policies, environmental justice, and other partisan objectives,” reads a press release from January 29, 2025.
The memo eliminated the U.S. Department of Transportation Equity Council. As of publication time, the website is still active. As reported on January 31, Duffy also released a memo suggesting that transportation funding be prioritized for communities with higher birth and marriage rates.
Photo caption for above photo: Rosa Parks being fingerprinted on February 22, 1956, by Lieutenant D.H. Lackey as one of the people indicted as leaders of the Montgomery bus boycott. She was one of 73 people rounded up by deputies that day after a grand jury charged 113 African Americans for organizing the boycott. This was a few months after her arrest on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated municipal bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
Before you go: This article was originally sent out as part of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter in the February 3, 2025 edition. Both are functions of Town Crier Productions. You can support the work by purchasing a paid subscription or contributing monthly through Patreon. You can also send in a check or send an email, but drop me a line first
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