Image description: collage of three photos, left is a photo of the bus being lifted by a crane from the collapsed Fern Hollow Bridge. Upper right is a map from WESA that shows the detour for the 61B outbound (Forbes > S. Dallas > Penn > Peebles > Savannah > W. Hutchinson > S. Braddock). Lower right is a photo of red bus lanes on a city street.
Make the Bus Fly! PGH Bridge Collapse Has Severed Communities from a Critical Corridor, But Dedicated Bus Lanes & Green Lights for Buses Can Speed Up Recovery
It is through sheer luck that no one was killed in the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge. It is through community care that everyone was rescued.
But community safety should not be left to random chance and volunteerism.
The bridge collapse was the result of decades of policy that shifted funding away from community needs and towards projects that benefit the wealthy and powerful. This is true at all levels: local, state, and federal.
The new federal infrastructure mega-bill won’t save us from bridge collapses, climate disaster, nor our worsening economic and racial disparities if its expenditures follow the example of previous decades. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) contains the highest level of funding available for highway expansion in U.S. history. These billions of dollars will only lead to more emissions, congestion, traffic deaths, and urban segregation if we don’t insist on change. Our tax money needs to be used instead for transit-forward projects and the repair or even teardown of our overbuilt highway infrastructure.
We need to shift the paradigm of how and for whom we spend our tax dollars. Infrastructure investment needs to pull people out of poverty. It needs to save us from this climate crisis. It needs to create opportunities that are accessible to all.
We can start this shift as we deal with the immediate aftermath of this bridge collapse.
In the short term, we should look to the example of Boston, Chicago, San Franciso and Washington DC. These cities have implemented pop-up bus-only lanes, transit signal priority, and queue jumps to speed up transit on their streets. We can do the same here. It would ensure that Port Authority buses, paratransit vehicles, and school buses can move quickly through the detour.
The Fern Hollow Bridge must be rebuilt with people riding buses and bikes, pedestrians, and community members at the forefront of planning and design. This needs to be the frame for decision-making about all public infrastructure. Locally, the City of Pittsburgh can do this by adopting the recommendations of the Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform. At the state level, politicians need to stop state police from siphoning billions away from a fund intended for bridge maintenance, and the state needs to pass legislation for expanded, dedicated transit funding. On the federal level, USDOT needs to build policy to ensure that states and localities spend infrastructure money they receive through formula funds on projects that further equity and leverage the funds that it directly controls to do the same.
As organizers for community justice, we can build the movement to make this shift. But it won’t be easy. We need to be like the community members who formed a human chain to rescue all of the victims of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse and organize together. We can change the narrative: infrastructure spending is not about things, it’s about people.
Bus detour information
While conversations about rebuilding Fern Hollow Bridge continues, the 61A and 61B buses are currently following this detour: Forbes > S. Dallas > Penn > Peebles > Savannah > W. Hutchinson > S. Braddock.
image description: a map made by Katie Blackley via Google Maps that was shared in WESA’s story, “The loss of the Fern Hollow Bridge means a scramble for alternate routes” to show the detour for the 61A&B busses: Forbes > S. Dallas > Penn > Peebles > Savannah > W. Hutchinson > S. Braddock
Image Description: A screenshot from Port Authority’s “Pandemic Service Changes” website, contains and photo of a green PAAC bus.
Temporary pandemic service changes are being extended. Has the pandemic affected your transit service and access in either a positive or negative way? It’s time to make your voice heard!
Our public transit system has been completely upended by the pandemic. Ridership is in flux: while many workers shifted to work-at-home arrangements, many more continued relying on transit to get to jobs, food, healthcare. Transit workers are strained: although 74% of PAAC employees are vaccinated, hundreds have been unable to work because of quarantine throughout the pandemic, and seven workers have lost their lives to COVID. Budgets are stressed: increased covid precautions, a shifting workforce and unstable state funding all threaten finances at our transit agency. All of these strains leave riders with worse service than we had pre-pandemic.
To deal with these complications, in November 2020 Port Authority made some pretty significant service changes. Some of these changes were good. Namely, Port Authority increased service on some routes that continued to have high levels of riders from essential workers and low-income and minority riders. But many of the changes relied on significant service cuts on other routes. Although Port Authority tried to focus cuts mainly on commuter routes where the shift to remote working brought significant ridership drops, these routes were still essential connections for essential workers to access employment.
Even though these changes have continued for more than a year, Port Authority still maintains that they are “temporary”. We want to ensure that positive changes for riders are made permanent, and that there is a plan for restoration of our critical transit service that has been reduced.
Because these “temporary” changes have persisted for more than a year, Port Authority needs to document whether low-income or minority riders are disproportionately impacted by these changes, and to collect public feedback.
If the service changes you’ve seen have directly impacted you– in good or bad ways– sign up here to make sure Port Authority is hearing your experience:
Want to see specifics about the changes that they implemented?
Port Authority is proposing to continue the “major service changes” that were made to 30 different routes in November 2020. (A “major change” is a change that affects more than 30% of a route’s weekly trips, directional miles, or service hours OR the addition of a service day.) Of these 30 major service changes, 10 routes had added weekend service on a permanent basis (a big victory for riders who were active with numerous PPT campaigns), and 20 are considered temporary pandemic-related service changes.
Here’s a table from Port Authority’s website that summarizes what those 20 temporary COVID-related changes were:
Table from Port Authority that summarizes the “temporary” changes that they want to extend.
Because these changes have gone on for more than a year, Port Authority needs to conduct a “Title VI Analysis” to show that the changes do not disproportionately burden or impact minority or low-income riders (Disproportionate burden means low-income riders were disproportionately affected. Disproportionate impact means that minority riders were disproportionately affected). You can see a copy of Port Authority’s Title IV for these service changes here. Below is a screenshot of a table in the report that shows whether the changes have a disproportionate burden and impact:
image description: table from Port Authority’s Title VI analysis that shows the effects of changes on low-income and minority populations. People using screen readers can read these results on page 4 of PAAC’s TItle VI report here.
We want to see service restored on all of these routes as soon as possible, particularly routes where changes disproportionately affect low income and minority riders. For that to happen, we need to hear from Port Authority what is impacting the return of needed service, and what the plan (thresholds for funding, transit worker hiring, COVID case levels?) is for bringing transit service back to pre-pandemic levels.
Here are some questions we’ve brainstormed for folks to raise during the public hearing, but feel free to come up with your own questions! Personal experience is also the most compelling testimony:
What are the conditions and criteria that determine when or if service is restored to these routes?
Cuts to the 58 disproportionately burden low-income riders. However Port Authority’s Title IV analysis claims that these cuts were not so harmful because riders within the walkshed of this route have access to other routes. How does the service on these other nearby routes compare to service on the 58? What critical destinations (employment centers, grocery stores, healthcare) are more or less accessible to riders on the adjacent lines?
It is not clear why Port Authority chose August 2019 and 2021 as the comparison months. Ridership data is showing an uptick from August 2021. Would choosing different pair of months for comparison make the estimates look different?
Studies show that service cuts lead to decreased ridership. Will continuation of service at reduced frequency lead to further decreases in ridership?
Port Authority last conducted a (detailed) ridership survey in 2014. A study conducted in Phoenix, AZ showed that Census data might not be very representative of ridership survey data. For the routes facing an extension of service cuts, could there be a substantial difference about ridership demographic impacts if they were to use American Community Survey data instead?
Make sure that Port Authority hears about your experience on transit since the pandemic started.
image description: photo of Mayor Nickole Nesby speaking at a 2017 rally to combat the bus cuts that were being proposed in the Mon Valley as part of the Port Authority’s BRT plan
Riders Show Up to Port Authority’s 837 Corridor Public Engagement Sessions, Help Drive the Rapid Transit Planning Process Forward.
Years of planning and organizing from Mon Valley riders on our Beyond the East Busway campaign has led to the identification and prioritization of three key corridors for safer, faster, quality transit infrastructure. All three of those corridors were uplifted by riders as top priorities in the Port Authority’s recently- adopted NEXTransit long-range plan. And now, the Port Authority has begun planning for improvements in the 61C corridor from Homestead to McKeesport, along Rt 837 and Lysle Blvd.
You can see the Port Authority’s interactive map and information about the proposed project here.
“[Route 837 improvements] can be transformational in that corridor,” Ms. Wiens said. “We should make this project as impactful as it can be.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette documents the grassroots organizing that won riders the opportunity to make transit in the Mon Valley safe and comfortable, and for buses to get priority on the streets to ensure that buses are fast and reliable.
On Dec 7th, more than a dozen PPT members and residents of Homestead, Duquesne and McKeesport joined the Port Authority’s public input session to identify opportunities for infrastructure and bus service improvements. Riders also highlighted concerns, particularly around the proposed removal of every other bus stop along 8th Ave in Homestead without any clear process for evaluating the impact of stop removal. PPT has long called for the Port Authority to assess and publish clear data on the impact of bus stop consolidation on metrics like access to nearby social services, ridership levels, impact on riders with disabilities and other protected classes, and on the safety of riders navigating longer distances with questionable infrastructure to get to their bus stops.
We applaud the Pittsburgh Post Gazette editorial board’s recent accolades for the Mon Valley project here, which highlights what riders have long been saying about the high need for quality transit in the region.
You can read more reporting about the public meeting and proposals by the Port Authority to improve the corridor here:
image description: A rider scans their CONNECT Card at a T station
New Port Authority Fare Changes Do Not Remove Fare Cost Burden on Low Income and Minority Riders, and Highlight Need for a Low-Income Fare Program
Effective January 1st, 2022, the Port Authority will be implementing a rolling pass program that “starts” a weekly or monthly bus pass on the first day of its usage, rather than bus passes that follow a calendar schedule. The Port Authority will also be implementing changes for stored value CONNECT card users: a 25 cent increase in per-trip cost coupled with free transfers within a three-hour window.
While the bus pass changes will likely make bus pass purchases more useful and accessible to some, the stored value CONNECT card changes will not alleviate fare cost burdens on the majority of transit riders, including for low-income riders and riders of color. (Low-income riders in the Port Authority’s Title VI Fare Analysis are identified as those living in households with an annual income of <$25,000. Minority riders are all those who did not exclusively identify themselves as white/Caucasian in Port Authority’s 2014 rider survey.) In fact,the Port Authority’s Title VI data shows that by a nearly 2:1 ratio, low-income riders and minority riders using the stored value CONNECT cards will see an increase in transit fare costs and will not benefit from free transfers, because they only take single trips within a three hour window. This highlights why it is more urgent than ever that Port Authority implement a low-income fare program such as that called for in the Fair Fares for Full Recovery Campaign.
Image description: screen capture of Table 5, page 12 of the Port Authority’s Title VI Fare Equity Analysis, shows that by a nearly 2:1 ratio, low-income riders and minority riders using the stored value CONNECT cards will see an increase in transit fare costs.
By a nearly 2:1 ratio, low-income riders and minority riders using the stored value CONNECT cards will see an increase in transit fare costs
Moreover, because these coming fare policies do not propose any changes for riders paying with cash, Port Authority continues to maintain a fare structure in whichpoor riders pay more money for worse transit service. In fact, more trips made by low income and minority riders are paid for with cash than are paid for with stored value CONNECT Cards. Cash-paying riders currently pay the highest fare for service, at $2.75 for every trip and another $2.75 for each transfer. Routes with high cash usage run through disproportionately low-income and high minority communities, and these routes often require more transfers with more limited and infrequent service to access critical amenities. Moreover, there is low CONNECT card adoption in these communities by design, because access points for charging or purchasing CONNECT Cards like ticket vending machines and Giant Eagle/Goodwill stores are less available. It is therefore imperative that, at a minimum, the Port Authority allow low-income riders paying cash to receive the same free transfer benefit offered to CONNECT card users, by reinstating the Port Authority’s paper transfer tickets as PPT and allies have called for in its #FairFares Platform.
image description: screen capture of Table 3, page 11 of the Port Authority’s Title VI Fare Equity Analysis shows more trips made by low income and minority riders are paid for with cash than are paid for with stored value CONNECT Cards
Port Authority continues to maintain a fare structure in whichpoor riders pay more money for worse transit service.
image description: screen capture of Table 7, page 18 of the Port Authority’s Title VI Fare Equity Analysis, shows that cash users pay the highest fare per trip of all users in the system.
While PPT supports fare programs that make using the transit system more efficient, it is critical that low-income riders see some relief from the disproportionate burden that transit fares represent. A critical social utility that relies on user fees for revenue is by nature regressive; Port Authority could also begin to shift costs for providing the service to corporations by implementing a bulk discount pass program for corporations, human service organizations and developers to buy into. As an interim solution, the Port Authority should follow through on its goal to create a low-income fare program, as it was named a top priority in their long-range planning effort. Given that these Jan 1’st fare policy changes do not remedy transit fare cost impacts for many and will likely exacerbate costs for some of our region’s most marginalized riders, advocates are calling on the Port Authority to take decisive steps to make fare equity a reality, now.
The time for a low-income fare program at Port Authority is now.
Image description: screenshot from the cover of Mayor-Elect Gainey’s Transit Plan document. It includes a photo of Mayor-Elect Gainy outside talking with people in a park. All are wearing jackets and masks.
Public transit advocates have (many) seats at the table as the new Mayoral administration takes office.
Monday, December 20th, Mayor-Elect Ed Gainey held a press conference to release his plan for the mayoral transition and announce the members of the committees who are going to help him in that work. Fortunately for those that care about public transit, affordable housing and an accessible city for all, Mayor-elect Gainey has given us multiple seats at the table.
In his transition plan, the Mayor-Elect announced that he will create the vision for his new administration with the help of four committees:
EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT
EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
COMMUNITY HEALTH AND SAFETY
High-quality, accessible public transit is essential to the success of all four of these committees – the Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform can guide us on how to pull them all together.
Transportation is at the intersection of many critical issues; housing, economic development, clean air, community access to school, healthcare, and food. It will be important for all of Mayor-Elect Gainey’s transition committees to consider the role that accessible transportation plays in their success.
The Mayor-Elect has put many of the City’s prominent transportation advocates on the Infrastructure & Environment committee. This is exciting because, as PPT’s new Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform outlines, the city’s infrastructure investment directly impacts the quality and effectiveness of our transit system. Pittsburghers for Public Transit’s own Laura Chu Wiens will sit on this committee, along with BikePGH’s Scott Bricker, Friends of the River Front’s Kelsey Ripper, Hazelwood Initiative’s Tiffany Taulton and others. The committee will be led by Dr. Jamil Bey, of UrbanKind Institute, and Christine Mondor, of evolve environment :: architecture – both of whom have supported the Pittsburgh 100 Day Transit platform and have worked with Pittsburghers for Public Transit many times in past years.
The Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform has numerous recommendations that will help the Equitable Development committee in their charge to focus “on ways to accelerate affordable housing development and provide the necessary supports, especially for families whose household incomes fall between 30% and 80% of the area median income.” These households are those who are disproportionately without access to vehicles and who are using transit. They are also the households who are disproportionately pushed out of the city and farther from quality transit because of rising housing costs. The 100 Days Transit platform’s demands around inclusionary zoning (with higher affordability near great transit lines), parking reform, and transit-oriented development have a high potential for this committee.
The Equitable Development committee will be chaired by Monica Ruiz of Casa San Jose, and Bob Damewood of Regional Housing & Legal Services – both longtime friends and collaborators of PPT’s. Also on this committee are many others who’ve joined PPT in supporting transit justice, including Jennifer Rafanan Kennedy of Pittsburgh United, Carl Redwood Jr of the Pittsburgh Black Workers Center, Jasiri X of 1Hood, and Maria Montano of SEIU Healthcare PA. It’s also worth noting that a Port Authority Board Member, Stephanie Turman, has been appointed here as well.
Great public transit access is also important to Mayor-Elect’s other two committees as well; Education and Workforce Development and Community Health and Safety. The Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform calls for the Mayor to announce a plan to provide transit passes to all city employees. This is a way to encourage the Port Authority to finally begin its bulk bus pass program. UPMC and other huge institutions need to begin paying their fair share for our transit system. If the Mayor plays his part in encouraging a bulk bus pass program, this will be a catalyst that allows institutions to give their employees free transit & the expanded opportunity that comes with it.
The Education and Workforce Development committee is co-chaired by Regina B. Holley, PHD, former Board Director for the School District of Pittsburgh, and Darrin Kelly, President of the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council. The Community Health and Safety committee is co-chaired by Dr. Kathi Elliott of Gwenn’s Girls, and Wasi Mohamed of the Pittsburgh Foundation.
This Transition Team is an opportunity to uplift public transit and the critical ways that city policy can improve it. Read the Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform and Sign-on Now to Support.
[Image Description: On the left, red text says “Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform: Affording All Residents the Freedom to Move” on the right is an image of a bus and three people smiling, one carries a sign that says “Ready to Ride”. A PPT logo is at the bottom.]
The new Mayor can afford all residents the freedom to move.
Join PPT to release the new Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform. As a new City administration takes office this platform can guide them in refocusing transportation, housing, and land use policy to benefit all Pittsburghers.
Press Conference to release the Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform Thursday, 12/16 11am – 11:45am Fifth & Atwood Bus Station RSVP here to the Facebook event
Reach out to info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org with any questions or to get involved.
[Accessibility Information: the event will be held outdoors in front of the new bus station at Fifth and Atwood. Seating is limited, although PPT will bring two folding chairs with armrests. Bathrooms are available inside the Faulk Medical Building next door. ASL interpretation will be available. The location is served by all of the bus routes that travel the Fifth Ave corridor in Oakland. On-street and paid car/bike parking is available at. Reach out to PPT with any additional accessibility questions: info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org]
See the list of the 25 supporters who are
Access Mob Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh Alliance for Police Accountability Bike Pittsburgh Bloomfield Development Corporation Breathe Project Casa San Jose City County Task Force on Disabilities Clean Air Council Coalition of Organized Residents of East Liberty Hill District Consensus Group Just Harvest Lawrenceville United Neighborhood Community Development Fund Oakland Planning and Development Corp. Penn Plaza Support and Action Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network PGH Green New Deal Group Pittsburgh Black Worker Center Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance Pittsburgh United Pittsburghers for Public Transit Polish Hill Civic Association UrbanKind Institute Wellness Pittsburgh West End P.O.W.E.R.
Image description: PPT’s Year-End Campaign artwork designed by Pedro Ibarra. Three people gather under a bus shelter, two are standing, one is in a wheelchair. All are smiling and holding signs for transit justice. There are rain clouds and lightning outside the shelter with text that reads “we are the shelter we are the storm”
In 2021, PPT members brought both the SHELTER and the STORM! Join us to celebrate a year of successful (and hard-fought) transit organizing.
In 2021, PPT members brought both the SHELTER and the STORM.
This year was hard – the crushing effects of the pandemic, a transit death spiral, a transit funding cliff. Jobs and housing lost. PPT members had to organize together to provide shelter for our neighbors and communities. But we didn’t stop there.
Our organizing was a FORCE. We launched a statewide campaign for expanded transit funding. We built a base to put a pro-public transit mayor in office. We laid the groundwork for a low-income fare program. We continued our push to extend the East Busway and we WON MILLIONS of federal dollars that can make it all real!
Join PPT for our year-end celebration of this phenomenal storm of organizing energy. We’re partying on ZOOM, with awards, games, and music in the mix. You helped get us this far, now come party with us!
RSVP by December 7th and we’ll mail you a surprise party-pack of goodies that you can bring with you to the online celebration!
image description: photo of PPT members phonebanking in the spring of 2019. Text is overlaid atop the image that reads “Sign up to help wth PPT’s Year-End Phonebanks! Going on now through December 31”.
Use the Google Form below to help the organizing effort:
Image description: PPT Member Alisa Grishman, a white woman in a wheelchair with curly hair and a blue t-shirt, holding a sign that says “Disability rights are civil rights”. Text is overlaid on the image with a quote from her that says, “We have to care for our neighbors and be the shelter. We have to fight for them and be the storm.”
“We have to care for our neighbors and be the shelter. We have to fight for them and be the storm.” – Alisa Grishman, PPT Member
Your support for PPT will mean that more neighbors like Alisa will organize to win quality, affordable public transit in Allegheny County and across Pennsylvania.
Public transit is my freedom, it enables me. My name is Alisa Grishman and I am a disability activist, wheelchair user, public transit rider, and member of Pittsburghers for Public Transit. Like tens of thousands of people across the state, my life and my independence rely on access to affordable public transit.
But public transit in PA is in trouble. Although the new federal infrastructure bill will send millions to transit agencies, it only funds infrastructure. It’s the State of Pennsylvania that’s on the line to fund the transit workers to run the essential service, and this funding will sunset at the end of this year.
No politicians are coming up with ideas to keep our systems running, and that’s why our organizing is critical. Through the Spring, we worked with hundreds across the state to build this vision for transit that moves all Pennsylvanians. Then, after months of isolation from the rest of the world, we rallied on the steps of the state capital to launch the Transit for All PA campaign!
This campaign and vision are gaining momentum. In the last 6 months we have garnered the support of more than 100 elected officials, unions, and community organizations – now we need you! Public transit is not an urban vs. rural issue. It’s not a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It’s an everyone issue. Come to a meeting, give a donation, join the next rally, get involved in this organizing force! For all that things seem grim, remember we win when we organize together.
Join this community and give a gift of any amount—whether $5, $50, or $500—to push PPT towards our goal of raising $15,000 from 250 supporters!
Image description: Artwork made for PPT by artist Pedro Ibarra. Three people are smiling standing under a bus shelter in the rain. They have their fists raised and are holding signs for transit justice.
Image description: screen capture from WPXI report of PPT Treasurer Mayor Nickole Nesby speaking at a press conference with County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and State Senator Linsey Williams about what the Infrastructure Bill will do for public transit in Allegheny County.
New Infrastructure Bill will bring historic levels of funding to Port Authority for capital projects – but it will also mean historic levels of highway funding too… We need the Senate to pass the Build Back Better act for climate justice now.
For the last two years, PPT members have been calling for the federal government to step up their support for transit. We held a 300+ rider statewide town hall with Senator Bob Casey, a letter campaign demanding federal funding for transit operations, we published a report of what federal funding for transit service would do to expand job access for residents of Northview Heights and Braddock, we met with Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg himself to make the case (!) and we held a rally in front of Representative Lamb’s office; it’s no exaggeration to say that transit riders have been at the forefront of a movement for a federal infrastructure bill that meets our community’s needs and tackles the climate crisis.
President Biden and Congress recently passed a massive infrastructure bill. For the tens of millions of people who depend on public transit every day, this new law is an important victory, and will be a historic investment in public transit. But our work is not done. Transit riders will continue to organize and demand the Build Back Better Act to ensure that federal funding is made available for transit operating needs like service expansion in underserved communities and fare reductions, and not just for capital expenses.
Specifically, the funding in the Build Back Better and infrastructure bills will allow communities like Allegheny County to:
● Improve operations to ensure that buses and trains run frequently and reliably
● Help connect more lower-income residents to safe and reliable public transit options
● Purchase new buses, trains, and streetcars, and repair or replace ones that are out of service
● Improve public transit accessibility for seniors and persons with mobility impairments
● Expand transit options in rural and Tribal communities
● Invest in transportation solutions that reduce air pollution and help address the climate crisis
On November 17th, PPT Board Treasurer Mayor Nikole Nesby spoke at a press conference with County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and PA Sen Lindsey Williams laying out how the Federal Infrastructure Bill could provide funding to transform transit in the Mon Valley, and why we still need more.
Read her comments and see the press footage below:
“My name is Mayor Nickole Nesby and I am the Mayor of the mighty city of Duquesne, Pennsylvania. I am here today to celebrate the passage of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act because of the potential that it has for my community.
When I say the mighty city of Duquesne, I mean it, because for years our city has been passed over, disinvested, and left to fend for itself. We had to organize our own plans for how to improve our access to public transit, how to clean up our water, how to get internet access to kids who needed it to finish their homework.
Let me tell you about our campaign to expand the East Busway into the Mon Valley & bring the benefits of affordable, rapid, public transportation to the residents of Duquesne. See, communities like mine don’t often get transportation plans made to improve them. In fact, in 2016, when the Port Authority started the Downtown to Oakland Bus Rapid Transit planning process, they included a proposal to cut our lifeline bus service in half, with increased transfers and costs. In a community like Duquesne, where 76.6% of the residents live below the poverty line, where unemployment is over 40%, that was unacceptable. But we the residents of the Mon Valley didn’t mourn, we organized. We protested and we spoke up and we stopped those service cuts. But our work didn’t stop there because just maintaining the status quo isn’t much of a win. Residents of Duquesne deserve more investment into quality transit. We put out the Riders Vision for Public Transit, and called for an expansion of the East Busway into Duquesne and beyond, allowing rapid access for our residents to job centers and healthcare and education hubs. Duquesne community leaders like Ms. Debra Green and Linda Warman went out and surveyed hundreds of transit riders in the on Valley to figure out the best alignment for this transit and the key destinations that our people need to get to. And now we’re bringing OUR PLANS from the small but mighty city of Duquesne, PA all the way up to Capitol Hill.
Now, the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act will be a historic investment to face the historic proportions of the issues we face. $39 billion for public transit. $55 billion for water & lead line replacement. $65 billion for broadband internet access. These resources can be life-changing, if they’re paired with the efforts and vision of residents like Ms. Debra Green and Linda Warman.
There’s no shortage of work to do. We still have mothers pushing strollers and dodging cars on the street because there’s not been money for safe and accessible sidewalks in Duquesne. We’ve got a serious lead problem with our water, and many folks don’t have the resources to pay for that water, toxic as it is. And there are many families that don’t have access to broadband in their homes, and this past year of remote schooling has left too many of our kids behind.
The federal infrastructure bill has the power to change this. We know now that the funds are available, that our visions, that our demands for mighty cities all across the United States like Duquesne can be realized with real dollars.
It’s so important to celebrate our wins. It’s a damn good first step. But we ALSO need the passage of the Build Back Better Act still in Congress to make this transformation complete. Investing in early childhood education, in paid sick leave, in transit OPERATIONS FUNDING, so that we don’t get left with great transit infrastructure but no bus service.
Let’s get to work. We know what we’ve got to do here in Duquesne– we’ve been doing it for years. We know that our residents that are experiencing these hardships are the best ones to design the solutions that should be funded.
To our elected leaders on Capitol Hill: thank you for this important infrastructure bill. It means a lot. We’ve been where you are, where we could’ve stopped just shy of the finish line– organizing just to stay afloat, to prevent the harm from expanding. But you’re mighty, just like we are. So let’s finish the job. Pass Build Back Better too, and you’ll have moved from passing what was necessary to doing something that will be truly transformative.
