On a hot Tuesday afternoon, Bahjo Mahamud packed her lunch and left her family’s Eden Prairie apartment to begin her daily 30-minute walk to work at the local Target store.
Since neither she nor the family members she lives with own a car and there isn’t a bus that runs from her building to the store, she must carefully navigate her own route to work, despite the lack of sidewalks and surrounding highways filled with speeding cars.
“[Transportation] is an issue for me because it’s so hard for me to get around without a car in Eden Prairie,” said Mahamud.
Mahamud is just one of the estimated 2,100 Eden Prairie residents living below the poverty line. Like many others who don’t have a car and have no bus available to get to work, school and run basic errands, she is directly affected by the city’s lack of accessible public transportation.
Fellow Eden Prairie resident Mahad Abdi shares her frustration.
Abdi owns a car so he is not only the primary source of transportation for his family but also for his sister’s family. Speaking in Somali, Abdi said, “I drive my nephew to summer school every day because there’s not public transportation.”
He said people who aren’t near a bus route and don’t own a car must resort to walking, a less-than-ideal option “It’s just not safe because Eden Prairie has many highways that run through the city… like Highway 5 and 312.”
In 2006, Money magazine named Eden Prairie the nation’s 10th best place to live in its annual list highlighting the top 100 best places to live in the United States. Eden Prairie was lauded for its economic opportunities and quality of life.
“It’s no wonder why families would be attracted to this area.” said Martin Mohamed, executive director of the Immigrant Culture Center in Eden Prairie.
Mohamed has worked with immigrant families for almost 10 years and has been an Eden Prairie resident for six years. Based on his experience, he believes the city needs to do more to help people get around because without adequate transportation, it is hard for families to get and keep jobs.
“We try to meet our community’s needs,” said Bonnie Carlson, administrative service director of Southwest Transit, the public transit service for Chaska, Chanhassen and Eden Prairie. Carlson said according to the transit service’s information, about 200 families need bus service in the Eden Prairie area.
“We work very hard and right now we aren’t seeing more demand for more service,” said Carlson. Mohamed disagrees. He said that he knows of approximately 1,000 Eden Prairie families in need of more bus service Carlson said that Southwest Metro Transit tries to focus on areas with high-density housing and works closely with the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development to locate the housing areas in need of public transportation.
She said that Southwest Metro Transit recently organized a Tuesday morning shopping bus to help families without transportation. The Tuesday morning shopping bus goes to Cub Foods as well as Wal-Mart for a $1 fare. Until Mahamud saves up money to buy her own vehicle or finds public transportation, she will continue her 30-minute walks to work – rain or shine.
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