Right before I reached my destination, I checked my pockets for my phone and clutch, but my clutch wasn’t there. I panicked. I felt like I was having a heart attack. I felt like time had stopped. My money and personal information were completely gone.
I ran up to my work office and checked every nook and cranny of my bag – nothing. I nearly cried. Luckily a co-worker drove me down to where the bus was going to stop. We met up with the bus and had the opportunity to check around its floor and seats – still nothing.
The passengers on the bus weren’t cooperative at all, just dirty looks and confused stares. Grieving for my lost clutch, I called the lost and found hotline at FAX, hoping that I would get some sort of result in a day or two. I didn’t really care about the money that was in there at that point, I just wanted my personal information back. Deep down I knew that wasn’t going to happen and I knew there wasn’t really anything that FAX could do about it.
[pullquote_right]All of the stories should be able to help FAX in some way to make improvements, which has been prone to criticism in recent years.[/pullquote_right]At that time, The kNOw was implementing a new tool called BusTracker, which helps track incidents that happen on Fresno buses and at bus stops. When you report an incident to Bus Tracker, a dot goes on a map where it happened. It is simple and convenient, and in the near future will hopefully improve the bus system’s overall well-being. This is important to me because I ride the bus so often, several times per week.
I have been riding the FAX bus for over seventeen bus, ever since I was a child. For many years my family didn’t have a car, and at this point we still don’t. Everyone in my family uses the bus to get to work and other places. We have all ridden the bus long enough to see the changes that have taken place, and we all agree that not all of the changes that have happened are positive ones, such as the cutback in service hours and the recent fare increase.
I heard about a report that just came out saying Fresno’s transit system is ranked top fifth best in the country. I disagree with this report because I know other parts of the state, like the Bay Area, have a much more reliable system than Fresno. The report also did not factor in customer service.
With the arrival of BusTracker, I hope to learn about other people’s experiences with the bus system. Other people may have had more pleasant or more bizarre stories to tell, but all of the stories should be able to help FAX in some way to make improvements, which has been prone to criticism in recent years. From what I have seen, it is usually about late buses, inconvenient schedules, and rude drivers. Perhaps this has been caused because of budget cuts to the system and lack of public input. I believe that BusTracker can help bridge the communication gap between FAX and its riders.
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
