Metro is honoring civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks on her birthday today, Wednesday, Feb. 4, by reserving a seat for her on every bus and train across the system.
To commemorate the day, Metro is placing special signs on buses and rail cars marking a single reserved seat in recognition of Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus in 1955. Her arrest that day helped spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott and became a defining moment in the civil rights movement.
Metro has previously paid tribute to Parks by reserving a seat on all buses, but this marks just the second time the agency has extended the honor to every train as well, ensuring her legacy is visible across the entire system. The tribute coincides with what would have been Parks’ 113th birthday.
This year also marks the 21st anniversary of Metro’s historic Rosa Parks commemorative bus. The bus is the same model Parks was riding when she protested segregation and was refurbished in 2005 following her death. It was later used in the procession for her memorial service in Washington, D.C. The exterior of the bus bears the message, “It All Started on a Bus: Rosa Parks, 1913–2005; The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.”
Metro officials say the annual tribute is intended to honor Parks’ courage and remind riders of the role public transportation played in advancing civil rights in the United States.
