Prep student Robert Rush (P9 XXIII/Andover '14, Harvard) makes an argument for affordable public transportation in Gotham Gazette, an online magazine covering local government policy and politics.
In “When a Subway Swipe is Out of Reach,” he shares a personal account of the challenges of growing up in the Bronx, when the cost of a MetroCard meant a choice between a family member’s medication and another’s educational opportunity.
“Unlike my neighbors, every fall I have a temporary escape from poverty. In no small part because of the opportunities that Prep for Prep provided, I’m a junior at Harvard University,” Robert writes. “College isn’t just a place to earn a better life for myself in the future; it’s also a reprieve from the chronic trauma of poverty and the exhaustion that comes from having to calculate the cost of every action.”
Robert is a member of the Riders Alliance, a grassroots nonprofit that advocates for reliable and affordable public transit in New York City.