Bacarra Mauldin

The Memphis Area Transist Authority has new programs for residents say Deputy Chief Bacarra Mauldin on The Bev Johnson Show on WDIA Radio.

Episode Transcript

(00:07):
Goodwill invites you to join us andasking the man upstairs to smile on us
today and help us to satisfy thathackering to offer you the best in radio
entertainment and service to the finest peoplein the world. Our listeners celebrating seventy
five years of goodwill and good time. W d I A Memphis. Your

(00:35):
mind ships to be ready inhead.I'm telling you to just keep the fir
around appearing up Bessing show because Billgot here. It's the best. Hey,

(01:00):
good morning, and welcome back toWDIA The BEB Johnson Show. It
is a thirds day, October fifth, twenty twenty three. Enjoyed this fabulous
day to day. Let me remindy'all it is election day. It is
election day for the city of Memphis. Go out and choose your candidate for

(01:23):
mayor of Memphis. Also, you'llbe choosing a city council person. The
polls will close at seven PM thisevening, so you have until now to
go and vote. But let metell you this. Let me tell you
this. Let me tell you this. You cannot go to any place you

(01:45):
need you want to go to.That's over. That was early voting,
all right, So you have togo to the place where you were assigned
your district. So look on yourcard. You can go online to find

(02:05):
out where you're supposed to vote.Okay at shallbyvote dot com, shall be
vote dot com. When you gotoday, you need a pitcher. I
D bring a state or federal potodto cast your ballot. Okay, all

(02:30):
right, you need a photo ID. That's important to know. Know before
you go review your ballot. It'sshort, y'all. It's short mayor and
city council people. And if youknow your district going in there. If
you don't go to Shelby vote dotcom shall be vote dot com to find

(02:58):
out where you're polling place is.You may see a lot of signs around.
You can't go everywhere. That's over. I wanted to make sure you're
clear, but go, please goand vote. I want to tell you
that before we bring in our nextguest. I'm excited because we're gonna share

(03:19):
some good news and let me welcomein to the WDA studios and first time
on the BEB Johnson Show. Myguest is Bakara Maldon. She's the deputy
chief at mad I and also she'smy sorority sister of the best sorority there
is, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Absolutely, she is here, sister,

(03:47):
Sister Maldon. Welcome in, Welcomein, sister. How are you?
I am fine, Thank you somuch for having me on your show
today. You are welcome and youare looking just fabulous. That's how.
That's how Delta girls. Do youknow we do we those divas? Oh
we are, we are. I'mglad to have you here with us,

(04:08):
Deputy chief at MATTA. And forpeople who are listening across the country who
are not in Memphis, Tennessee.MATTA is what, sister is the Memphis
Area Transit Authority, the largest urbanpublic transportation provider in the state of Tennessee.
We provide trolley service, bus service, and eighty eight pair of transit

(04:32):
service, as well as a newconcept called ready on Demand service. Ready
on Demand. Yes, I can'twait to hear about that. But let
me go back with the MATA andproviding transportation for residents here in the city
of Memphis. Yes, that thatMATTA provides those rides. You know you

(04:56):
know what system it is been yearsyears, years, years years, It's
not been on a matter bus andhas Mata from the years. I mean
it's it's been years. I thinkit's when when the station was downtown.
Oh my gosh. But has Matachanged at all? Matter has changed quite

(05:19):
a bit, Okay, and we'restill changing. Wow. So we are
evolving so that we can better meetthe needs of our community. I started
to tell you about the Ready ondemand service. We also have another on
demand service called Groove on Demand.And really, when we say on demand,

(05:39):
we're talking about I'm gonna say uberish type service where if you wake
up and you decide you want togo to the local store, so to
speak, uh huh, you canactually dial up the ride in terms of
pulling it up on your app,selecting the pickup time, and within that

(05:59):
win we will dispatch a vehicle topick you up. It goes from curve
to curve. It operates in certainzones, and curve to curve is different
from the traditional fixed route service thatyou may have grown accustomed to, where
you go to the bus stop andthen the bus comes every so often and
you follow a fixed route. Thisactually picks you up where you are and

(06:21):
takes you where you need to gowithin the zone, and we operate several
zones with both of those services.Now again this is called the We have
two. We have Groove on Demand, which services the New Chicago and the
Downtown area and the Medical District.And then we have Ready on Demand,

(06:44):
which serves the white Haven area,the Raleigh North, the Fraser area as
well as Cordova. Now is thisdifferent from years ago used to have the
Mattaplus. It is different from Mataplus. Now Plus is federally mandated eighty a
pair of transit service. Now itserves seniors as well as persons with disabilities.

(07:09):
Now that service is different where youhave to actually subscribe to that service.
You have to be pre certified forthat service, and you have to
call I think it is a seventytwo hour window in order to schedule your
ride with that service, the ondemand service that I'm speaking of. Okay,
you don't have to be pre qualifiedfor the service. It's open to

(07:31):
any and everyone to use that service. So it is. It is a
different service. It is. Butand I guess I was getting to when
you mentioned the two on demand thatthe Matter plus is still in operation.
Yes, ma'am, it is absolutelystill in operation. Okay, So the
Ready on demand. Yes, thatagain takes you. Does it comes to

(07:59):
your house or it's in the neighborhood, it comes to your house, comes
to your house, because I wantto be clear because I know someone,
well what did she say? Itwill come to your house or that's ready
on demand, ready on demand,or wherever you are, so to speak.
It will pick you up from whereyou are and take you to where
you need to go within the zone. So I want to emphasize within the

(08:20):
zone. So okay, so explainthe zone. Okay, okay. The
on demand service operates in fixed zones. For example, I'll just take the
white Haven The white Haven zone isthe probably the most popular zone that we

(08:41):
have. We can't even put enoughservice out there. The residents of white
Haven are really utilizing that service,and we really appreciate them for giving it
a try. If you have ahouse in the community there, and let's
just say you want to go toand you want to go somewhere in white

(09:03):
Haven, and you want to gosomewhere in white Haven, so so you
want to go to try to makeit plane you live, you live on
Elvis Presley, and you're trying togo somewhere on Shelby Drive in white Haven.
In white Haven, it would takeyou within that zone. Ah,
it will. Or if you wantto go to Kroger, if you're at
your house and you want to goto Kroger, or if you're at your

(09:26):
house and you need to go tothe hospital that's over there. Yeah,
all within that zone in the zone. Yes. So now the and the
reason why I want to qualify that. For instance, okay, now,
if you were at your house inwhite Haven and you wanted to go downtown,
what you would do is the Readyservice would take you to the connection

(09:46):
point so that you can then transferonto the fixed route service and continue your
trip outside the zone. So that'swhy it's Ready on demand. That's why
it's Ready on demand. Ah nowwait a minute now, miss Cayler Malten.

(10:07):
That that's better than Uber, isn'tit? Yes? I think it
is. And I'm thinking who knewabout this? Well, we have been
preaching the gospel of Ready for atleast the last two years. We really
have, really we have it isit is taking off again in the white

(10:28):
Haven zone alone. We can't evenput enough vehicles out there. We just
to keep up with the demand.Because I'm thinking This is really the first
time that I'm hearing about it,and like you said, you've been doing
it for two That's why she's onthe Bed Johnson Show. But to hear
about it because I'm thinking because Iand the reason I'm saying that, Miss

(10:50):
Malton, because I get listeners allthe time want to know about transportation.
I need some transportation to the doctor. I need this. So this ready
service from Matter is there to help. It is it is there to help.
And honestly, this is something thatyou're seeing communities all over the country.
Okay, it is a more economicalway to operate transportation services. And

(11:15):
I really have to give all thecredit to our CEO, mister Gary Rosenfeldt
for coming up with this concept andmaking it work here in Memphis, because
he started it during the pandemic.The concept came to him during the pandemic
and then he basically rolled it outimmediately right after that. Just the way
to you lie smaller vehicles. Sowe're not bringing a forty foot bus because

(11:37):
I was my next question, Isaid that big bus gonna come in front,
right, it's smaller vehicles. Evenfrom a staffing perspective, you don't
have to have CDL certified drivers tooperate those vehicles. So it makes sense
for the consumer as well as itmakes sense for the agency as well.
So the ready on demand is thatonly in certain zones. It is only

(12:05):
in certain zones, but hopefully expandingto other zones near you. Okay,
so right now the zones are whereWhite Haven, we have Frasier and we
have Cordova that's ready. Now forGroove we have Downtown New Chicago Medical District

(12:28):
and soon West Memphis. Wow.Now, what's the difference between Ready and
Groove. Well, Groove actually startedas a partnership with the Downtown Memphis Commission.
It's a pilot program that we partneredwith them on. It's powered by
Via, at least initially it's poweredby Via, and Ready was powered by

(12:52):
a different provider. We are nowin the process of unifying those platforms now
so soon it will all be oneservice under one umbrella. But they were
two different pilots and that's why theyhave two different names. Oh okay,
good. Now, with these services, how does a resident connect with them?

(13:18):
What do they need to do?They need to go to Wwwmattertransit dot
com or download the go nine onone app nine on one app go nine
on one. There's an app forthat. Oh I didn't know. And
so when they do that, theywill be able to call and say I

(13:39):
need Well, they'll be able touse digital technology to do it, just
like you would for Uber or lyftokay, able to do it right in
the palm of your hand or orright on that screen in front of you
at your computer. Now, MsMalden, you know there are some people
who are not tech savvy. Theydon't know a lot of seniors. They

(14:00):
don't know how to use that phone. They don't know how to call over
lift or is there a way forthem to get the service? Yes,
there is a way for them toget the service. They can call they
can call us that matter as wellto get that service. It's a two
seven to one ATA line in orderto be connected, follow the prompts and
be connected. And you can alsoget a ride that way as well.

(14:24):
But but, but, but butyeah, but we do have ambassadors that
are deployed all across the city atvarious times. We do pop ups to
show our customers how easy it isto use this technology. We are not
going to stop until we get toshow any and everybody how to utilize our
app, because we think it's important. It's the future, it's the future

(14:46):
of mobility, is the future oftransit, It's really the future of everything.
There really is an app for thatfor everything, for everything. And
so we we started with a partnershipwith Lemurno in college earlier this year some
of their students. We've gotten someadditional ambassadors and we are out in the
community making sure that people know onethat we have it and two how to

(15:07):
use it. Now with when wehear about Mata, and I know,
I'm sure you all get a lotof complaints and this and that, and
one of the things that I hearfrom listeners, Miss Malden is that Mata
has cut services. Can you speakon the services? What's going with the

(15:31):
services? I don't know if ithappened during the pandemic or what happened?
What about the services for Mata?Well, first of all, let me
just say we recognize that our customersare experiencing some operational challenges and we really
really apologize that that is happening.There are several reasons why that is happening.

(15:54):
We're in different we're in unique timesright now, post pandemic, you
know, historically underfunded of course,but in addition to the funding, we're
in a labor inflation. At leastthat's what I call it, because it's
like where did all the people go? You know, we have you know,
staffing shortages in terms of bus operators, and our real achilles heel are

(16:18):
the staffing shortages that we have inour maintenance division. Oh yeah, and
so that's the achilles heel of ouragency. And so having staff in shortages
impacts our ability to put safe buseson the street, and all of those
things work together to create the imperfectstorm that we have right now, which

(16:40):
is the operational challenges that we experiencingright now. Now. We are looking
deep within to make some adjustments,and as we make those adjustments, will
be communicating those out. But weare looking at ways so that we can
make our service more effective and moreefficient, because it's no reason to operate

(17:00):
if we can't get people from pointA to point B. Our mission.
It's simple to connect people to places, and until we're able to work through
those operational challenges, we recognize it'sgoing to be difficult to do that,
and so we're working very diligently withour team to overcome that. But I
want all of your listeners to knowthat we hear them, We hear the

(17:22):
calls. We acknowledge that there's someissues, but we just asked for your
patience and your grace while we tryto work through this difficult time. I'm
glad you explained that, because youknow we get the complainers, and I've
heard the complaints about about Mata.But I'm glad to know that what you
know, you're you're short on staff. We are. I don't know last

(17:47):
month, a couple of months agothat you were you are looking to hire
people. We are, and weare going any and everywhere looking We're partnering
with the local factories and warehouses thatare closing down. We're partnering with technical
schools. We have a Teacap partnershipthat we're doing for maintenance workers. We

(18:07):
have Mechanic Monday where we're actively recruitingmaintenance employees every Monday at our Levey Road
facility. We are even partnering withthe Memphis Grizzlies, just trying to get
the word out that matter is openfor business and we are hiring and it
is a great career to work atMATTER and to work in public transit.

(18:30):
And I know that Ms Maldan,that you were selected the top award over
transportation leaders across the state. Whatmakes matter? So what what makes well?
Let me say first of all,I was absolutely shocked, okay,
when I won. When I foundout I won the award, I want
to graduation. I wasn't even intown when I wanted to award. I

(18:52):
was in Washington, d C.At an infrastructure briefing, actually trying to
find out how we can bring moremoney to Memphis to help make our transit
system better. But you know,we are a part of an association of
transit providers all across the state interms of this particular instance, and it's
called Tipton's, the Tennessee Public TransportationAssociation. And the award that I received

(19:19):
was the Urban Executive of the Yearaward, which goes to a general manager,
CEO executive level employ that I guessby their peers are selected to have
been the person of the year.I really am not sure what made them

(19:41):
think that I was the best.I am floored and honored. You know,
when I came to Memphis two anda half years ago. I really
came here because I loved the city. I'm a Southern girl and I just
wanted to make a difference. Andso I locked hands with the team at
Matta and we have done all thatwe can to try to put the best
service possible out. Now do wehit the mark every time? We don't,

(20:03):
but we work very, very diligentlyevery day to do so. And
that's really where my focus is.But I'm absolutely honored in FLOORA to have
been selected and really really appreciative.But I will say the problems that we
have at Matter, they're not uniqueto Matter. Okay, these challenges are
experienced by agencies all across the world, not just the country, all over

(20:29):
the world having to figure out howto address the challenges, the very challenges
that we're talking about right here.There's somebody across the country having the same
conversation about how to make service happen, how to get people to work,
how to get people to the doctor, how to improve lives with public transits.
So and again, congratulations, andtransportation is a biggie. It is

(20:56):
is a biggie. And let mesay this. Let me give the number
of you all heavy question for MsPacara Malden, who is the deputy chief
at Matta. You may want toask her a question. The number is
eight three three five three five ninethree four to two eight three three,

(21:18):
five three five nine three four two. So in talking mis Malden, you
talked about you know you're having staffchallenges and you don't we don't have that
many buses run. Is there aand I don't know it has the bus
scheduled times change because I because Ican recall, I can recall as a

(21:45):
as a teenager and child riding becausethe buses would run up to midnight at
one o'clock in the morning, andbecause people and that was fabulous for a
lot of people who didn't have carsthat could go from work and go getting
home at night. Absolutely, butthere are two things that make that happen,
okay. One is funding, yes, and two is staffing. And
when you're short on both of those, it's hard to run a service that

(22:08):
way. And so agencies across thecountry are rolling back those service hours.
And I can honestly tell you thatwe are looking again, okay, within
our own operations, trying to seehow we can offer the best service possible
with the funding level that we receivecurrently with the equipment that we have,

(22:33):
we do need to get new buses. We're getting new buses in the supply
chain. Of course, you hearsupply chain, supply chain, so those
buses aren't very fast to roll in, but they're ordered. They're coming,
look two and three at a time. So you'll start seeing new buses over
the next few months. But it'sa process, and so that's why I

(22:56):
am sincerely asking for everyone to getit was give us just a little grace
and be patient with us, becausewe are absolutely working to try to make
our service the best service possible.We won't matter to be a world class
transit system because Memphis deserves that.I think so. I think. So

(23:17):
we're talking with mister Bacara Malden,Deputy Chief at Matta. Miss Malden,
I'm gonna go to our phone linesto talk to some of our listeners.
I got my fingers crossed. Okay, w D I A Hi caller,
Hi caller, Hello, Yes,Hi, Hey, all right, I

(23:38):
didn't hear you come on, Yes, all right. The question is I
can go out and stand and waitfor the every day to get to work
in this in this ready thing ofgroup being in the specific area. Could
I call them if I worked inthat area? Could I call them every
day and they picked me up andtake me to work? You can call

(24:00):
them every day every day, everyday and come to my house take me
within the distance every day every day. All right, yes, it Hey,
William? Did you did you?Did you know that about Matter?

(24:22):
No? This first time I heardabout it, you know, because I
hadn't. I hadn't ridden the bus. Yeah. Yeah, but you're not
the only one. And that's whyI was telling Miss Moulden. This is
really the first time I'm hearing thatthey had such a program. But I
think it's fabulous. Well, thankyou, and we're trying to make it
even better, so I appreciate that. But please go to www. Dot

(24:45):
matter transit dot com. We havea landing page there that gives you all
the details, the hours of service, all the information that you need to
know in order to be able toutilize the service. But yes, you
can catch that service every day.Wow, there's a lot of people should
be saving money on a lot ofgas. That's what we are. Oh

(25:07):
yeah, thank you so very much. God bless y'all even more, you
too, William Thank you, William, Thank you Bye bye. W D.
I a high caller. Hey beb, how are you? I'm doing
well? Jule, how are you? I'm fine? How you doing this?
MC Color? I'm fine? Howare you? I'm fine? I

(25:30):
was calling because I used to ridematter back in the day twenty seventeen,
because I used to work at theWestern Hotel and Mada got me there twice
late and I had to give upMatter Plus because I had just started my
job and I didn't want to losemy job riding with Matter Plus being to

(25:51):
work late twice. Uh uh,because they was dealing matter of fact.
They are still dealing with points.So if it's like you fifteen points,
they automatically gonna fright. And Iunderstand that, and it kind of goes
back to what I was saying before. You know, we recognize that we've
had some operational challenges, and pleaseknow we are working diligently to work through

(26:15):
those challenges. We think it's veryvery important for you to be able to
plan your life a utilizing matter andto be able to do the things that
you need to do are utilizing ourservice. So we recognize that we've got
some work to do. But Iassure you we are pushing up our sleeves
and we are getting down to itbecause it is important and the community deserves

(26:37):
it. So we are definitely doingthat. Yes we do. And so
I apologize, well, I apologizethat you did not have an ideal experience,
but I hope that at some pointin the future you'll have an opportunity
to try us again, and wepray that your experience is much much better.

(26:59):
All right, thank you, Ithink I will you welcome. Thank
you, Jewel, bye bye.Jewel said something. So if that happens
Matter Plus miss Malden's, should thewriter the resident can they call Madden complain,
say look this Matter Plus person theykeep being late. That same number

(27:22):
that I gave you earlier, thenine oh one two seven four Matter is
the number for them to call.If they follow the prompt they'll be able
to be routed to a live customerservice agent. We also have the writers
First email address, which is writersFirst at Matter Transit dot com as well.
They can send us an email andthat email address. That mailbox is

(27:45):
monitored every day all day and youwill get a response. Very good.
WDI A high caller, Hey bebI want to ask a question dealing with
Mattha. Okay, unforgetful. Yes, I was wondering why a matter does
not use the interstate roughoutes in thiscity before us ticking up. People like

(28:07):
an exit. So we have regulationsthat we have to follow in terms of
speed, in terms of paths oftravel safety, we can we really want
to drop off and pick up usingareas that's going to be safe for our
customers to navigate. And so whileyou may occasionally see a bus on the

(28:32):
interstate making a connection from one pointto another, we usually try to avoid
utilizing the interstate system for city publictransportation services. Okay, I was just
wonder because I know that forty wouldchange when I used to ride it back
in the path It would get herin the interstate and get me at my

(28:52):
destination real quickly, And I wasjust wonder what y'all wouldn't do. Well
At one point, I think wedid have some express routes that did that,
that do utilize the interstate, butwe can't. We don't really have
the ability to do that system wide. Again, we try to create routes

(29:12):
that are gonna be easier for ourcustomers to navigate and safe because we do
have to share the road with thecars and with the end with pedestrians and
bikers and all of that, andso we try to keep that in mind
as we create the routes throughout thecity. Very good, unforgetful. Good
question going to West Mesa. Wellagain, I mean, of course,

(29:37):
you know there's really only one,well two ways to get to West Memphis,
so we would be utilizing it tomake that connection. But the key
is when we utilize express service orthe interstate, we try to get get
there and be there for as briefof a period of time as we can
and then drop back down to theresidential streets. But we have a whole

(29:59):
planning department that studies this stuff dayin and day out in turn and comes
up with the routes that we utilize. So well, I think you're never
going to grow heaven. Nice day, Thank you, unforgetful, and and
and and unforgetful. It's not doesn'tlisten, Mi Malden, Because as you
said earlier, you're you're planning somethings for West Memphis. We are,

(30:22):
and I know that that Matta hastalked to UH Mayor McClinton over there.
And because back in the day,the bus would go to West Memphis because
people worked over there, correct,because they worked at Southland. And Mayor
McClinton has been such an advocate andgreat partner to us. He recognizes that

(30:42):
the citizens over there need to beconnected to Memphis. He recognizes that the
citizens of Memphis need to be connectedto West Memphis, and he has been
the number one ambassador out there.He doesn't quite you know, we don't
quite have the service to to havea fixed route network there. But I

(31:03):
believe that the ready service, thegroove on demand that expands out there is
going to be a good start tohaving I like those programs that comes to
your house. Yes, I'm tryingto see if it one is in my
neighbors. I wanted to drive towork. I want to ask you about

(31:23):
because when we were downtown, that'sone of the things that I miss is
the trolley. What's going on withthe trolley? Any new developments with the
trolley. So we are operating themain street trolley still, we are not
currently operating, at least in theform of the trolley service the Madison Line

(31:45):
in the riverfront line. We dohave bus service, that is, we
have buses that run that route,but not on the tracks like a traditional
track it used to do like itused to do. No, so we
but we are operating the main Streettrolley still on the tracks. It's still

(32:07):
it's still there. It's our secondhighest line of ridership in our agency right
now. People truly enjoy the trolleyand it's a service that we enjoy bringing
to the people it. You know, I learned shortly after I moved here
that about eighty percent of the photosinvolving Memphis have a picture of one of

(32:28):
the trolleys. So yeah, Iunderstand that they are very very very important.
They're a very important part of Memphisculture. It is it is,
and that was such a just atreat just just riding the around the river
fraud. See, I guess notbeing downtown Miss Malden, that I miss
a whole lot of stuff. Wehope, we really, we really really

(32:51):
hope to be able to bring thoseback one day. But again, it
comes down to what can you efficientlyefficiently operate and what funding can you get
to efficiently to efficiently operate. Andwhen you talk about funding that, I
know Congressman con has been working tryingto get more and more money. And
I know he has gotten money formatter. He has. Let me put

(33:14):
that out because our people will usesay he not doing nothing. Yes he
is. He's done a lot andhe's gotten a lot of money for matter.
He has. The money that hehas gotten for MATA has been for
capital projects though, and so Iwant people to understand it while they hear
about these millions of dollars that we'vegotten, that million of those millions of

(33:36):
dollars can't be used to put gasin a bus and they can't be used
to hire a bus operator or amechanic. Okay, therefore restricted purposes.
The money that we've gotten there havebeen really two, really three major projects
that we've received money for. Oneis what it will be the bus rapid

(33:57):
transit system, which is going tobe imagine light reil but it's operated by
buses. And so that's the InnovationQuarter. It's going to start downtown and
go all the way to the Universityof Memphis. We've received funding from the
federal government from that as well asCongressman Coin was really instrumental in helping us
get the first fifty million dollars tobuild a new operations and maintenance facility,

(34:22):
and we're currently in the process nowof planning that out. Our facility is
in disrepair. It's literally sinking.I don't know if you know the story
about that. No, I don't, but our operations and maintenance facility on
Levee Road is literally sinking. Itwas built, really, it was built
on a landfill long before anybody inthis building probably was born. It was

(34:45):
right, but the building is sinking. And so in order to be able
to provide that world class service,we've got to have a world class home
right to do it. And sothat first fifty million and notice that SAI
at first fifty million, that's rightto build that facility. Congressman Coin is

(35:05):
really gone above and beyond to helpus get that. Now, we've also
gotten additional funding to do a busrapid transit in the north South and basically
the route that's called the forty twoCross Town is going to basically evolve into
the Crosstown Connector and that's going tobe our North South BRT line. And
so really that is going to reallyraise the bar in how we move about

(35:29):
our time, our town. Andso people look at transportation as a straight
line, but when you're in publictransit. We look at it as a
circle. How to get from oneplace to another place to another place,
and making sure that we have enoughtransportation out there to get the people from
where they are to where they're goingand back. And so all of these

(35:51):
things are going to work together tomake an even better mobility experience for people
that need to use public transit andthat want to use public transit throughout Memphis
and Shelby County. I like it, Ms Malden. I have an email
for you, and this email isfrom Jay and he says, what percentage

(36:12):
of electric buses do you all have? First question? And do you all
plan to go all electric in thefuture. We currently have three electric buses.
I know you asked for a percentage, but I'm just going to tell
you the number. We have threeelectric buses right now, and actually all
transit agencies across the country are mandatedto move in that direction of moving the

(36:38):
fleet to either electric or hydrogen fusesale something that's going to be cleaner,
greener energy, and so there areplans we're looking at all the options.
We do have some additional electric buseson order, and so we'll be moving
towards cleaner energy. I can't reallytell you one hundred percent of our fleet
is going to be electric, butwe are definitely moving even more towards cleaner

(37:02):
energy. We are talking with theDeputy Chief at Matta, Miss m Bacara
Malden is here. If you havea question or two about Mada, this
is your chance. She's not gonnabe here all day. You can call
me at eight three three five threefive nine three four two eight three three

(37:28):
five three five nine three four two. And this morning's Bev Johnson Show is
being powered by Washington Brothers Roofing.I tell y'all is gonna rain. It's
gonna rain again. Call Washington Brother'sRoofing at nine zero one for eight six
zero six zero nine. That's ninezero one for eight six zero six zero

(37:53):
nine Washington Brothers Roofing. Whether you'rein Arkansas, Tennessee, or Mississippi on
Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram,thank you for listening to the Bev Johnson
Show on w d i A Memphis. W d i A listen on the

(38:22):
free iHeartRadio app for all your musicradio and podcast Free Never Sound is so
good with a hard and soul ofMemphis ten seventy w D I a Memphis
show, be Jops Memphis Talkie.That's all away, Helmo, you go,

(38:45):
you go, Son't get ready showBen justin we make gol j Here
listen to what today you know it'sabout show. We are talking with mister

(39:15):
Bacara Malden, the deputy chief atMatta, going to our phone lines to
talk to you to and so wecan get miss Malden back to work so
she can work for hard for us. Common man. Hey, hey,
ber, how you doing. I'mdoing well, common man in yourself doing
okay? Doing okay? How youdoing? Chief? Did you say,

(39:37):
Maldon? Yeah, Malden, DeputyChief Malden? Yes, how you doing,
Deputy Deputy Chief Malden. I'm fine. How are you? I'm doing
fine. I gotta come in andtwo questions for you, right quick?
Sure? Yesterday, yes, yes, yesterday at an intersection and I noticed
something on a bus and maybe it'sbeen there, I just never noticed.

(40:00):
But it was a recording speaking outreally loud, well, well not extreme
loud, but loud enough for thepeople to hear. And it was saying,
you know, just notifying people thatthe bus is getting ready to make
a right turn, you know.And I thought that was a nice safety
procedure, and I would to askyou, how lo is there something that's
been on probably I guess something thatnewer buses it has. That's a feature

(40:22):
that has been on our buses fora while now, and you'll start seeing
that more and more, especially aswe integrate the electric buses, because the
electric buses are quiet, they havea much quieter ride, and so I
guess getting the public condition to hearingthat voice the bus is turning, the

(40:42):
bus is turning, you know,getting the customer's condition to hear that will
help us as we integrate those electricbuses into our fleet as well. Yeah.
Yeah, I thought that was prettygood for pedestrians that may be preparing
to step out onto the street orwhatever. I'll recur that, Yeah,
that was really safe. Safety issafety is our north star. We have

(41:04):
to share the road with people withother vehicles with bikes in the light,
and so this is just one waythat we work to try to make sure
that we're operating safe and efficient service. So thank you for that. Okay,
yes, okay, my two initialquestions and I hang up and listen.
Safety safety, Do you all everthink about things that you may be

(41:28):
able to do regarding people getting ontothe buses and the passages being safe for
someone who may, you know,just spontaneously break out an attack on on
your riders. I think that wasan instant that happened like that somewhere I
can't remember, not really long ago. I think somebody shot somebody on a
bus. I can't remember. Itwas here in another city. So do

(41:49):
you ever think about stuff like that? And my last question, oh,
go ahead, I'm sorry, no, I was going to just answer that
question. We are absolutely thinking about. If you were to ask me what
keeps me up at night, it'smaking sure that our bus service is safe
for our employees and our customers.And unfortunately, attacks are on the rise

(42:13):
across the country. This is nota Memphis thing, and so we are.
You know, in fact, thisweekend we're going to be headed to
the American Public Transportation Association Expo,and while we're at the Expo, we'll
have the opportunity to look at newinnovations in safety gear and plexiglass enclosures.
You know, at one time thebus operators used to be out in the

(42:35):
open. Now we've put the rightNow you start seeing these enclosures and even
those enclosures have evolved, and sowe're about to get ready to go and
look at the next generation of theplexiglass enclosures, to talk with other people
across the country about best practices orhow we can keep our operators safe and

(42:57):
our customers as well. So allof that is really important. Yeah,
that's that's really good. Okay,last question. I don't know if you
was here, because I think Iheard you say you just came like two
and a half years ago. Ican't really remember how far this goes back,
but I think it was the SheffeCounty mayor there was attempting to have

(43:20):
some residents of the county boot tenmillion dollars. I think it was for
infrastructure. I don't know exactly whatit was for matter, but whatever happened
in that scenario where you needed thatmoney, and did you ever get it?
Do you ever think about increasing therate of the rags? So that's

(43:43):
my question. I'll go ahead andhang up and listen to y'all. Thank
you coming man. Well, whatI will say is that increasing fares is
a board level decision that we arein discussing. You know, fares were
reduced during COVID, of course,to make public trends in exportation more accessible
for all of our residents and forthe those that visit the area. We

(44:06):
are talking about going back to thepre COVID levels, but of course that
would be a board level decision.But we are looking at fairs. We're
looking at a lot of different waysto generate the revenue that we need to
operate the best service possible. Ican't really speak in terms of what took
place before I got here, becauseI don't know all the facts and the

(44:28):
details surrounding that. But what Iwill say is a need still exists,
and we absolutely want to partner withShelby County, with the City of Memphis,
with the business community. We wantto partner with everyone to bring in
with our congressional leadership, to bringin as much operational and capital funding as

(44:51):
we can so that again we cancreate that world class transit system that Memphis
needs and deserves. All right,and before you go, so tell our
listeners about that nine on one smartcard. Absolutely we want everyone to ride
smart with matter and get a holdof one of these go nine on one
smart cards. We just rolled thisout about a month ago actually is when

(45:15):
we rolled them out, and reallytransit agencies across the country are adopting a
new generation of fair payment. Andthe reason why this is such a big
deal is because it actually it's cleaner. You don't have to have cash,
you can keep up with the amountof fair It allows more flexibility in terms

(45:36):
of how fair media is put ontothe card. You can use your credit
card, you can go online andfill it. It allows us to partner
with more agencies. For instance,we partner with the court system. We
have a partnership with Shelby County MayorLee Harris right now. Well, now
that we have these cards instead ofhanding out paper passes, once we have

(45:57):
the numbers of the card that arebeing you, we're able to reload those
cards and so it really helps usto know who's using how we can offer
better service. And it really isjust a win win for everybody. And
this is the next generation of fairpayments and it's happening all over the country
and that new technology is right herein Memphis, Tennessee. I love it

(46:21):
again. So to get that cardagain, go to your local transit center
and go to the window and theywill be happy to get you a card
and sign you up. Sounds good. Pacara Malden, thank you, and
those emails they were just saying that, thank you, thank you, thank
you for the Groove and Ready programs. They like it. They like it.

(46:42):
Thank you and thank you for you. Have to come back and talk
with us. Absolutely, will youdo that. I would love to come
back and talk to you anytime.My sorol, I hear you, my
sore. This is Forcarl Malden Awardwinner. Yes you are, Yes you
are, and Deputy Chief of Matter. Thank you so much. Be safe
out there. Hope to see yousoon. Absolutely when we come back.

(47:04):
Mar chit chat with me. BevJohnson on the Bev Johnson Show on Double
D. I A. You're listeningto the Heart and Soul of Memphis,

(47:37):
The BEB Johnson Show exclusively on DoubleDA. You're listening to the Bev Johnson

(48:09):
Show. Here's Bev Johnson. It'sbeen a good day today, good day
today. I want to thank myguest earlier, mister Len Watkins talking about
the African American male wellness that's happeningon Saturday. If Bluff Park all go
down there get those free health screening. It's gonna be for men and women

(48:30):
and do the walk. Yeah.Always, because if you can't afford a
doctor, when you hear about freehealth screenings, go out and support those
brothers, the one hundred black menof Lymphis who are doing the African American
Male Wellness Day. And it's notonly for men but for women as well.
Children. They're gonna have good entertainment, information, health screenings and entertainment

(48:53):
by my boyfriend, mister Courtney Little. So that's gonna be good. Yeah,
and I'll thank you for my guest, Miss Bacara Malden, who is
the deputy chief at MATTA, forgiving us this new information. Always go
to their website. You want toknow more about Ready on Demand and Groove
on Demand. I like those programs. And she says she'll come back and

(49:17):
talk more about what Matter is doing. And that's a good thing. I
love that, love that good information. Today, and last but not least,
it is election day. This isit, y'all. If you have
not voted, I'm encouraging you togo out and choose the mayor of your

(49:39):
choice. Your vote count, Yourvote count. Don't let anybody tell you
your vote doesn't count. Look whatthey did in Washington this week. The
vote counted than they got out.Kevin McCaughey, your vote counts, So
go choose a mayor, so ournext mayor for the City of Memphis,
and choose your council people as well. It's a short ballot, y'all.

(50:05):
It's real short mayor and city council. That's all that's on there. Make
sure you have your photo ID,a photo ID, state or federal photo
ID, so you'll be able tocast your ballot. Polls will close at
seven PM this evening, so goand remember you can't go anywhere. You

(50:30):
have to go to yours signed precinct. You have to go to your assigned
precinct. Okay, So go vote, and tomorrow we'll see who will be
our next mayor in twenty twenty fourfor the city of Memphis and our council
folks as well. Thank you callers. I want to thank you listeners for

(50:54):
joining us this day on the BEVJohnson Show. We do, we really
do appreciate you. So until tomorrow, please be safe, cap a cool
head, y'all, don't let anyonesteal your joy. Until tomorrow, I'm

(51:15):
Bev Johnson and y'all keep the faith. The views and opinions discussed on the
Bev Johnson Show are that of thehosts and callers, and not those of
the staff and sponsors of w dI. A take