CDTA and the Music Mobile came together to promote the CDTA’s safety program by displaying artwork created by children in the Capital District on buses.
At the Capital District Transit Authority office Friday morning, April 18, CDTA and the Music Mobile presented artwork made by children that will posted on buses reminding bus riders to be safe, courteous and respectful to other passengers.
For the project, the children were in small groups of two to four students, and they were given slogans like “stay behind the yellow line,” “for safety’s sake no running in the aisles,” and “please remember to fold strollers and carts.” The kids then created artwork for the slogans that will hang inside the buses.
Chief Executive Officer of CDTA Carm Basile thanked the children who participated and also Ruth Pelham, founder of the Music Mobile, for all the work she has done.
“We’ve been partners with Ruth and the Music Mobile for a long, long time, and this idea is really Ruth’s — to get the kids involved in safety and understanding what that means, and talking about safety from their perspective,” said Basile.
“When we talk about safety first, I think they understand it better than we do,” added Basile.
Pelham founded the Music Mobile in 1977 “to bring learning and love to the neighborhoods of Albany,” according to the Music Mobile’s website. Pelham goes to neighborhoods to teach children to be contributing, respectful members of their community.
“CDTA and the Music Mobile have partnered on several projects over the past three years. Last summer, we decided to do a poster project where children who come to Music Mobile educational programs would become spokespeople and artists to communicate to the public the need to be respectful and caring citizens,” said Pelham.
Pelham came up with the idea and said over the course of the last year or so, she had numerous meetings with CDTA officials that had an idea of what sort of things they wanted bus riders to be aware of.
“What could be better than having children’s artwork and children’s voices being posted right on the buses where people can look at them every time they ride? One of our goals is for children to feel that they are needed and have a role in creating positive communities,” said Pelham.
“So by doing this project with children who often don’t have an opportunity to have their voices heard, this was a great opportunity for them to learn about bus safety (and) understand that respect and compassion happen not only at home and at school, but (also) in public places like buses. They are the ones that have the power to teach all of us those kind of important lessons about what it means to be a caring human being,” added Pelham.
The students involved in the project seemed to take a great deal of pride in the fact that they were going to be helping others and doing something for the community.
“I’m proud that I would be able to show people the importance of bus safety,” said Sanjana Kumar, a 9-year-old girl from Albany.
Kumar said that if she could make another poster it would say, “Be respectful to others because sometimes disrespect can lead to unexpected consequences.”