This article has been updated since it first appeared in print.
Illustration by Jamie Douglas
For many Americans, one number has recently taken on extraordinary significance — the price of gas. Twentieth-century planners and engineers designed our ever-expanding urban footprints around a plentiful supply of cheap and subsidized gasoline. In the suburbs, large, single-family lots, massive highways and sprawled developments fueled car dependency, which in turn fostered a reliance on gasoline. In cities, downtowns were razed for surface parking lots, interstate highways paved over historic Black neighborhoods, and public transportation was systematically neglected in favor of skyrocketing vehicular transportation budgets. In Richmond’s case, we even went a step further. Our electric streetcar system (the world’s first comprehensive city system) was shut down and its cars burned for scrap metal in the 1940s, cementing the cultural shift toward an automobile-dependent future.
Today, we are living with the consequences of that shift. Among other causes, geopolitical strife, the Russia-Ukraine war and petrostate cartels have all contributed to the recent spike in gas prices (after eclipsing $5 a gallon nationally in mid-June, prices have fallen to roughly $4, still well above 2021 prices). Coupled with inflation, a dearth of affordable housing and economic uncertainty, it’s hard not to feel the pinch. Yet at every turn, our cities coax us to drive everywhere we go, even in our most transit-rich and walkable neighborhoods. For example, both downtown and Manchester do not have grocery stores within walking distance. Much of our retail has long since retreated to the suburban enclaves of Midlothian and Short Pump. The East End has not had a bank branch since SunTrust (now Truist) left in 2020. Carytown has four grocery stores with large parking lots all within a block of one another, showcasing the fact that the vast majority of their clientele lives beyond walking distance.
Our cities coax us to drive everywhere we go, even in our most transit-rich and walkable neighborhoods.
GRTC Transit System provides solutions for these connections with its multitude of bus routes spanning the Richmond region, all of them free to ride. Residents living downtown are able to take advantage of the Pulse to get to multiple supermarkets. Henrico County has recently introduced service from Willow Lawn to Short Pump Town Center, and Chesterfield County is aiming to do the same on Midlothian Turnpike. Carytown is served by both the No. 5 bus and the crosstown 20, providing both east-west and north-south options for accessing the rich commercial corridor.
In addition to providing convenient connections to services, the bus also has other benefits. Health is one: Walking to and from bus stops is a great form of exercise. Plus, you don’t have to deal with the stresses of parking and car maintenance. Accessibility is another. For those who simply cannot drive — from the legally blind to the elderly to people with disabilities — the bus provides a crucial, independent lifeline. Riding the bus is also good for your wallet: AAA has found that the cost of car ownership is around $10,000 a year. That adds up, especially when many jobs don’t pay living wages. Public transportation is also instrumental in fighting climate change. One person who commutes 20 miles daily by car can eliminate 2 1/2 tons of carbon dioxide each year by switching to public transportation, according to the American Public Transportation Association.
One person who commutes 20 miles daily by car can eliminate 2 1/2 tons of carbon dioxide each year by switching to public transportation.
I know that some people, especially suburbanites around car-choked Midlothian Turnpike and West Broad Street, are fearful that buses will worsen traffic. In fact, public transportation alleviates traffic congestion by taking cars off the road. Plus, the minimum standard of frequent transit is every 15 minutes, or four buses per hour. On roads that handle tens of thousands of vehicles a day, this is nearly nothing.
Other people I’ve spoken to are nervous to try the bus for the first time. There are multiple tools to alleviate this apprehension. Google Maps and GRTC’s official app, along with the Transit App, provide reliable information to navigate bus routes, with additional resources at ridegrtc.com. One woman I recently interviewed started taking the bus after she injured her leg and could no longer drive to work. She didn’t know what route to take or where the bus stop was. But she found her way, commuting by bus daily, and she continued to do so long after her injury healed.
In these days of rising inflation and high gas prices, there’s an added bonus — riding GRTC is free of charge through June 2025, thanks to a state grant.
So why not help yourself and the environment and give the bus a shot?
Richmond native Richard Hankins, programs and communications manager for RVA Rapid Transit, is a transit advocate, researcher and cartographer.
