Weekly Update: mConnect, potholes, and more

Friends,

 

Improving our public transit system has always been a top priority of our administration.

 

Recently, it’s been receiving a lot of news coverage, and rightly so. It plays such an integral role in so many ways and is a vital tool for accelerating the momentum I’m always talking about.

 

Late last year, we received a $12 million grant from the federal government to help fund our Memphis Innovation Corridor Bus Rapid Transit project. mConnect, as we’re calling it, will bring higher capacity and frequency levels of service to connect Downtown, the Medical District, and the University of Memphis – three of the most critical employment centers in our city’s core.

 

For this project to be a success, obviously people will need to use it. But, in order for people to use it, they need to know about it. To help with that, we have created a great website with useful information, maps, infomercial, and a timeline for the project.

 

For too many in our community regular access to reliable transportation is a constant struggle. mConnect will bring more reliability, more frequency, and more comfort to riders as it gets them where they need to go when they need to get there.

 

Check out the site when you have time, subscribe for updates, and be involved as the project continues.

 

Potholes: As I was thinking about areas to discuss this week, I remembered that we haven’t talked about potholes in a while.

 

So far this year, we’ve filled 9,285 potholes across our 6,800 lane miles. If you see a pothole, please let us know. We’ll work quickly to get them filled.

 

The only sure-fire way for us to know about a pothole is for you to tell us about it. We’ve made it easy to do that. You can:

• Call 3-1-1 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Visit 311.memphistn.gov
• Use the Memphis 311 app

ASAP-to-PSAP: After that lead-in, you’re probably thinking “what in the world does that mean?” and more importantly “why do I care?”.

 

PSAP stands for public-safety answering point. This is the call center where emergency calls (like police and fire) are answered and then routed to the appropriate help needed.

 

ASAP stands for automated secure alarm protocol. What this means for you is that participating alarm companies (Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Affiliated Monitoring, AT&T Digital Life, ADS Security, Alert 360, Guardian Protection, Brinks Home Security, Protection One, Security Central, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Vivint, ADT and the National Monitoring Center) connect to our computer aided dispatch system to send alarms directly to our dispatchers instead of requiring a live phone call which is what used to happen.

 

This could potentially lower our non-emergency call volume (381,992 in 2019) freeing up our emergency telecommunicators to answer and process emergency calls faster. In 2019, the Memphis Police Department dispatched over 58,000 alarm calls. Each alarm call can generate three phone calls on average depending on the need or a request for additional information.

 

In emergency situations when every second matters, this is a big deal.

 

Thanks to Mike Spencer, our Emergency Communications Administrator, Dewanda Montague, our Technology Manager, and everyone else who helped make this possible.

Mid-South Food Bank: Yesterday, I had the honor to say a few words on a special occasion for my good friend Estella Mayhue-Greer. This past December, she retired after 23 years of service (nine of which she served as President and CEO) to the Mid-South Food Bank, and we had a street naming ceremony to commemorate her contribution to the organization.

What higher calling can there be than to give the gift of food to a neighbor who’s hungry?

Congratulations, Estella. Thank you for everything you’ve done and for everything you will continue to do.

Food insecurity and hunger is a daily cross to bear for too many in Memphis and our surrounding areas, but through the great work of the Mid-South Food Bank we are tackling that challenge head-on. Click here for more information and ways you can get involved.

Hard work: One of our local news organizations did a great story this week on someone that I'm proud to work with every day and lucky enough to call a friend. Thanks for all you do, Director Sweat.

When you have a second, check it out.

Yours,