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Topic: Reliable transportation
Theme: Having one’s own vehicle means having relative freedom
Participants who have their own transportation expressed gratefulness at the additional freedom that this allowed.
Portsmouth participant: “Just speaking for myself, I have two vehicles. So, you know, I've never had
transportation problems since, you know, since I got Christ in my life, 'cuz I didn't know how to drive
before I got saved. But then after I got saved, God provided me with a cottage, I've been keeping the
vehicles ever since. So I have two, if one don't work, I just jump in the other, until I get that one fixed. And
then I have a brother that works on vehicles, so he's always kept my vehicles up and running.”
Norfolk participant: “I'm scared to answer that 'cause if I answer and something gets jinxed. No, I'm gonna
trust God. Um, I know there's a bus line here, um, but I'm blessed with a car. A working car.”
Newport News participant: “I can't say that there's really any challenges, because I can drive myself.”
Theme: Relying on public and medical transportation is challenging
Most participants who discussed having to rely on public, medical, or other people for transportation expressed
frustration at having to navigate multiple related challenges.
Chesapeake participant: “It's challenging. I have insurance that will get you transportation, but you have
to get the transportation five days in advance. So that doesn't always help. Like, if you need bread or milk,
you have to wait five days in order to be able to get to the store or have a kid that got two good legs that
can walk for you.”
Norfolk participant: “I gave up my car and I'm, uh, I haven't had any problems getting around since then,
but I did wanna say that, the closest bus stop is about a two-block walk from here. And there's no way I
can do that. If I had to rely on public transportation, like, the bus, that's an almost impossibility, but, um, as
far as transportation is concerned, to get back and forth, no, I don't have any problems with that. The Lord
has been good to me.”
Suffolk participant: “Well, the transportation that we have here in, in Suffolk is not best. It's not good at all.
To go from here, let's say, to Walmart, you gotta have plenty of time on your hands because it'll probably
take you three hours to get there. You gotta go so far to a bus stop because they constantly keep
changing the pickup points. Then you have to transfer and then you don't know how long it'll be before the
next bus come that'll take going the direction that you wanna. And then when, if you're not in and out of
the store in an hour, you miss the next bus. And so you probably got another two-hour wait before another
bus comes. Transportation, public transportation is nil here in Suffolk. It exists, but it doesn't exist for me.”
Norfolk participant: “I have insurance, but I don't call the ones that's free from the insurances because
they gonna be late, then you gotta pay the, if you late or you miss you appointment, you gotta pay $50.
That's the way mines is.”
Newport News participant : “So, there's two cab services in the area that are pretty quick that know the
areas well. It's not like you're having a hard time finding or getting to the destination on time or anything,
or just, you know, running errands. I used to get on the bus, but I'm not even trying to do that no more.”
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