Cap Metro names Rosa Parks Boardroom in honor of relationship between civil rights and transit

In response to a suggestion by Travis County Commissioner and Capital Metro Board of Directors member Jeff Travillion during the board’s last meeting on Jan. 25, the agency voted Monday to rename its boardroom after civil rights activist Rosa Parks. CEO Randy Clarke suggested the name dedication as a way to follow Travillion’s lead in honoring African-American history with transit. Clarke said the American Public Transportation Association’s main conference hall in Washington, D.C., is named after Parks, who in Clarke’s words, “fundamentally changed our industry forever.” Capital Metro has installed a large wooden plaque outside of the boardroom with biographical information about Parks. The plaque features her words, “I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all to enjoy freedom.” Travillion said the designation of the Rosa Parks Boardroom is an excellent step, and he had also spoken about the need to connect the transit community to Austin’s history. With this in mind, the resolution also honors Mrs. Howellen Bunton Taylor, who was arrested in Austin for refusing to move to the back of a bus as a protest in November 1955, prior to Park’s famous protest in Montgomery, Alabama.