Image Description: PPT members on a Bus Stop Audit stand in front of a pink, green, yellow and red mural of two women’s faces with the word “Allentown” above them, on Beltzhoover Ave.
DEADLINE: September 22, 2025 11:59pm EST No matter what place you call home, everyone in Allegheny County deserves safe, accessible, affordable, and reliable public transportation. However, a lack of investment in our public transit, environmental crises, increases in the costs of housing, and social inequity have led to many of our friends, families, and neighbors struggling to get to the places they want to go and disconnecting our communities rather than bringing them together.
But we can take action to reverse it! That is why Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) will launch a paid fellowship program for transit riders who live in communities located in the South Hilltop October 2025-March 2026.
About the Fellowship
Fellows will explore public transit access, infrastructure, financial barriers, and equitable development. Examples of these topics include: the opportunities and need for more bus shelters and safe, accessible sidewalks to transit, improved service through Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT’s) Bus Line redesign process, winning and enrolling South Hilltop residents into Allegheny Go, and the zoning/land use relationship connecting access to housing and quality transit.
The fellowship will consist of weekly modules based on current PPT transit justice campaigns, within classroom learning and field work. The fellowship will begin in October 2025 and end in early March 2026.
Fellows will receive compensation for participating in the program for five hours per week for 12-15 weeks until completion in March 2026, with breaks for Thanksgiving and winter holiday periods.
The Hilltop region this fellowship will work with includes all of Mt. Oliver Borough and the City of PIttsburgh neighborhoods of South Side Slopes, Mt. Washington, Beltzhoover, Bon Air, Carrick, Knoxville, Mt. Oliver, Allentown, Arlington, Arlington Heights, and Hays.
Timeline Overview of the South Hilltop Organizing Fellowship
September 22nd: Application deadline
September 29th: Fellows are confirmed
Week of October 6th: Program begins
Classes 1-2: Transit Service
Classes 3-4: Bus Stops and Shelters
Classes 5-6: Allegheny Go
Classes 7-8: Land Use and Development
Class 9: State Funding
Share-out Meetings with Government Reps
Graduation Party
Classes will include a break for the Thanksgiving Holiday November 23–30 and a winter holiday break December 14 – January 4.
How to Apply
Do you live in the South Hilltop and want to improve public transit for your community?
Questions? Contact Nicole Gallagher at nicole@pittsburghforpublictransit.org
Image Description: 3 PPT members smile at the camera on a Bus Stop Audit in Beltzhoover. In the background there is a trolley passing by and a colorful mural.
Image Description: PPT member and staff, one in a pink shirt and one in yellow, high five while smiling at the annual PPT summer party.
Last Wednesday, 100 PPT members and friends gathered at the lovely Olympia park to enjoy yummy food, excellent music, and–most importantly–the company of some of the best organizers, friends, and neighbors Pittsburgh has to offer.
We’ve always felt that organizing for our community’s rights and dignity is easiest when we bake in opportunities for joy and authentic reconnection. Our party was a night of dancing, laughter, and taking stock of the incredible progress we’ve made over the last year.
Progress like:
Hosting two paid organizing fellowships focusing on Mon Valley residents and transit workers (like the amazing Kristen Greene and Tom Conroy, who both shared a bit about their experience)
Launching a new paid organizing fellowship in the Hilltop community (stay tuned for the application, and please apply if you’re a Hilltop community member!)
Incredible growth in our statewide campaign, to the tune of over 25,000 new supporters (yes, our statewide campaign manager Amtrak-ed in from Philly to party with us!)
Check out our gallery of pictures below, and our Flickr album if you want to see more pictures from the event. Major thanks to member Marcelese Cooper for documenting the event!
This year, PPT has grown and changed in ways we are thrilled and challenged by: we’ve conducted multiple paid organizing fellowships developing talent in our community, we’ve hired new staff, and we’ve brought over 25,000 new contacts into our universe (!!!), partially through the massive upscaling of our statewide campaign.
When we take stock of all these changes, we feel humbled and awestruck by the strength of our community. What we’ve accomplished in such a short time is stunning. In the course of doing this work, we’ve cultivated connections across Pittsburgh and beyond: old friends we’ve deepened relationships with, new friends we’ve brought into the fold, and organizations we’ve come to partner with.
It’s not an overstatement to say that none of this would be possible without our members. PPT members volunteer at phone banks, they chant and cheer with us at rallies, they tell us the needs of their communities, and they steer our organizations in crucial ways.
PPT members hold the crucial privilege and responsibility of co-drafting our Strategic Plan and electing our Board of Directors. Members are also the only ones who are able to run for positions on our Board. These are vitally important functions, helping guide our organization into the future, shaping our campaigns and the way we do our work.
Until now, the official definition of a PPT “member” has been anyone who supports the Transit Bill of Rights, and contributes $2.75 or more–the cost of a PRT standard bus fare–to PPT in a given year. We intentionally kept this financial cost low to minimize barriers to participation.
But there are many folks in our community who play crucial roles in shaping our work, who don’t have the ability to contribute financially. PPT is a community, it’s a union, and it’s a democratic movement–and we never want to exclude people based on their financial situation.
That’s why we’ve decided to enact a change to the way we define membership at PPT.
New PPT membership definition
Beginning now, there are two ways someone could be considered a member of PPT:
Someone could contribute $2.75 or more in a given year. Membership dues are a critical way we fuel our work, so we wanted to maintain this option. Folks who make this contribution will be called dues-paying members. Dues-paying members help us pay staff, run campaigns, throw events and direct actions, and generally keep the lights on with their financial contributions.
Someone who supports our work by taking action with us in a given year–filling out an advocacy form, volunteering, attending a rally–AND attending at least one event (virtual or in person) will now be considered a member as well. This allows our membership count to more accurately reflect the many, many people who build our movement without contributing financially. Folks in this group will be simply called members.
Both groups of members will still need to sign on to the Transit Bill of Rights, our guiding statement that affirms our beliefs and theory of change.
So, how many members does PPT have?!
When we add up the number of people who have taken action with us and attended a meeting OR donated $2.75+ in the last year, we get the big, shiny, inspiring, fabulous new membership number:
Image Description: A sparkly black, white, and gold handmade sign reads “We are 1500 PPT members strong!”, as photographed through a fisheye lens. Sign lovingly made by Dan Yablonsky and Jess Cox, and photographed by Marcelese Cooper.
1,500!
If you’re a member, thank you for being part of this movement. When we started making good trouble for transit back in 2010, a movement this big and strong was our wildest dream.
Image Description: “Press Statement” in black text above logos of Transit for All PA!, Transit Forward Philadelphia, and Pittsburghers for Public Transit. Below is a picture of transit advocates and legislators holding colorful “Transit for All PA!” signs.
Note: This was also posted on the Transit for All PA! Campaign Updates page.
Transit Riders Denounce Senate Republicans for Passing a Bill that Would Deepen Transit Crisis
This week, the PA Senate leadership approved a bill that raids the capital budget of the Public Transportation Trust Fund – which is already woefully underfunded for current transit maintenance and capital needs – and diverts that funding to both roads and bridges and transit operations.
The Transit for All PA coalition denounces this transparent, rushed and cynical effort by Senate Republicans to feign action and run down the clock to service cuts. Today marks 43 days since the budget deadline and only 2 days before SEPTA’s cuts are locked in; we see how the Senate majority party has failed to act in good faith and instead remained in recess until this 11th hour, only now producing this appalling legislation.
Rather than solving the transit funding crisis through the many reasonable funding proposals passed through the PA House, Senate Republicans instead passed a bill today that would make public transit substantially worse. Their bill would not generate new state revenue to ensure that our agencies maintain the service that riders rely on, but would make our transit systems more insolvent by taking $419 million over two years from the existing Public Transportation Trust Fund to fund roads and bridges instead.
We need transit capital funding as much as we need transit operating funding; that is why the Public Transportation Trust Fund provides both. By cannibalizing transit capital funding for transit operations, riders will face unreliable service from equipment malfunction, lack of available vehicles, and accessibility outages. SEPTA, Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) and other agencies across the Commonwealth already have billions of dollars worth of deferred maintenance needs, and this funding theft will put further out of reach station accessibility upgrades, SEPTA Trolley Modernization, the new bus networks, and the very fare gate improvements PA Senate Republican leadership claims to desire.
The Senate bill additionally requires an increased local government 5% match for state transit funding without enabling local capital or operating revenue options to raise those funds. This strains the ability of municipalities to even access the funds that the state should provide to support transit.
Finally, this bill mandates a fare increase every two years tied to inflation, regardless of the current fare pricing structure of each agency or the capacity of riders to afford those fare increases. Increasing fares decreases ridership, so any revenue benefit from increased fare costs could likely be offset by having fewer riders.
We demand our state senators pass real transit funding solutions, and will be mobilizing riders at the ballot box to ensure that all PA communities have the transit service – and the elected representation – that they deserve. Transit riders can take action now by calling and sending a letter to their state senator, and following Transit for All PA for upcoming actions in their communities.
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Transit for All PA is a statewide coalition representing more than 20,000 transit riders, transit workers and stakeholders in big cities and small communities across the Commonwealth. Together, we are organizing to expand Pennsylvania’s public transit systems to grow our economy and connect more Pennsylvanians to jobs, healthcare, and essential needs.
Transit Forward Philadelphia is a coalition of Philadelphia-based organizations fighting to improve public transit in Southeast Pennsylvania.
Pittsburghers for Public Transit is a grassroots union of transit riders, workers and neighbors. Together we organize for an expanded, affordable and accessible public transit system that meets all needs, with no communities left behind.
Multi-talented PPT member Marcelese Cooper, a film professor and artist, recently made an informative–and gorgeous–animated video describing what the transit crisis means for Pittsburgh and the state. They also include important action steps to take to prevent these cuts from happening.
Check out the video below to learn more about the state of transit funding in PA, and what you can do about it (plus, enjoy some beautiful animation and music)!
Descripción de la imagen: El interior de un autobús, iluminado en azul por la noche, con algunos pasajeros mirando hacia otro lado que no sea la cámara.
En el contexto actual de intensificación de los ataques contra las personas marginadas y los bienes públicos, Pittsburghers for Public Transit se solidariza con nuestras comunidades de inmigrantes y refugiados, muchos de los cuales dependen del transporte público como medio principal para ir al trabajo, asistir a la escuela, comprar alimentos, acceder a la atención médica y asistir a sus lugares de culto. Nos organizamos para oponernos a la intimidación, las detenciones crueles e ilegales, las desapariciones y las acciones discriminatorias contra nuestros amigos y vecinos que buscan, y merecen, seguridad y refugio.
Image Description: the interior of a city bus, lit up blue at nighttime, with a few riders looking away from the camera.
In our current climate of intensifying attacks on marginalized people and public goods, Pittsburghers for Public Transit stands in solidarity with our immigrant and refugee communities, many of whom rely on public transit as a primary means to go to work, attend schools, buy groceries, access healthcare and attend places of worship. We are organized in opposition to intimidation, cruel and unlawful detainment and disappearances, and the discriminatory actions taken against our friends and neighbors who are seeking – and deserve – safety and refuge.
Image Description: Red text highlighted in yellow reads “Summer 2025 Membership Drive”, overlaid on a textured image of transit advocates at a rally holding colorful signs reading “transit moves us” and “Transit for All PA!”
We just wrapped up our Summer Membership Drive and we’re happy to report: our movement is stronger than ever!
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: 2025 has been a massive year for our movement for Transit Justice. With devastating cuts to transit funding and service on the table for everyone in Pennsylvania, we’ve had our work cut out for us–and despite all the challenges, our incredible members have risen to the challenge and helped us obtain massive wins.
What did we accomplish in this Summer’s Membership drive?
We have blown our strategic plan goal for membership growth out of the water! When we set our strategic plan goals in December, we had 335 active members; we now have 503, which is over 100 more than we had aspired to add!
Almost 50 new dues-paying members joined during the weeks of the drive (June 11th-July 9th)
192 people donated during our summer membership drive, bringing in a total of over $4,000
New dues-paying members brought in over $1,500 during the drive
That’s why we hold two membership drives every year, to help us grow that base of superstar supporters who help us fight the good fight. This year’s summer membership drive focused on dues-paying members, whose contributions enable us to carry out our programs, hire staff and fellows, and more. We owe a massive thank you to everyone who helped make this summer membership drive a success, from phone bankers to everyday members of the community who spread the word about PPT and our work.
Thank you for helping us grow our organization! Now it’s time to keep up the fight–and we’re even stronger than we were before!
Want to keep up the fight? Here’s two actions you can take right now:
Join us for our next statewide call to learn how we win the transit funding we deserve!
Image Description: NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani smiles at a podium reading “Zohran for New York City”. His hand is on his heart, and behind him are graphic blue, red, and yellow stripes. There is a crowd gathered and a colorful banner behind him.
The most dynamic public figure of our moment has lessons for us about transit organizing!
Two years ago, the then little-known Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani had a conversation with the national coalition of transit rider unions – the TRUST – of which Pittsburghers for Public Transit and the Philly Transit Riders Union are members. He shared his observations from a grassroots campaign to win dedicated, expanded state funding from the New York State Assembly and Governor to stop a funding cliff and improve services and lower fares on the NYC Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).
Today, he is the Democratic frontrunner for mayor of New York City.
Check out Zohran Mamdani’s clip from 2023, addressing transit rider organizers from across the United States, on strategies for organizing (and winning!) statewide funding fights:
We are excited to hear the resonances between our current transit fight and the rider organizing in our neighboring state of New York! Some of the key lessons we took away from Mamdani’s talk were:
1. Be Bold: Lead With an Ambitious Set of Demands
Mamdani points out that we are charged with expanding the perception of what is possible to win, and in fact, it is that ambitious vision that energizes the public for the fight.
Riders and workers are inspired by this demand! As a result, just in the last four months, more than 15,000 people have joined the Transit for All PA campaign, with hundreds of people joining the Transit for All PA statewide calls to develop and ratify our collective agenda.
2. Take the Budget Fight Out in Public from Behind Closed Doors and Call the Question on Where Politicians Stand
Zohran Mamdani urges riders to make the budget fight public, and to call for politicians to say where they stand on the advocates’ transit demands.
This year, we brought a whopping 350 riders and transit workers from all around the Commonwealth to Harrisburg, for a massive press conference and meetings with legislators from across the Commonwealth. Transit riders in communities large and small thronged the halls of the Capitol, bringing information and their stories to every single legislative office. They called the question on where each of those legislators stood on the issue of funding transit, to ensure that our systems would not merely survive, but thrive.
Through rallies and legislative visits in all corners of the state, our weekly participatory research, monthly communications calls, and regular statewide organizing discussions with hundreds of riders, we’re building a culture of transparent and collaborative community organizing and daylighting the budget processes that profoundly affect our lives but are often hidden behind closed doors.
3. It’s All About Effective Conversations
Mamdani describes how organizers in NYC developed a powerful communications strategy to complement their campaign. He highlights the importance of these tools to help riders easily plug in to the organizing, and a simple and clear message that connects what is happening in the legislature to people’s needs and experiences on the bus.
As Transit for All PA, we’re training all of our members to be organizers and effective communicators of our message: better transit is possible, better transit is necessary, and better transit is transformative. Good organizing starts with a good conversation, in which we ask questions to hear the needs of other riders, and to understand what their vision is for better transit. We then help draw the line between that vision and our shared statewide solutions, as well as the action that must be taken to achieve those solutions.
Like Zohran Mamdani suggested, canvassing with QR codes that allow riders to easily fill out letters directed to their own legislators has been a powerful tool to allow folks to take action in the moment, and get plugged into longer term organizing efforts for transit funding. As a result, we organized tens of thousands of riders to send over 190,000 (!) letters to our state elected leaders to fund the transit service we deserve. We empowered riders from across the state to lead their own canvasses and connect with their own communities and legislators with a Transit for All PA organizing toolkit.
Effective communications tools have been game-changing, but even more important are training our members as organizers and having a clear message to communicate. Through these efforts, we have successfully propelled transit to the top of the agenda in this year’s state budget negotiations.
4. Organize with Transit Riders, Everywhere.
Mamdani points out that we are nowhere near exhausting the communities we should organize alongside to win the transit we deserve!
We must organize with transit riders in all 67 counties of Pennsylvania, because transit is available in some form – as fixed route buses or shared ride paratransit services for older adults and people with disabilities – and needed in all 67 counties. Our small town and rural neighbors have been denied quality transit service for far too long: we aim to change that. Through our monthly Transit for All PA calls with small cities and rural communities, we are building solidarity across geographies to understand every community’s distinct needs and develop a shared statewide funding solution.
And finally, we cannot minimize the importance of solidarity and shared leadership with organized labor. Our transit worker sisters and brothers, who run our systems day in and day out, are the people who are most expert in the issues our current transit systems face. They are also the first to speak up about opportunities to make our transit service better. Moreover, there are millions of dollars in direct economic benefits generated from workers that manufacture the goods and services that support public transit. Those workers, too, have much to offer our organizing, and they have a lot at stake in this transit funding fight.
We see once again that ambitious goals can attract wide support, and that organizing – across geographies, across constituencies- gets the goods.
Image Description: An older-style PRT bus stop sign, with the top portion edited to read “Audit”, and decorated with a yellow cutout and red starbursts. To the right is bold black text reading “Bus stop summer” with a yellow background.
PPT won more funding for bus shelters–now we’re making sure it gets spent where it’s needed!
In 2024, we decided to raise the importance of transit rider comfort, safety, and dignity by launching a Bus Shelter Campaign. Our goal was to get more shelters installed at high ridership stops in low equity neighborhoods within the city of Pittsburgh. We first assessed the condition of existing bus shelters, then conducted site visits to stops without shelters. With PPT members helping to create new tools and in collaboration with Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI), we successfully audited 25 bus stops and won the first-ever allocation of funds for Bus Stop Amenities in Pittsburgh’s 2025 Capital Budget!
This summer we’re hitting the pavement with our Bus Shelter 2.0 Campaign! Our goal is to help DOMI identify 25 eligible bus stops for the installation of the city’s remaining 10 inactive shelters (shelters located at sites that no longer serve a bus route) and provide DOMI and Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) with additional information for future installations.
Two ways to help us win more bus shelters:
In order to help DOMI find the most eligible 25 stops, we need some support from you, the expert riders of our system!
1: Crowdsource bus shelter form
DOMI has asked for your expertise: what bus stops do you see in your communities that desperately need shelters? Is there a stop on your commute route that has a DIY bus shelter, like a chair, milk crate, or shade structure that someone has placed there on their own? Do you frequent a stop that has tons of riders, but nowhere to shelter them?
If the answer’s yes, we have a new tool for you: a crowdsourced bus shelter form! Simply input your info and some basic information about the stop, and we’ll make a list to send over to DOMI. Bookmark this form and fill it out next time you’re waiting at your stop!
Please note: this form is NOT intended for immediate response or repairs. We will use this data to inform our future campaigns, not coordinate immediate construction or repairs. If your stop needs immediate repairs or attention, please contact Pittsburgh 311 by filling out their online form, or dialing 311 or 412-255-2621 on your phone.
2: Join an in-person bus shelter blitz!
Participants will meet at PPT’s office at the Friends Meeting House on July 30th, review materials, prepare, and then split into four different groups to audit eligible bus stops in four different regions of the city. The groups will travel by car to effectively audit a large number of stops.
