That's the premise behind Bus Lines, a collaborative effort between the City of Charlottesville's Neighborhood Leadership Institute (NLI), CAT, and the Charlottesville City Schools, which puts poster sized poems on display on CAT buses.
The program started in July, 2009 by posting original poems penned by City Schools poets. The story of Bus Lines can be found here.
Winners of the New Beginnings contest can find their works posted on CAT's buses. To find out which bus, click here.
The 2013 Spring contest has been announced! Members of the community are invited to submit poems and/or flash fiction works based on the theme "Doors". For an entry form and complete rules, click here.
Thanks to everyone who submitted entries for the Fall 2012 "New Beginnings" contest!
Since 2010, the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia has received copies of the Bus Lines poems for their permanent collection.
Edward Gaynor, Head of Collection Development and Description for the library, contacted then-CTS with the request after becoming aware of the Bus Lines project through a poetry contest flyer. "We archive a good deal of local material - everything from booklets and pamphlets on area services to Charlottesville phone books from a hundred years ago. When I saw the information on this local poetry project, I thought the poems would be a great addition to the collection."
The initial deposit of 89 poems included work from Bus Lines' first two contests in Summer and Fall 2009. The relationship has continued with all Bus Lines contests since then, and future winning poems will also be placed in the collections.
Members of the public who wish to view the poems may visit the Special Collections Library on McCormick Road during its regular hours.
Photos from poetry readings and flyers from past contests -- may be found here.