Beyond the Bus

Have you noticed something new on Cedar Street? No, we’re not talking about the Holt Quality Dairy that recently got a facelift – we’re talking about CATA’s brand-new smart shelter.

The newly installed shelter is just south of Mt. Hope Rd in front of Foster Community Health Center. This one isn’t like our other shelters, though: Thanks to the Lansing Board of Water and Light, it’s complete with LED lighting, a USB-charging center, public Wi-Fi and a real-time bus-tracking display. Even better, the powered shelter supports CATA’s commitment to 100 percent renewable energy.

Keep your eyes peeled around Lansing in the coming months, as there are more smart shelters yet to be installed.

For most people, riding the bus leads somewhere physical. Somewhere real. Maybe someplace rather perfunctory.

You take the bus to work. You ride it to go shopping. You hop onboard to get to class on the other side of campus.

For Eva Phan, a CATA bus took her to the next chapter in her life. She met her now-fiancé sitting in a bus shelter in front of MSU’s Brody Hall.

“It’s become a running joke in our relationship,” Eva said. “’If you want to find love, you have to go to the bus stop!’”

Ten years ago, Eva was a freshman studying human biology at Michigan State. She had to get to a chemistry test across campus but was unsure of the exam’s location. She saw Jeff Boore waiting for the bus and recognized him from her class.

“I followed him off the bus,” she said. “We were kind of wandering around separately, and he asked if I was in his class.” She told him she was, and they discovered neither of them knew how to get to Conrad Hall. This was before smartphones, so no one could do a quick check on Google Maps.

They went into the wrong building, and someone showed them the way.

“The whole time I was trying to chat him up, and he was not having it,” Eva said, laughing. “I thought, ‘He’s not that nice!’ I thought I’d never talk to him again.”

Later in the semester, she needed chemistry help, so she reached out to him on a whim.

They hit it off and talked all night. And when they went on their first date?

“We took the CATA bus to Noodles & Co.!”

Eva and Jeff dated all through college – she finished her bachelor’s degree in 2012; he stuck around for a master’s degree and finished in 2013. Their careers took them to San Francisco, where they live now. Last July, Jeff proposed.

When it came time to shoot engagement photos, their photographer asked if there was any particular spot that was meaningful to them.

“We told her, ‘Actually, the bus stop,’” Eva said.

They posed in the bus shelter, and they even climbed on an empty bus for a quick photo shoot, thanks to a friendly and accommodating driver.

Eva shared one of the photos on Facebook with the caption, “We found love in a hopeless place,” referencing the Rihanna/Calvin Harris song. But they don’t see the bus stop as hopeless at all. To the contrary.

“The bus stop means a lot to us,” Eva said. “Every single time we come back to campus we go see it. It makes us happy. It brings us back to being freshmen.”

Jason (left) with brother Jeremy (right).

It’s a gift when your co-workers feel like family.

It can be an even greater gift when your co-workers are your family.

“Jason and I worked side-by-side for eight years,” CATA bus driver Jeremy Baragar said about his younger brother.

Jeremy will mark his 20-year anniversary with CATA in October.

Jason never will.

In 2014, while riding his motorcycle after work, Jason was hit by a driver who never saw him coming. He was killed.

Jason’s family knew he was a registered organ donor, and he was able to donate his heart, his liver and both kidneys; he saved the lives of four men.

“Jay just loved to help people,” Jeremy said. “He was always there for people. He could smooth anything out.”

The Holt Community Foundation, a non-profit started by Dr. John Girdwood, teamed up with Jeremy to start the Jason Baragar Memorial Shootout. The event allows Jeremy to honor his brother while supporting the tightknit community they grew up in.

This year’s event will be held on April 20, and it will benefit both the Holt Pop-up Pantry, which helps students who are in need of food, toiletries or other necessities, and the Holt Varsity Baseball team. The current coach, Keith Allen, was lifelong friend and former teammate of Jason.

“I’m just trying to fulfill needs like he would have,” Jeremy said.

The daylong event features a 16-team tournament bracket, trophies and T-shirts. Last year’s event raised $7,000 for the pop-up pantry. And from the beginning, CATA has been the title sponsor.

“CATA has always been so good to me; so good to us,” Jeremy said. “Before Jason’s accident, a longtime driver died of cancer. So, CATA created a memorial wall to honor people who died during their service there.”

“They’ve been such a huge support to me and my family. The former CEO even gave Jason’s eulogy.”

Jeremy said the fact that Jason also worked at CATA has helped keep his brother’s memory alive when he’s at work.

“We speak about him a lot. It was a blessing to work next to Jay for eight years and have an employer who really supports me,” Jeremy said. “And the fact that they’re helping me do good for my community in his name means a lot.”

The Baragar family viewing CATA's memorial wall in 2015.