GoRaleigh Buses Used During Black Lives Matter Protests
On Saturday, May 30th, our Associate Director, Nathan Spencer, received a text message from his wife. The message included a picture of Raleigh police in riot gear boarding a GoRaleigh bus bound for Downtown. Throughout the next couple days, during the height of the Downtown protests following the killing of George Flloyd by a Minneapolis police officer, reporters and friends shared similar photos on social media.
Nathan, Vice-Chair of the Raleigh Transit Authority (RTA), brought the matter to the attention of the RTA Chair Tolulope Omokaiye and fellow RTA member Brian L Burnett. Together, they drafted a letter seeking answers to why GoRaleigh buses were used to transport police into a potentially dangerous situation and whether drivers — a workforce that is overwhelmingly African-American — were being protected to the same degree as officers in riot gear.
As advocates for sustainable growth and safe, reliable public transit, we thank these members of the RTA for asking the hard questions that needed to be asked and for committing to the safety and well-being of our city’s transit workers.