February 4, 2024, is Transit Equity Day. This day honors civil rights activist Rosa Parks on her birthday. Parks is best remembered for her brave resistance by refusing to give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. Her actions inspired the local Black community to organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

The boycott lasted over a year and ended when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional. The year of the boycott was filled with hardship for the Black community, many of whom were dependent on buses for transportation. Parks lost her job and experienced harassment but became a nationally recognized representation of dignity and strength in the fight to end racial segregation.  

Parks' highlighted racism in the public transit system and ignited change. It affirmed that transportation equity is a civil right and emphasized the significant responsibility of transit organizations to ensure that all community members and riders are served equitably. 

As said by Rosa Parks, "You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.”