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Transit Tangents
The Podcast where we discuss all things transit. Join us as we dive into transit systems across the US, bring you interviews with experts and advocates, and engage in some fun and exciting challenges along the way.
Transit Tangents
Ep. 33: "Public Transit Summer Camp"
Imagine a program where children gain confidence and independence simply by learning to navigate their city using public transit. Tammy Miller, the visionary executive director of ATX Kids Club, joins us on Transit Tangents to share how her Northeast public transit experiences inspired her to create this unique initiative in Austin, Texas. Through year-round adventures and field trips, ATX Kids Club encourages kids to explore their city with a sense of wonder, while also addressing and transforming perceptions about the safety and benefits of public transportation in Austin.
Join as we uncover the heartwarming stories of young campers who, through mastering the public bus system, not only develop a sense of independence but also end up guiding their parents on bus routes! We discuss the lifelong advantages of early public transit exposure, from financial savings to environmental stewardship, and the expanded horizons it brings. Tammy’s efforts reveal the hidden potential of public transit to shape a more accessible and sustainable future for Austin, embedding valuable life skills in the city's next generation. Don't miss this insightful conversation that showcases the incredible impact ATX Kids Club is making on the community.
Learn more about ATX Kids Club at atxkidsclub.org
KUT Article Referenced: https://www.kut.org/transportation/2024-07-03/austin-summer-camp-public-transit-bus-cap-metro-atx-kids-club
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Doors are closing. Public transit. That's my way to roll On the metro. I'm taking control. Bus stops, train tracks it's my daily grind.
Speaker 1:Public transit. It's the rhythm of my life.
Speaker 2:On this episode of Transit Tangents, we talk to the executive director of a summer camp that actually teaches their campers how to use public transit while going on adventures throughout Austin, texas. How does this program work? What do the kids think about riding the city bus and how can you get involved? All coming up on this episode of Transit Tangents. Hey everybody, and welcome to Transit Tangents. My name is Lewis and I'm Chris, and on today's episode we have a special guest.
Speaker 2:I had the honor of doing an interview with Tammy Miller, who's the executive director of the ATX Kids Club. They put together amazing kids programming here in Austin and they use public transit exclusively to get around during all of their summer programs, which is really exciting. We're going to jump right into the interview and then we will share our thoughts right afterwards. Hey everybody, I am here with Tammy Miller, the executive director of the ATX Kids Club. First off, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today, in the middle of the summer, no less, while you've got kids all over the place, I'm sure. So I actually want to share a very brief story with you before we get started, because I actually had the pleasure to ride the bus with some of your campers Do you call them campers With some of your campers?
Speaker 2:Before I even knew what ATX Kids Club was, I was actually riding the bus. I was taking it to the airport, which is fairly brave to do from further. You know I live near the triangle, so I had to take the 801, connect to the 20. And while I was on the 801, a group of ATX Kids Club and two counselors got on the bus around the UT station. The bus was actually fairly busy and there was, like you know, getting the kids like situated in seats and people were kind of like helping the campers onto the bus and everything.
Speaker 2:And I was like, wow, this is such a cool thing. I have no idea what it was. And then I got on my plane and left and kind of had forgotten about it until a few weeks ago. I saw the article that KUT did on you all, which was amazing and somebody had sent me that and was like you all need to reach out to them and talk to them. So, yeah, excited to be talking with you all With that for folks who don't know what ATX Kids Club is like. I didn't know what it was on the bus. Can you just give like an overview of what it is you all have going on?
Speaker 1:Yeah, sure. So the organization itself is actually year round and we provide what we call field trip adventures for kids ages four through 12 is our focus, and the summer camp program specifically focuses 100% on public transit as their method of getting around the city. We think it's really important for kids in Austin to know that life skill, understand it. It builds their confidence, it makes them have a sense of independence and hopefully equally creates a passion for the city in which they live. Right, Because they get to go and explore Austin almost as though they're a tourist of their own city.
Speaker 1:And so larger than that is the year-round program which focuses on school holidays as well as an after-school program, and we do some weekend programming as well, and that a lot of times will go beyond the Austin area. So we have the opportunity to take one of our vans and put some kids in and go explore the state parks in the area. So we'll go to Enchanted Rock, We'll go to Bastrop State Park and just really give kids a nice overview of the area in which they live Right.
Speaker 2:I'm curious so was the especially for your summer programs? Was the public transit element of this like by design from the beginning? Or was it just kind of a happy accident and you were trying to create kids programming doing all the fun activities you do? I'm curious how that kind of came to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sure. So the first thing was that when I moved to Austin in 2008, I had come from the Northeast and I had a lot of experience riding on public transit because I lived in a bedroom community of Washington DC, I went to school in West Philadelphia, I worked in West Philadelphia, so riding on public transit was not something that people didn't do, right, like it was used. People used the public bus, we used the train, we used the L to get around and to access different places without having to take your car. It was just easier in so many ways. And when I got to Texas, my immediate feeling was that people just didn't ride on the public bus system. Right, yeah. And there was also this overwhelming feeling that it wasn't going to be safe for me to ride on a public bus. And I just decided that you know what, like, I'm going to give this a try and see what this is all about. And I find it actually to be one of the safer public bus systems. When you compare it to riding, you know, public transit in Philadelphia or public transit in New York, that can be a lot more scary for, especially when it's an unknown right.
Speaker 1:And so in 2014, when I had the idea of starting ATX Kids Club. My main motivation at that time was I really wanted to get so many of the kids that I taught school to that had never really had opportunity to set foot downtown Austin. I really wanted them to have feet on the ground walking around the city looking at what they. You know they were just so in awe of the skyscrapers that we had in Austin. I really wanted them to have feet on the ground walking around the city looking at what that. You know they were just so in awe of the skyscrapers that we had in Austin.
Speaker 2:Right, and you know Many more now. I'm sure Many more now right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and it was just. You know, they just didn't have that same opportunity. I worked in a Title I school and I wanted them to have that opportunity and I took that idea and then combined it with the fact that I knew that Austin was growing and was going to continue growing. And how are we going to handle that as a community of people knowing our city? The infrastructure in our city is going to struggle if we don't start embracing public transit, and it's much easier to teach a child about how to ride public transit than it is teaching an adult. Adults have a lot of feeling about not wanting to do something that they don't necessarily know how to do sometimes.
Speaker 2:And riding the bus can be confusing at first. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. It can be confusing and it is different in every city, like when I go back to Philadelphia and ride on SEPTA. It's very different on how you do. That you know. It just operates slightly differently. However, the fact that I know how to ride a public transit system sets me up for success, whether I am doing it in another major city in the United States or if I'm traveling abroad and want to ride on public transit in Europe or somewhere else. And that's really what's important to me is that looking at a child and saying like, okay, what can we do to help them fall in love with the city that they live in and also teach this really, really important life skill and I've said it so many times, no matter how great our adventures are, so many kids will come back to me and say my favorite part of ATX gets letters riding the bus.
Speaker 2:Right, and I saw that that stuck out to me reading the KUT article and we'll make sure there's a link to that because that was a really fun story to read and especially getting some of the quotes from the kids who were saying, like, what's your favorite part? And it's not like going to Zilker Park or going to any of these places. It's like I like riding the bus, Like, and that's like such an amazing thing because, like you said, so many people, especially adults who did not grow up using public transit, Like when I tell my parents that I ride the bus, sometimes like the first thing for my dad was like, is that safe? Should you be doing that? And I was like, yes, it's safe. Like literally thousands of people are doing it every single day and it goes.
Speaker 2:You know, I live in a part of town where I have a lot of bus routes that go right in front of my apartment. It actually can be really convenient, especially if you're going somewhere busy, if you don't want to park, if you you know all sorts of different reasons. So, yeah, it's amazing to be giving that experience to kids right up front. Are there any fun stories that you've heard from kids or parents of kids who, you know, kind of ride the bus for the first time with ATX Kids Club and end up like taking their parents out to go use the bus later.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, oh yeah, it's been funny. So I had one of our campers that attended for multiple years in a row and she told her mom right, she was like, mom, we have to take the bus. And so she was one of my kids that was at Garrison Park, which is the Route 3, right, and so Route 3 comes down Menchaca and then it jumps onto Lamar and takes you downtown. And so her mom came to me, I guess like the following week, and she was just like so you know, my daughter and I we ventured out on the bus on route three and because you know, my daughter knew how to do it and all of that, but they ended up like somehow or other, like not exactly understanding, like how to get back, and so it was a thing right, it was a thing.
Speaker 1:But you know, I think that that's one of the beautiful parts about the kids that keep coming back year after year is that they do start to learn how to do it. So you're not going to become a professional bus rider after your first summer of riding the bus, but for those kids that have been doing it with us and then transition into, like we do, a teen leadership program for 13 to 17-year-olds and they're being mentored on how to be leaders of our campers and those are the ones that, like they then start to integrate it yeah, they integrate it literally into their own lives and, you know, potentially are then taking the bus to get to school.
Speaker 2:Well, especially like I would imagine, as as like a 16, 17-year-old, or what age you just said 16 to 17, right?
Speaker 1:So it's, 13 to 17.
Speaker 3:13 to 17.
Speaker 2:Okay, so even like imagine being a 16-year-old. You know if you don't have a car, like all of a sudden, like your whole city is unlocked, if you figure.
Speaker 3:You know it's like wow, I can now.
Speaker 2:I know how to get around on my own, which is huge, huge, especially at that age yes, Right, I mean, and just thinking about cost.
Speaker 1:Right, so you're 16. You don't have to worry about trying to buy a car, get insurance, your parents aren't having to do that, but yet you still have the ability to access your city and go to all the places that you want to go.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:I mean that's. And Austin is such an easily accessible city. I mean that's. The reality is that while we are growing in population, we're still a really small city, and if you understand how to ride public transit, you can basically get anywhere within the downtown city area.
Speaker 2:Absolutely no, and I mean especially too. I mean the. I'm curious if you can talk a little bit about the importance of like starting kids at such a young age doing this too, like why, personally, do you feel that this is an important thing? Why have you kind of you know you've left your career as a teacher, I believe right To kind of move into doing this, like why what is like the main thing for you and why you kind of keep doing this?
Speaker 1:Opportunity. It's knowing how to ride a public transit system provides opportunity. So it doesn't limit you on where our kids when they turn 16, 17, 18, where they can work. It doesn't limit them. Now they have this ability to jump on a bus to find a job that might not be in their neighborhood. It provides opportunity. I mean, I think, at the end of the day, that's the biggest benefit that I think learning how to ride a public transit system does for most people is. It just provides opportunity. There's equally you know I'm incredibly passionate about saving the environment, right, and that many less vehicles on the road is going to be super important. Not sitting in traffic nonstop is really good for everybody, right, right, so I think if we can start to shift our mindset on how we want to live and exist in the city of Austin and use our public transit system, then it just sets our city up for better success, in my opinion.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely yeah, and I mean again like showing people the benefits of it at a young age too. It's like it's not like, oh, we're just, we need more people to ride the bus. We need more people to ride the bus. It's like we can convince them by showing them that there are. You know, while I always make a joke like the bus isn't always sexy, right, like people think of the bus and they're like I don't want to ride the bus, like I'd rather if it was a train, maybe, but if that's what you have in your city and you can learn how to use it the right way, then you can learn that, hey, this actually can be a really convenient way for me to get around for even just some of my trips. You know what I mean. So, like personally, uh, my partner and I, we have one car between the two of us now. We used to have two and we only have one now. We live in a part of town that's really accessible by bus, and then we're both big into e-bikes now, which is another thing that Austin's been doing a fantastic job with, in my opinion. And yeah, I mean it's just trip by trip, slowly.
Speaker 2:You can kind of make this transition happen. I want to give you an opportunity. You guys are a nonprofit. I'm sure fundraising and all that sort of stuff, trying to put on all of this great programming is difficult to do. Where can folks find out how to go do that and what areas are you needing assistance in, whether it be fundraising. If you're looking for counselors, all this sort of stuff, let them know where you can find out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely so. We are a nonprofit organization, and I think sometimes there is some confusion about the fact that we're a nonprofit because we are revenue-based, which means that we do charge for our programs that we offer, but we also have a sliding scale that is really important for everybody to understand and know about, because, while we do need to charge in order to make sure we keep our doors open right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, that's really important that we are able to keep our doors open and keep this mission alive and continue this for another 10 years. But we also want to make sure that there isn't a single family out there that doesn't feel like they can participate in the program. And in order to offer the sliding scale, that therefore means that we also need to find donations right. We need to find funding to be able to support making sure that we're hiring high quality staff right. We want a low ratio. Our ratio is eight kids to one adult, like. We want to maintain that. Well, in order to maintain all of the things that make the organization amazing requires all this additional funding right.
Speaker 2:And what is the website? Just to make sure. Oh, so yeah, thank you. Yeah, you're good.
Speaker 1:It's easy atxkidscluborg, so the ORG part is important.
Speaker 2:Yep, we'll make sure that that link is in the description wherever you're watching or listening as well, awesome. Well, unless there's anything else you want to add, I'll give you the opportunity to, but otherwise, thank you so much for taking the time. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, thank you so much Again. The more press that we get, the more visibility that we can stop being the best kept secret in Austin. That's our goal, our 2024 goal is to no longer be the best kept secret. We want people to know about the work that we're doing and get their kids enrolled.
Speaker 2:Big thanks again to ATX Kids Club for helping put that together, lenny for helping set up the interview and everything, as well as Tammy. Chris, I'm curious what your impressions are of the program as a whole, the interview, all of that sort of stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm actually really disappointed I didn't get a chance to be a part of the interview. It was a very, very busy work week for me, but no, I think that all the information's just it's really cool. The program itself is awesome. Like there's nothing like that that exists where I grew up. So you know, being in Alabama I would argue kind of more rural than suburban Alabama the only bus Experience I had was like taking the school bus or like they would charter a bus to take us to another city for a field trip. So having the opportunity to learn how to use public transit, and when you're so young, is amazing.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I mean like literally some of the this was in the KUT article and I asked about this as well in the interview. Like so many kids, when you ask them like, oh, what's your favorite part after the whole summer, they'll say that their favorite part is riding the bus, which is so cool. And you know like some of them will talk about, like you know, looking around at the buildings and all of this stuff and it's like such an important life skill that you wouldn't have otherwise. And to your point, after the interview, we talked actually about like, does this exist anywhere else? And Tammy was unsure if there were programs elsewhere in the country, which is pretty wild.
Speaker 3:There must be something. But yeah, I think it's an experience most kids don't get, and one of the takeaways for me is the fact that you are unlocking your city. You're teaching a kid how to get around, that they can carry those skills into adulthood and it truly does unlock opportunities for them to be able to explore their city and get around.
Speaker 3:We are building up their interest in transit from a young age, which is awesome, but I also love the idea that kids are able to then take that knowledge and then convince their parents to ride the bus that kids are able to then take that knowledge and then convince their parents to ride the bus, because if the parents see the level of excitement the kids have in it, then maybe they're a little more inclined to take the bus themselves, right, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And we were just chatting before this started too, and especially Tammy talked about the older kids in the program. I think it was like kind of 15, 16, 17 yearolds who are, you know, kind of learning how to be able to be counselors down the line and how, for those kids, you know, instead of buying a car so many of them are just like I don't need to buy a car, like I'm going to save so much money on gas and insurance, like I know how to use the bus, I'm going to use the bus to get around as a teenager in the city. That freedom is awesome and it reminded us of the one of our I think it was our second episode ever or third episode, I don't know where we interviewed Hoffman here in Austin. We'll make sure that there's a card you can click on up there or a link in the description to go watch that interview if you're interested. But Hoffman talked about as a 14, 15 year old getting around the city.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was thinking about the Hoffman interview when I was thinking about sort of the younger kids learning how to use the bus for the first time and the autonomy that Hoffman said that they gained from that experience.
Speaker 2:But anyway, as you heard Tammy say, they are a nonprofit. So if you are able to donate and you want to kind of help push towards their mission, consider doing so. The link is down in the description. If you're watching on YouTube or where you're listening on Spotify, apple, amazon, wherever you get your podcasts these days, I don't know so definitely go ahead and check that out. And if you're in the Austin area and you have kids or neighbors or whoever who might want to be a part of it, whether to sign up as a camper or to work there, it sounds like ATS Kids Club might have some programming that you could be interested in. So yeah, that's awesome. With all that being said, thank you all so much for watching this episode of Transit Tangents. We very much appreciate it and have a great rest of your Transit Tangents Tuesday.