John Northrop first noticed the region’s lack of reliable public transportation in the 70s as a carless student at Birmingham-Southern College. As coordinator of the newly founded Action Coalition for Transit (ACT), this is something Northrop is still working to create today.

In this week’s Q&A with the Lede, Northrop said one roadblock in this process has been a lack of state funding. This issue could be lessened if the state would dedicate even part of the $5 billion earmarked for the Northern Beltline loop around Birmingham, Northrop said.

So, what piqued your interest in public transportation?

Well, it goes way back. When I came up here from south Alabama to go to [Birmingham-Southern] college, I had no car. And I had a couple of jobs that I had to get to and from on the bus. Later on in graduate school, I used public transportation for everything.

So, what happened was back in the early 2000s, I was a member of the Community Affairs Committee of ONB [Operation New Birmingham, now known as nonprofit REV Birmingham]. And I don’t know that you’re familiar with that, it’s a race relations group. And in the process of sitting in that group for years, it’s pretty obvious that transportation was a major concern for folks in need. So, I just kind of drifted in that direction.