My future started on the 685 bus
Public transportation has been important to my family for as long as I can remember. My mother never learned how to drive. Even before I was born, my mother would take the family on public transportation to run errands, go to doctors’ appointments and shop at the grocery store.
Years later, Valley Metro’s 685 bus would shuttle me to and from community college — putting my dream of being a court interpreter within reach.
Public transportation has been more than just a way to get around. It’s been a lifeline.
At 10 months old, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. The disease has come and gone in my life, but I’ve been on treatment ever since I was 14. Because of this disease, public transit was my only option to get around.
We grew up in rural Gila Bend, about 70 miles outside Phoenix. My father is a maintenance worker and my mother is a homemaker.
College education was always a dream for me, but when money is tight and you’re challenged with a disability, it’s sometimes hard to think that your dreams are within reach. I knew education was my ticket to a better life and I wasn’t going to let my epilepsy stop me.
After I graduated from Gila Bend High School, I enrolled at Estrella Mountain Community College, with Arizona State University in my sights. It took three years, a 3:30 a.m. morning wake-up every day and a three-hour commute, but I finally made it to ASU. I’m now a proud graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, having earned my degree at the end of 2013.
Overcoming hardship is challenging; otherwise, it wouldn’t be called hardship. And I’m not writing today because I want pity. My dreams are within reach because I had the ability to physically get where I needed to be.
I don’t know what I would have done without Valley Metro, and I am so grateful for the opportunities it afforded me. It may seem strange to give so much credit to a public bus, but consider my prospects without it. I couldn’t drive because of my epilepsy, and there was no higher education in Gila Bend. But I knew I needed to attend college to be successful.
My story isn’t unique. Public transit touches lots of Americans every day. Systems like Valley Metro bring customers to stores, employees to jobs and students to schools. The 685 bus literally carried me from a life working a dead-end job to upward mobility.
I’m a proud, degree-holding, firstgeneration Mexican-American, and Valley Metro played a crucial role in my success. Without government investment in public transportation, millions of Americans like me who rely on public transportation would be devastated. Millions of dreams, like mine to become a public servant, would be unachievable. We can’t let this happen. No American should be denied a successful career because they don’t have access to affordable, local public transportation. Without public transit, my disability would have made me immobile — virtually stuck. No one should feel stuck, especially when in pursuit of the American dream.
I’m proof that public transportation is worth investing in. It gives us the freedom to pursue better opportunities and encourages community development and investment. Public transportation is a bipartisan issue every member of Congress should get behind.
That’s why I’m counting on Reps. Ruben Gallego and Kyrsten Sinema to show their support for Phoenix’s Valley Metro system. A bus or train shouldn’t come between a degree, job opportunity or even a shopping trip. It’s time our officials voted for constituents’ best interests, including public transit.
Jose Garcia is a warehouse associate for the Macy’s fulfillment center in Goodyear. He lives in Buckeye. Email him at jos2136396@gmail.com.