Here are excerpts from PPT's comments delivered by Molly Nichols and Jonah McAllister-Erickson on January 30, 2015:
We want to
thank the Port Authority for being open to hearing PPT’s concerns and questions
and to meeting with residents who have particular service requests. PPT and the
residents appreciate the open dialogue, and as you know, we will continue to
push for adequate service.
Over the next
few months, as the Board works on next year’s budget and considers the new
criteria for adding service and responding to service requests, we hope you
keep the following in mind: The state funding formula may primarily be based on
ridership and performance, but we hope you keep residents’ needs and issues of equity
front and center. There are some legal protections for residents, including civil
rights legislation, and there is a recognition of the value of senior citizen
ridership in the state funding formula, but otherwise, it is up to individual
regions to ensure that those who most need the system get adequate service in
their communities, especially those living in transit deserts.
We commend the
establishment of this criteria, along with a transparent process for responding
to service requests, and we ask that transit riders, workers, and residents
have an adequate voice in determining
the service priorities and process.
We also know
that Port Authority is working on changing their fare policy. We anticipate
that the staff and board will create the space for public input before a legally required hearing, when
all the decisions have already been made. Talking to riders and workers about
their experiences should inform whatever new policy is developed. And while we
know that Act 89 mandated for the fares to go up this year, we commend Port
Authority for insisting that that could not happen (based on how quickly the
fares had risen over the past few years). But we are still concerned that the
base fare is slated to rise in 2017. As you know, we currently have one of the
highest base fares in the country, at 2.50. Not only
does raising the fare disproportionately impact transit reliant and often low-income
riders, it also discourages ridership. We understand a lot of complex factors
go into a policy like this, and we hope that all stakeholders can work together
to find the most equitable solutions.
In the spirit of
public process, we also hope that Port Authority continues to work on making
its data available to the public, so that we can all be better informed about
our system and its possibilities. This request is aligned with a national
movement for open data.
Finally, as the
board and staff work on these fundamental decisions about our transit system,
we encourage you to be regular riders of our transit system. There is certainly
no better way to fully understand its needs and potential.
--
And Port Authority announced they will soon be selling system maps for 2 dollars:
