VIA is offering free rides on all of its services on Wednesday in observance of Rosa Parks Day.
Its vehicles will also have their lights on to remember Parks, who was arrested on Dec. 1, 1955, after she refused to give up her bus seat to make room for a white passenger.
The protest began a long effort to desegregate U.S. public transportation.
The complimentary service extends to all bus, VIAtrans, and VIA Link trips. VIAtrans customers must book their trips in advance, as usual.
Rosa Parks Day is observed on different days from state to state. During Texas’ 87th Legislative session in 2021, legislators approved HB3481, designating Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day.
The act honors Rosa Louise McCauley Parks “for her courageous act of refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to protest segregation which helped launch the civil rights movement in the United States.”
Dec. 1 fell on a Sunday this year but VIA opted to recognize Rosa Parks Day on a Wednesday so more riders could use the free service on a busier day.
An embroidered seat dedicated to Parks’ memory is placed in each of VIA’s more than 500 buses. The bright yellow seat is installed in the front portion of each bus, below a sign that describes Parks’ protest.
Park’s refusal to move seats ignited a protest of the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted more than 380 days and spurred a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1956 that banned public transit agencies from segregating passengers.
Parks died in October 2005 in Detroit at the age of 92.
Joey Palacios contributed to this report.
