Votes Are In: PPT Membership Elects New Coordinating Committee Members 2020

Pittsburghers for Public Transit believes in transparency, accountability, public participation, democracy, collaboration, and shared leadership.

And we want to practice what we preach.

So each year our organization runs an open nomination and election process for our general membership to choose 5 people to serve on our Coordinating Committee (aka our Board of Directors). The Coordinating Committee is an 11-member body that helps to guide PPT’s campaign strategy, committee work, and fundraising efforts. Two of those seats are reserved for members of Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 85 (the union that represents all of the Port Authority’s bus operators and mechanics) because PPT believes fundamentally that riders and operators are the ones that are best qualified to improve the system. Each elected member serves for a 2-year term.

For those that are doing the math, the final unelected seat is filled by the Executive Director of The Thomas Merton Center or their appointee because they act as PPT’s fiduciary.

And for those reading closely, you may be asking; how did 6 people win if there were only 5 seats up for election in 2020? Well, that is thanks to a tie for the 5th place seat. The sitting Coordinating Committee (minus those up for re-election) voted to settle the tie by expanding the committee by one-seat in the immediate-term. They will be taking up a discussion on long-term structural changes, possibly adding more seats, at the first meeting of the new CC on July 25th.

Pittsburghers for Public Transit is very excited to announce the winners of 2019’s Coordinating Committee election!

Congratulations to the next slate of Coordinating Committee members who will serve until Summer 2022 (and possibly longer if they run for reelection!)

Christina Acuna Castillo

Christina Acuna Castillo

Christina Acuna Castillo is a Peruvian cultural worker, artist, and organizer based in Pittsburgh. They have served as a translator to recently resettled Spanish-speaking refugees and has taught Latinx youth through Casa San Jose about ways to support, protect, and preserve cultural memories and practices. They now work multiple jobs. They work with the Emergency Response Team at Casa San Jose, providing resources and support for families dealing with ICE, and have spent many years with CSJ organizing with the undocumented community, both young folks and older. Christina is also the Digital Organizer and Artist for Pittsburgh United, working with all three campaign tables around housing justice, worker justice, and water justice. For over two years, they have also worked with the Pittsburgh Foundation as an advisor on their Social Justice Fund and as a grant reviewer for the Rapid Response Fund that is being coordinated by the Pittsburgh Foundation and New Voices Pittsburgh

Christina creates artwork that is used in protests, vigils, marches, and other community gatherings. They believe that visual arts is an essential organizing and accessibility tool because it helps people imagine what change looks and feels like. And that’s what they have tried to bring to PPT, and that is what they would like to continue to provide to PPT – the visionary and organizing skills and possibly anything in between that is needed.

Bonnie Fan

Bonnie Fan

Bonnie worked in transit for four years before coming to Pittsburgh, seeing laid bare the lack of regard for operators, the policing of riders, and power grabbing mindset of management that prevented any kind of internal change possible. While joining Otolunji Oboi Reed’s Equiticity campaign prior, they found a stronger force in mobility justice worked centered in Black and Brown communities.

Seeing the work made possible with PPT’s grassroots mobilization has changed the way Bonnie orients her work. In seeing the narrative arcs of other cities play out, especially for post industrial cities, they are deeply concerned by the secret privilege of private developers, universities and tech companies when it comes to how the public domain should be made and who it should be made for. In this landscape, also complicated by political and financial relationships, PPT has been one of the few where grassroots voice has been able to fight and win for riders and workers without compromise.

Much of the other work they are involved in is against predictive policing and #NoTechForICE – all of which falls in the realm of tools and decisions made in favor of existing oppressive power dynamics.

Verna Johnson

Verna Johnson

I am fighting to get free transportation that is based on people’s incomes for Port Authority. Everyone deserves to be treated equally relative to their income. I have been involved with PPT since 2015. First I was part of the neighborhood leadership team fighting for weekend service in Garfield in 2015, and we won! Since then, I have testified with PPT at Port Authority meetings around the importance of maintaining service on the 61 and 71 lines with the BRT plan. I also spoke at a PPT rally to prevent transit policing on the T and a rally before we presented 2,500 “Make Our Fares Fair” petition signatures to the Port Authority Board. I was also one of the sketch note artists for the Fair Fares graphic novel planning meeting.

I do this work because our neighborhoods deserve better routes and better run times, and Port Authority should hear from residents about what they need. People that work for Port Authority are front-line workers, and more should be done to keep them safe.

Fawn Walker-Montgomery

Fawn Walker-Montgomery

Fawn Walker-Montgomery is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Take Action Mon Valley (TAMV). She is a former candidate for Mayor in McKeesport and a past candidate for State Representative in the 35th District. Fawn was the first black person & woman to run for a State seat in the Mon Valley. She has a B.A. in Political Science from Johnson C. Smith University (HBCU) and a Master’s of Science in Criminal Justice Administration Point Park University.

Fawn is also a past second-term Councilwoman in McKeesport. She has 18 years of experience in the human services field.

Debra Green, re-elected to a 2nd term

Debra Green

Debra Green has been a member of the PPT Coordinating Committee since 2018, but has been a leader in advocating for improved transit service even prior to her work with PPT. In 2008, Ms. Debra led a petition drive with her co-workers at the Rivers Casino for improved transit service at the casino, and based on that success, she campaigned for service improvements to the Hilltop Parkview Apartments in Duquesne. She was successful in mobilizing hundreds of residents to sign petitions and call Port Authority to request the transit service, and both efforts won life-changing improvements for bus riders.

Ms. Debra became involved with PPT in the effort to prevent devastating cuts to the 61 bus lines in the Mon Valley in Port Authority’s Bus Rapid Transit proposal, and helped design and launch the Riders’ Vision for Public Transit. She was a Beyond the East Busway organizing fellow, helping to get fellow Duquesne residents to take the survey to expand rapid transit into the Mon Valley, and she helped lead the successful organizing effort for weekend service in McKees Rocks. She has testified countless times at the Port Authority board meetings, and has been active with Just Harvest and Put People First in connecting food justice, the fight for universal healthcare and transit justice, and has traveled to Harrisburg to lobby for all of these needs. She was profiled in the Huffington Post for her transit advocacy efforts with PPT.

Alison Keating, re-elected to a 2nd term

Alison Keating

My relevant experience that I apply to PPT comes from reading decades of news articles about development, housing, transit, and, more recently, the history of Allegheny County politics. I like that we don’t play favorites when it comes to politicians or political fights, we’re only concerned about what’s best for riders and drivers, and finding compromises that lead to better service and better understanding.

Going forward, I’m interested in zoning and think we could do interesting work there because it’s part of the system keeps us from having more equitable and diverse development, especially when it comes to whether transit is even considered. You can build all the affordable housing you want, but if it’s 2 hours away from everything (education, entertainment, jobs, health care, family & friends), you’re asking people to spend greater amounts of their time uncompensated, unfree, or to go without having their needs met, and that’s a little-recognized public health crisis for a growing number of people.

PPT takes the National stage to fight for an emergency low-income fares program

In the last week, PPT has partnered with Green For All to take our call for an emergency low-income fare program to the national stage. Now more than ever, public transit must be treated as an essential life-sustaining service – like housing, food, and utilities. Just like other emergency programs have been created to assist us with those essentials, Port Authority needs to implement a low-income fares program to help riders get where they need to go.

It is a matter of economic justice. It is a matter of public health.

PPT organizer Josh Malloy advocates for a low-income fare program on a national Green for All Transit Equity Townhall.

He was joined with some big names from Baltimore, and the Bay area. Josh called for a low-income fare program and defunding the police to let black and brown communities invest that money in transit that best serves them. Watch the town hall to hear from Josh and these other important transit equity advocates.

PPT Member Deanna Turner interviewed & makes the call for a low-income fare program

Deanna lives in Hazelwood, is a mom, and has had to take the bus to work in Oakland through this whole pandemic. In her interview, Deanna explains that $97/month for transit is forcing her to make decisions about whether she spends money on other essential needs like utilities and food.

She calls for an emergency low-income fare program to help front-line essential workers survive this economic crisis. Listen to her interview below

Separately, Teaira spoke at the PA Poor People’s Campaign Jubilee last month to elevate the demand for an Emergency low-income fare

Call Port Authority and join Josh, Deanna, and PPT in the call for an emergency low-income fare now!

412-442-2000

Script: Hello, My name is ________. I am calling to request that Port Authority fo Allegheny County implement a low-income fare program, which would allow low-income riders to show their EBT benefits card in place of fare payment. Fares place undue burdens on low-income essential workers and transit reliant communities. Can a representative from Port Authority please call me back to share when you will be implementing this program or taking steps to address my concern?

Add your name to those organizing for this change

Join PA riders & workers to talk the transit crisis w Senator Bob Casey – 7/28, 5pm

PA needs Senator Bob Casey to step up big for public transit.

On July 28th, join transit riders and workers from across PA for some real-talk about why we need $32B in COVID relief for public transit.

Pennsylvania’s public transit is on the edge of disaster. Transit ridership has cratered during the COVID-19 crisis and transit agencies are bleeding millions of dollars weekly. Essential transit riders and workers on the front lines face unprecedented threats to public health and economic livelihoods.

Congress must invest $32 billion to stop this transit catastrophe. Without it, riders and workers will suffer from fare hikes, layoffs, service cuts, and shutdowns.

Across PA, transit riders and workers are coming together for some real-talk with Senator Bob Casey about the transit crisis. He needs to stand on the Senate floor as a transit champion and pass $32B for transit to move us all past Covid-19.

Transit Rider and Worker Union Hosts:
Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 85
Transport Worker Union, Local 234
Philly Transit Riders Union
Pittsburghers for Public Transit

Co-Hosts:
One Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh United
The Sierra Club
Transit Forward Philly
5th Square

And reach out to info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org or 412-626-7353 with any questions or accessibility needs.


Sign up below to help spread the word about this Transit Talk & distribute masks to transit riders.

Sen Toomey: will you stand up for transit? PPT Member Rahul encourages $32B for Covid recovery

On Friday, July 10th, PPT Member Rahul Amruthapuri joined immigrant justice orgs Asia Pacific American Labor Alliance, New Sanctuary Movement, CWS, NACASEK, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement and the Value Our Families coalition to speak to Senator Toomey’s office about the measures that immigrants need to in order to recover from Covid-19 and anti-immigrant policy in the US. The coalition’s demands included measures to protect immigrants and refugees during the pandemic, defunding hate, and protect family-based immigration.

Rahul added to these demands by preparing a submission to remind Senator Toomey that public transit systems are essential to immigrant justice, economic justice, and worker justice. If US states are to safely get past Covid-19, US transit systems will need $32B in transit funding in the next pandemic recovery bill.

The time to act is now.

Senator Toomey: will you stand up for Pennsylvania & pass $32B for public transit to move us all past Covid-19?

Submission from Pittsburghers for Public Transit by PPT Member Rahul Amruthapuri

Photo of Rahul Amruthapuri

On behalf of transit riders and operators and in order to support immigrants, essential workers, and our nation in moving through COVID-19, we must ask Sen. Toomey to support the inclusion of $32 billion in the next stimulus package for the nation’s transit agencies.

COVID-19 has pushed our transit agencies and the states that rely on them to the brink of disaster. Various analyses have shown that the CARES Act emergency transit funding for large agencies will run out by the end of the year, and our nation’s transit systems will again face catastrophic shortfalls. Specific to our state, the transit agencies in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh can face a $726 million shortfall even after accounting for the CARES Act funding.

The $32 billion in emergency transit funding is also a racial justice issue. Based on existing data, we know that over one-third of those who are using public transit are workers commuting to essential jobs. It is also well known that people of color disproportionately represent essential workers and not funding public transit will not only result in these workers unable to get to their workplaces but also prevent them from providing for their families and accessing vital goods and services. Here, we would like to point out immigrants represent up to 12% of the workforce in certain essential industry sectors in Pennsylvania and that immigrants are more dependent on public transit than others. Without the services of these individuals, we would have to face food shortages, and shortage of healthcare and social care personnel.

While distributing masks we heard from riders and workers about overcrowding on buses and bus stops, bus pass-ups, service cuts, and the lack of PPE. The $32 billion in emergency funding can prevent these issues. In the absence of this funding, transit agencies will have to further cut services, which will lead to more overcrowding and increased health risks for essential workers and others dependent on public transit. In addition, service cuts will result in more people shifting to personal vehicles that will cause increased traffic congestion and pollution.

We, thereby, implore Sen. Toomey to join his colleague Sen. Casey in supporting the $32 billion emergency funding for transit agencies in the next stimulus package so that public transit can continue being the lifeline and economic driver it is.

References

 TransitCenter (2020, June 17). Estimated Financial Shortfalls of U.S. Transit Agencies Exceed HEROES Act Funding. Retrieved from https://transitcenter.org/estimated-financial-shortfalls-of-u-s-transit-agencies-exceed-heroes-act-funding/

 TransitCenter (2020, June). TransitCenter Analysis of CARES Act and HEROES Act (June 2020). Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xNUO7UtamN6WKgXtrkGaNkjNLMmXbgoB7t5gKMxA3dE/edit

 TransitCenter (2020, March 24) Transit Is Essential: 2.8 Million U.S. Essential Workers Ride Transit to Their Jobs. Retrieved from https://transitcenter.org/2-8-million-u-s-essential-workers-ride-transit-to-their-jobs/

 McNicholas, C., & Poydock, M. (2020, May 19). Who are essential workers? A comprehensive look at their wages, demographics, and unionization rate. Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://www.epi.org/blog/who-are-essential-workers-a-comprehensive-look-at-their-wages-demographics-and-unionization-rates/

 American Immigration Council (2020, June 9).Fact Sheet: Immigrants in Pennsylvania. Retrieved from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immigrants-in-pennsylvania

 United States Census Bureau (2018). S0201: SELECTED POPULATION PROFILE IN THE UNITED STATES. American Community Survey.  

PPT’s 2020 Elections for Coordinating Committee Seats

Overview

Pittsburghers for Public Transit is a grassroots, democratic, member-led organization that fights for racial justice and public transit as a human right.  Each July, the organization holds elections for its members to elect a slate of candidates to serve for two years on the Coordinating Committee. The Coordinating Committee is PPT’s equivalent to a Board of Directors, and is responsible for strategizing and executing the organizations campaigns, outreach, governance and fundraising. 

Votes for the Coordinating Committee should only be submitted by PPT Members after they read the bios below and join our General Membership Meeting on Wednesday, July 8th at 7pm.

PPT Membership

A current PPT Member is someone who:

  1. Supports the Transit Bill of Rights
  2. In the last year has organized with PPT to further any of our campaigns – either by attending a Monthly Meeting, joining a rally, phone banking, canvassing, testifying in front of an agency, etc.
  3. In the last year has given a financial contribution or membership dues of at least $2.75 (the cost of 1 cash fare for Port Authority) in the last year.

If you are unsure of your membership status, email info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org or call 412-626-7353 to check.

Nominees

Below is a list of the nominees in alphabetical order by first name, with a short bio to give background on their involvement in past work for transit justice and other issues. Each nominee has approved and contributed to their bio. PPT Members, please read through all of this info before casting your vote. PPT Members can vote for up to 5 candidates to serve a 2-year term, 2020-2022

Alison Keating

My relevant experience that I apply to PPT comes from reading decades of news articles about development, housing, transit, and, more recently, the history of Allegheny County politics. I like that we don’t play favorites when it comes to politicians or political fights, we’re only concerned about what’s best for riders and drivers, and finding compromises that lead to better service and better understanding.

Going forward, I’m interested in zoning and think we could do interesting work there because it’s part of the system keeps us from having more equitable and diverse development, especially when it comes to whether transit is even considered. You can build all the affordable housing you want, but if it’s 2 hours away from everything (education, entertainment, jobs, health care, family & friends), you’re asking people to spend greater amounts of their time uncompensated, unfree, or to go without having their needs met, and that’s a little-recognized public health crisis for a growing number of people.

Some projects or campaigns that the nominee has been involved with related to PPT, transit justice, activism, and/or movement building.

  • I first joined PPT in 2018 to get cops out of transit, but they’re still there (though not checking fares, as was threatened), so we have more to do. I was voted onto the Coordinating Committee soon after.
  • I lead PPT’s “Research Committee” to assist with gathering information to further campaigns.
  • A few years ago, I made a route suggestion that both increased service in my neighborhood on evenings and weekends, and PAAC’s annual report revealed it saved them $40k/yr.
  • I recently joined One Pennsylvania to get more involved in education and environmental struggles, at the grassroots, on a state-wide level.
  • I’m currently engaged with a group of people trying to get the Columbus statue in Schenley Park down.

Barb Warwick

Barb Warwick is a resident of Four Mile Run. She moved to Pittsburgh in 2014 after living in Germany for 11 years. It was there that she experienced first-hand what it is like to live in a city with safe, reliable, environmentally-sustainable public transportation that is affordable and accessible to all.

Barb became involved with Pittsburghers for Public Transit as part of the fight to defund the Mon-Oakland Mobility project, which aims to build a road through Schenley Park and Four Mile Run for a publicly-funded, privately-operated shuttle service between CMU and the Hazelwood Green development. Watching the PPT team continue to work and organize to oppose this project while simultaneously working on so many other critical initiatives – from the Fair Fares fight to transit worker protection, bus network expansion, and more – has been both eye-opening and inspiring. It has solidified Barb’s understanding of public transit as not just a means of getting people out of their cars, but also as a critical tool for economic equity.

Over the past year, Barb has appeared at rallies, press conferences, and before City Council together with other members of PPT. In addition, Barb ran for and won a seat on the Board of the Greenfield Community Association, where she also serves as co-chair of the Transportation and Development Committee. As she continues to work with and support PPT, Barb would consider it an honor and a privilege to serve on the PPT Coordinating Committee. 

Some projects or campaigns that the nominee has been involved with related to PPT, transit justice, activism, and/or movement building:

  • Collaborated with other residents to develop PPT’s Our Money Our Solutions alternative to the Mon Oakland Connector, and the draft of the City Council Council Resolution on this campaign.
  • Helped develop PPT’s Fair Fares platform along with other transit riders and community organizations.
  • Was elected to the Board of the Greenfield Community Association, and is a member of its Transportation and Development Committee

Bonnie Fan

Bonnie worked in transit for four years before coming to Pittsburgh, seeing laid bare the lack of regard for operators, the policing of riders, and power grabbing mindset of management that prevented any kind of internal change possible. While joining Otolunji Oboi Reed’s Equiticity campaign prior, they found a stronger force in mobility justice worked centered in Black and Brown communities.

Seeing the work made possible with PPT’s grassroots mobilization has changed the way Bonnie orients her work. In seeing the narrative arcs of other cities play out, especially for post industrial cities, they are deeply concerned by the secret privilege of private developers, universities and tech companies when it comes to how the public domain should be made and who it should be made for. In this landscape, also complicated by political and financial relationships, PPT has been one of the few where grassroots voice has been able to fight and win for riders and workers without compromise.

Much of the other work they are involved in is against predictive policing and #NoTechForICE – all of which falls in the realm of tools and decisions made in favor of existing oppressive power dynamics. While grateful to be considered, Bonnie would prefer to cede this seat to anyone who has been a lifelong Pittsburgher or is Black or Brown.

Some projects or campaigns that the nominee has been involved with related to PPT, transit justice, activism, and/or movement building:

  • Led the research team responsible for publishing People’s Audit of the Mon-Oakland Connector
  • Led a class of students to publish a report on near-term transit improvements for the Mon Valley & Monroeville Corridors that could be implemented from PPT’s Beyond the East Busway grassroots transit planning tool.
  • Active with Tech4Society based out of CMU
  • Organizes against predictive policing pilot projects that CMU has launched with the Pittsburgh Police
  • #NoTechForICE – involved with a campaign to stop ICE from using intrusive data tools, and to eventually abolish it.

Christina Acuna Castillo

Christina Acuna Castillo is a Peruvian cultural worker, artist, and organizer based in Pittsburgh. They have served as a translator to recently resettled Spanish-speaking refugees and has taught Latinx youth through Casa San Jose about ways to support, protect, and preserve cultural memories and practices. They now work multiple jobs. They work with the Emergency Response Team at Casa San Jose, providing resources and support for families dealing with ICE, and have spent many years with CSJ organizing with the undocumented community, both young folks and older. Christina is also the Digital Organizer and Artist for Pittsburgh United, working with all three campaign tables around housing justice, worker justice, and water justice. For over two years, they have also worked with the Pittsburgh Foundation as an advisor on their Social Justice Fund and as a grant reviewer for the Rapid Response Fund that is being coordinated by the Pittsburgh Foundation and New Voices Pittsburgh.

Christina creates artwork that is used in protests, vigils, marches, and other community gatherings. They believe that visual arts is an essential organizing and accessibility tool because it helps people imagine what change looks and feels like. And that’s what they have tried to bring to PPT, and that is what they would like to continue to provide to PPT – the visionary and organizing skills and possibly anything in between that is needed. 

Some projects or campaigns that the nominee has been involved with related to PPT, transit justice, activism, and/or movement building:

  • With PPT, Christina has been a part of many campaigns- ranging from the Don’t Criminalize Transit Riders campaign, to the Free Fares campaign and many in between. 
  • Outside of PPT, they have been apart of long-time activism around immigrant justice and racial justice in Pittsburgh, for many years. 
  • They use their art as a way to facilitate any movement building they are apart of, including PPT and PPT’s community partners.  

Dale Hutchison

Dale is the current Financial Secretary for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1743. He was previously the Vice President. Dale is a hard working man dedicated to improving the transportation needs of many Pittsburghers and making sure the safety of all members of Local 1743. Dale graduated college with a B.S. in Public Administration, Minor in Urban and Transportation Planning in 1991. He went on to earn a J.D. from the Duquesne University School of Law in 1995.  Dale has 30+ years of experience as a Contract Specialist and Emergency Management Coordinator. He’s worked with the U.S. Department of Justice and has a dedication to the American Worker.

Some projects or campaigns that the nominee has been involved with related to PPT, transit justice, activism, and/or movement building:

  • Working to regionalize transportation needs of ridership in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Washington Counties, in an effort to allow seamless transportation throughout the greater Pittsburgh area.
  • Has created various Comprehensive plans to improve transportation, starting with both the blue and red lines from South Hills Communities into downtown Pittsburgh.
  • Worked for the Commonwealth of PA’s former Dept. of Community Affairs as a Statewide Consultant, improving affordable housing, proper codes enforcement to insure safe living for renters, including recreation.
  • Under the Americans with Disabilities Act has performed numerous community audits to decrease physical barriers with which we sought out grant funding to make essential corrections to those impediments.
  • Taught classes to other community leaders through both the Dept. of Community Affairs and the Local Government Academy on a regular basis; including statewide training films.

Debra Green

Debra Green has been a member of the PPT Coordinating Committee since 2018, but has been a leader in advocating for improved transit service even prior to her work with PPT. In 2008, Ms. Debra led a petition drive with her co-workers at the Rivers Casino for improved transit service at the casino, and based on that success, she campaigned for service improvements to the Hilltop Parkview Apartments in Duquesne. She was successful in mobilizing hundreds of residents to sign petitions and call Port Authority to request the transit service, and both efforts won life-changing improvements for bus riders.

Ms. Debra became involved with PPT in the effort to prevent devastating cuts to the 61 bus lines in the Mon Valley in Port Authority’s Bus Rapid Transit proposal, and helped design and launch the Riders’ Vision for Public Transit. She was a Beyond the East Busway organizing fellow, helping to get fellow Duquesne residents to take the survey to expand rapid transit into the Mon Valley, and she helped lead the successful organizing effort for weekend service in McKees Rocks. She has testified countless times at the Port Authority board meetings, and has been active with Just Harvest and Put People First in connecting food justice, the fight for universal healthcare and transit justice, and has traveled to Harrisburg to lobby for all of these needs. She was profiled in the Huffington Post for her transit advocacy efforts with PPT.

Some projects or campaigns that the nominee has been involved with related to PPT, transit justice, activism, and/or movement building:

  • Led campaigns for expanded transit service at the Rivers Casino, the Hilltop Parkview Apartments in Duquesne, and McKees Rocks, and helped prevent the 61 bus cuts to the Mon Valley.
  • Developed the Riders’ Vision for Public Transit with PPT, and subsequently was an East Busway fellow, engaging Mon Valley community members on the rider-led transit mapping tool.
  • Is an active leader with Just Harvest and Put People First PA, and connects issues of poverty, food justice, healthcare advocacy and transit justice through advocacy and lobbying with elected officials.

Fawn Walker Montgomery

Fawn Walker-Montgomery is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Take Action Mon Valley (TAMV). She is a former candidate for Mayor in McKeesport and a past candidate for State Representative in the 35th District. Fawn was the first black person & woman to run for a State seat in the Mon Valley. She has a B.A. in Political Science from Johnson C. Smith University (HBCU) and a Master’s of Science in Criminal Justice Administration Point Park University.

Fawn is also a past second-term Councilwoman in McKeesport. She has 18 years experience in the human services field. 

Some projects or campaigns that the nominee has been involved with related to PPT, transit justice, activism, and/or movement building:

  • Long-time activist for Police Accountability. 
  • Leading efforts to decarcerate our schools and say “No” to School Police 
  • Has supported various PPT projects over the years, including: community organizing to defeat the Bus Rapid Transit service plan that would have cut service to her city, co-developed & launched the “Fair Fares” platform, and many more. 

Matthew Macar

Matt’s background is in Political Science and International Affairs, and he currently works in Financial Compliance. While pursuing his Master’s in International Affairs he interned at the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) in Nagoya, Japan. His experience with the UNCRD exposed him to various topics including: Sustainable Resource Use, the Circular Economy, and Sustainable Transportation – which motivated him to apply for the East-Busway Fellowship. He has always been interested in organizing and advocacy work and the fellowship was a great opportunity to learn how to effectively operate a campaign.

Matt attended his first PPT meeting in July of 2019, and since then he has been to nearly every meeting, and has participated in phone-banking, canvasing, distributing masks, attending Port Authority community hearings, and helping facilitate group discussions at PPT meetings.

Matt’s vision for PPT is to continue to strive for transit justice, and to use his position to ensure efforts also take into consideration other important issues such as: poverty, policing, affordable housing, human rights, and a living wage. 

Some projects or campaigns that the nominee has been involved with related to PPT, transit justice, activism, and/or movement building:

  • Supported the Fair Fares Campaign by phone banking, canvassing, and attending rallies
  • Fellow with PPT’s Beyond the East Busway Organizing Fellowship
  • Supported the Poor People’s Campaign with phone banking for turnout

Rahul Amruthapuri

My name is Rahul Amruthapuri and I am from India; I moved to Pittsburgh four years back for my education. At present, I am a doctoral candidate in the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. I got involved with Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) since I believe that public transit is a solution to many issues we are facing. Through my involvement with PPT, I studied the relationship between public transit ridership and other variables as a part of my coursework. For a grant writing class, I developed a proposal on educating communities in Allegheny County on the impacts of autonomous vehicles. During my summer practicum with PPT, I developed maps and other content for the launch of the Riders’ Vision for Public Transit. Later, I worked with fellow PPT members in writing a paper discussing the impacts of autonomous vehicles.

I acknowledge that my involvement with PPT has been limited to data and evidence related aspects, which I hope to remedy in the future. With these experiences, going ahead, I would like PPT to supplement its rider centered approach with evidence whenever possible. My vision for PPT is for it to take up campaigns that not only make all the elements of the Riders’ Vision for Public Transit a reality but also provide other public transit advocacy groups with tools, which they can use in their own campaigns. In relation, I would like the ongoing partnership with the Philly Transit Riders Union to continue and grow. 

Some projects or campaigns that the nominee has been involved with related to PPT, transit justice, activism, and/or movement building.

  • Lead co-author of PPT’s Literature Review on the impact of autonomous vehicles, “Wait, Who’s Driving This Thing?: Bringing the Public to the Autonomous Vehicle Table”
  • Developed program to educate Allegheny County on the impact of Autonomous Vehicles
  • Serves on the Grad Student Organizing Committee for the Pitt Grad Union campaign

Teaira Collins

Teaira Collins is a lifelong transit rider, a Hazelwood community leader, a mother and foster mother, and now a grandmother to six grandchildren. Ms. Teaira met Laura Wiens while at Port Authority testifying for improved transit service in Hazelwood, and has since become a leader in PPT’s Our Money, Our Solutions campaign for weekend service on the 93 and the extension of the 75. Ms. Teaira spoke at the City Council Capital Budget hearing press conference about the Mon-Oakland Connector alongside Barb Warwick, and on behalf of PPT during the Poor People’s Campaign Jubilee Caravan. She is very active in the community, volunteering with The Mission Continues to help veterans and with the Hazelwood Family Support Center to uplift young mothers. Ms. Teaira also runs her own non-profit to advocate for those like her son Judah with Down Syndrome, and fundraises for the National Kidney Foundation to help research related to her daughter’s health.

Ms. Teaira’s excited about the progress towards winning weekend service for underserved neighborhoods like Hazelwood, and is passionate about fighting for reliable and safe transit for all communities. She is dedicated to the fight for low-income fares because it is needed now more than ever for all communities.

  • Hazelwood leader in PPT’s Our Money, Our Solutions campaign to create a resident-based mobility alternative to the Mon-Oakland Connector.
  • Has testified in support of PPT’s #FairFares campaign and to re-allocate transit to ensure that riders are not in unsafe and overcrowded buses, and to ensure that all communities have access to needed transit.
  • Volunteer and community advocate for The Mission Continues, Hazelwood Family Support Center, PPS PTA, and for people with Down Syndrome and Kidney Disease.

Verna Johnson

I am fighting to get free transportation that is based on people’s incomes for Port Authority. Everyone deserves to be treated equally relative to their income. I have been involved with PPT since 2015. First I was part of the neighborhood leadership team fighting for weekend service in Garfield in 2015, and we won! Since then, I have testified with PPT at Port Authority meetings around the importance of maintaining service on the 61 and 71 lines with the BRT plan. I also spoke at a PPT rally to prevent transit policing on the T and a rally before we presented 2,500 “Make Our Fares Fair” petition signatures to the Port Authority Board. I was also one of the sketch note artists for the Fair Fares graphic novel planning meeting.

I do this work because our neighborhoods deserve better routes and better run times, and Port Authority should hear from residents about what they need. People that work for Port Authority are front-line workers, and more should be done to keep them safe.

Some projects or campaigns that the nominee has been involved with related to PPT, transit justice, activism, and/or movement building.

  • Active PPT member since 2015, involved with Garfield Service Campaign, Make Our Fares Fair campaign, a campaign to block armed Port Authority Police from checking fares, and the Transit Justice Graphic Novel Series.
  • Disability justice advocate with the Consumer Health Coalition.
  • Member of the Larimer Consensus Group and the Lincoln-Lemington Consensus Group. 
  • A food justice advocate with Just Harvest. I spoke at one of their events calling for an equitable conclusion to the government shutdown.

PPT Members have until Friday 7/10 at 11:59pm to submit their vote via the button below or by calling PPT’s Director, Laura Wiens at 703-424-0854.

All members are encouraged to read each bio and attend Wednesday’s Monthly Meeting to hear each nominee speak before submitting your vote.

PPT’s Mask Distros Inspire Transit Rider Action Across the County

We’re excited that the national public transit think-tank, TransitCenter, choose to profile how Pittsburghers for Public Transit members were able to fundraise over $4,000 in 1-day, purchase thousands of masks, mobilize almost 50 volunteers to hand them out, and then organize over 100 people to turn out to our Transit Justice Townhall! What a lift!

This work would not be possible without all of the dozens and dozens of members who shared their time and funds to make it happen. Thank you PPT Members! Thank you TransitCenter!

From TransitCenter’s Blog: “Beyond Mandates: Advocates Mobilize to Give Riders Masks”

As evidence accumulates that wide-spread mask-wearing can reduce the spread of COVID-19, a growing number of transit systems are requiring riders to wear masks on board.

Several agencies, including New York’s MTA, Portland’s TriMet, and Richmond’s GRTC, are also providing masks directly to riders. This improves compliance and public health while deemphasizing policing and coercion. But currently, more agencies require masks than provide them.

Mask provision should be the responsibility of transit agencies, as well as local, state, and federal officials with the means to acquire masks in large quantities. To highlight the need for government action, advocates in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Durham, N.C. have stepped in to fill the gap by distributing masks to riders. These groups are also using mask giveaways as an occasion to organize riders to demand better transit service.

In April, Pittsburgh’s Port Authority began requiring that all riders wear masks while riding transit, in line with statewide public health guidelines. While the agency has since resumed normal service, including fare collection and front-door boarding, it has not provided masks for riders to comply with the order.

“Transit agencies need to ensure that all riders have personal protective equipment to safely ride the bus, so that riders don’t have to fear enforcement of mask-wearing, nor do they have to worry about contracting and spreading COVID,” said Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) Executive Director Laura Wiens.

While Wiens believes it’s the Port Authority’s responsibility to provide masks, she says advocates can engage riders at mask giveaways. “Transit advocates can also take leadership and distribute reusable cloth masks at bus stops as an opportunity to survey and mobilize riders on issues like overcrowding on buses and affordable fares.”

To raise money for masks, PPT launched a crowdfunding campaign, the Transit Rider Mask Fund. In a single day, PPT members contributed $4,000, which purchased more than a thousand masks to distribute to riders.

PPT enlisted ten volunteers to distribute the masks at bus stops and speak with riders about problems ranging from lack of bus service, the unaffordability of fares, and inadequate state funding. PPT strategically prioritized this canvassing within the district of a state legislator who has been calling to defund public transit in Pennsylvania.

PPT parlayed the in-person encounters to more sustained engagement. “From our mask distribution, we were able to turn out more than a hundred riders to a transit town hall to discuss issues of service and transit funding during this pandemic,” says Wiens.

……..

Local legislators call for Port Authority to implement emergency low-income fare program

Photo of a PAAC bus, from Lisa Cunningham at PGH City Paper
Photo of a PAAC bus, from Lisa Cunningham at PGH City Paper

We all rely on low-income essential workers to keep us moving. Now we have to keep them moving with an emergency low-income fare program in Allegheny County.

On Tuesday, June 23rd, Bethany Hallam, Allegheny County Council Member At-Large, released a letter signed by 19+ Local, County and State Legislators asking Port Authority leadership to implement an emergency low-income fares program to address public health needs during COVID-19.

Allowing low-income riders to show their EBT cards to board would significantly reduce the likelihood of crowding and contact at the fare-box, and would prevent the public health catastrophe that results from riders unable to afford to ride to access food, healthcare and jobs. An emergency low-income fare program would begin to address the disproportionate economic and health harm that COVID-19 has enacted on Black, Brown, Low-income, and other disenfranchised communities.

Read the full letter here.

PPT is grateful for the leadership of the 19+ City, County, and State legislators who’ve signed-on to say the time is now for Port Authority to implement an emergency low-income fare program.

Jay Costa, PA Senate District 43
Wayne Fontana, PA Senate District 42
Pam Iovino, PA Senate District 37
Lindsey M. Williams, PA Senate District 38

Ed Gainey, PA House District 24
Sara Innamorato, PA House District 21
Summer Lee, PA House District 34

Olivia Bennett, Council Council District 13
Bethany Hallam, County Council At-Large
Anita Prizio, County Council District 3

Deb Gross, Pittsburgh City Council District 7
R. Daniel Lavelle, Pittsburgh City Council District 6
Erica Strassburger, Pittsburgh City Council District 8

Mayor Nickole Nesby, City of Duquesne
Jonathan Reyes, East Pittsburgh Borough Council
Tara Yaney, Edgewood Borough Council

Jessica Benham, Democratic Candidate for PA House District 36
Lissa Geiger Shulman, Democratic Candidate for PA House District 30
Emily Kinkead, Democratic Candidate for PA House District 20

Read the local news coverage on the letter:

Join these legislators in asking Port Authority to implement a low-income fare as a public health intervention & economic stimulus for our region:

How to Celebrate Juneteenth in PGH 2020

Lots of incredible organizers have put together a long list of events and direct actions to celebrate Juneteenth this year.

Join one, celebrate liberation, and spread the word.

We’re not free until we’re all free.

Friday 6/19

Antwon Rose II Action and Balloon Release

Presented by Michelle Kenney, ROC Nation, 1Hood Media, and Y.B.M.Q.K.

Time: 10am @ 827 Linden Ave. East Pittsburgh, 15112

Juneteenth Direct Action-March for Juneteenth-Black Resistance is Ceremony

Hosted by Black Activist/Organizer Collective, Take Action Mon-Valley, and Radical Youth Collective

Time: Noon – until (we might stay the night!)

Meet at the intersection of Hay Street and South Avenue in Wilkinsburg

Wear masks, dress appropriately for the weather, and bring signs.

Facebook event here

Feed the Hood

Hosted by Team Roc, Wellness Collective, Hill District Consensus Group and Chef Carlos/Feed the Hood

3pm-5pm at Hawkins Village, Kenmawr Avenue, Rankin, PA 15104

For more info contact justsaychef@gmail.com or neashia@hdcg.org

To volutneer contact thewellfolk@gmail.com

Saturday, June 20th

Wilkinsburg Strong Justice for Romir Talley

A Peace March and Community Celebration

Organized By Sunny (aka Michelle Hicks) and Chele

Meeting at Graham Field (1125 Princeton Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15221) ending at Turner School (1833 Laketon Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15221)

PPT Coordinating Committee Election Season 2020: Nominate Fellow Organizers to Lead PPT

Join the core team of people who coordinate the direction of Pittsburghers for Public Transit.

Pittsburghers for Public Transit is a grassroots, democratic, member-led organization that fights for racial justice and public transit as a human right. PPT’s Coordinating Committee is the equivalent of our board of directors. We are looking for people who understand the importance of our work for transit justice in Allegheny County, and are looking to get more involved in directing the course of our campaigns, communications, and actions. See the list of current Coordinating Committee Members here. Up for nomination are seats currently filled by Lisa Gonzalez, Debra Green, Alison Keating, Jonah McAllister-Erickson, and Sue Scanlon.

Nominate yourself or someone who inspires you with their leadership, vision, and commitment to transit justice.

Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQ People, People with Disabilities, Immigrants, Womxn, and Youth nominations are STRONGLY encouraged. We’re not free until we’re all free.

Coordinating Committee Structure and Expectations

Each July, PPT members vote to fill 5 seats on the 11-seat Coordinating Committee with new or returning leaders. Coordinating Committee Members serve a 2-year term.

2 seats must be filled by members of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 85 (the union that represents all of the Port Authority’s bus operators and maintenance workers) because strong community/labor solidarity is a central belief of the organization. The other 8 seats are filled by members who have had previous experience with PPT’s work, and are looking to bring their involvement to the next level. The final seat is filled by the Director of the Thomas Merton Center, the organization that acts as PPT’s fiscal sponsor.

Quality candidates are active with PPT, or bring experience that the membership finds important for moving the organization forward. 

Members of the Coordinating Committee are expected to attend quarterly Coordinating Committee meetings – on the second Saturday of January, April, July, and October –  and should also stay engaged with General Membership Meetings on the second Wednesday of each month. 

Additionally, Coordinating Committee members will need to maintain active lines of communication with PPT staff and other PPT members to advise and assist with the organization’s strategy, tactics, structure, and financial sustainability. CC Members should also serve on one of PPT’s three committees (Organizing Committee, Communications Committee, and Research Committee).

Nominations and Elections

Nominations are open until July 3rd. PPT staff will confirm with each nominee whether they accept the nomination to be on the ballot. Each nominee will also be invited to submit up to 500 words about their background, experience, and vision for the organization. This can be submitted through the nomination form, email, or via phone and PPT staff will transcribe. These bios will be included in the ballot that’s sent out to PPT Members on July 6th. Nominees will have 3 minutes to speak at the July PPT member meeting before votes are cast.

Elections will be held at PPT’s July monthly meeting on July 8th. At the meeting, all nominated candidates will have space to share their vision for PPT and how their skills will help build the organization. All PPT Members in attendance will  be eligible to vote. PPT members are all those who support the Transit Bill of Rights, have participated in a PPT action or meeting, and have given dues of at least $2.75 cents within the last year. If PPT Members are not able to join the meeting, they can reach out to info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org to arrange for an absentee ballot. 

PPT Coordinating Committee Election Schedule

  • July 3rd: Nomination Deadline
  • July 6th: Ballots sent to PPT members with nominee bios
  • July 8th, 7pm: PPT Monthly Meeting with Coordinating Committee Nominee introductions and Elections
  • July 10th, 11:59pm: Final deadline for PPT members to submit their ballots via online or phone

Submit nominations through the link below, or by calling PPT’s Director, Laura Wiens, at 703-424-0854:

PPT Members Call on Port Authority Board to Take Action for Transit Equity during Covid-19

Dozens of PPT members address the board on 3 priority areas of concern

On May 29, 31 speakers organized by PPT addressed the Port Authority board (testimony begins at 22:10) to raise concerns and provide actionable solutions on fares, transit funding, the use of data/public engagement in decision-making. The powerful testimony showed why the Port Authority Board of Directors needs to take more of a leadership role at the Agency. We called on the board to ensure that riders can afford to public transit during this economic depression, to prevent devastating funding cuts from Harrisburg, and to allow rider voices and data to drive decision-making during this volatile time.

On the need for instituting a low-income fare program, and to allow riders to use EBT cards to board:

“I am an essential worker, I have been working through the whole pandemic…I have to choose between 3 bills at the beginning of the month to pay and I have no money. This $97.50 a month [of transit fares], I can’t afford it.” 

– Deanna Turner, PPT member from Hazelwood

Port Authority is proposing to reinstate full fare collection on June 8th. The riders taking transit now are disproportionately low-income, and all are devoid of other transportation choices. Many or most of these riders cannot pay full fares. To put it in context: a third of Americans didn’t pay rent in May. Tens of thousands of people—and those are the people with cars!—are lining up for free food at food banks. We’re living in a global pandemic, and an economic depression. Mass transit, more than ever, needs to be considered as a necessity, like housing, electric, water, and food. We need emergency interventions and fare relief just as all of those other services have taken dramatic steps to address the economic fallout of this crisis. 

If Port Authority cannot afford to wait to reinstate fares, then Port Authority can also not afford to wait to implement a low-income fares program. Riders can’t wait for months for PAAC’s fare consultant to establish that they are too poor to pay to ride. Just as we cannot retroactively eat to make up for months of hunger, or remedy the effects of an eviction after months of being homeless, the impact of making transit inaccessible to low-income or no income Allegheny County residents will be irreversible.

Port Authority board is proposing a return to full fares to get money off the backs of the lowest income Allegheny County residents at the same time that the board is silent or actively moving to defund transit at a state level, and is silent about the proposed second federal transit stimulus, which leaves the Port Authority out even as smaller agencies would get a share.

On Transit Funding Concerns and the Board’s Responsibility

“I’m here today to urge the Port Authority board to be an active advocate at the state level, and to hold its members accountable for upholding their duties to the agency. We need a dedicated, expanded source of funding for transit from the state, not just for the Port Authority, but also for transit agencies for urban, suburban, and rural areas across the state.” 

Toni Haraldsen, PPT member from Aspinwall

“I’m here today to ask all the Port Authority board, all of whom are political appointees, to lean heavily on the Congressional delegation, to influence the upcoming Heroes Act legislation…to not only pass the bill, but to negotiate for increased transit funding to come directly to our agency. As we slowly lift restrictions, we must be keenly aware that the economic and public health emergencies continue… Instead of piling on to struggling workers, our system should use Heroes Act emergency funding from the federal government to continue to provide much-needed service without further burdening riders.”  

Jay Ting Walker, Secretary of the Allegheny County Transit Council

The Port Authority board member and State Representative Lori Mizgurski has proposed a bill in PA’s House of Representatives that would discharge the PA Turnpike’s transit funding responsibility without a dedicated alternate funding source in place. This reckless legislation would impact residents in every county across the State. Defunding transit would bring our state economy to a grinding halt and diminish access to critical needs like food and healthcare at a moment when both are precarious. On May 14th, more than 80 organizations, labor unions, and elected officials across PA signed on to a PPT/Philly TRU joint letter to call for the Turnpike to uphold its transit funding responsibility until a progressive and sustainable replacement funding source can be established. 

The Port Authority board must advocate to ensure that state transit funding remains stable. Moreover, it is critical that the upcoming federal Heroes Act legislation includes sufficient emergency transit funding to address the national transit funding crisis. The current Heroes Act legislation also leaves Port Authority out even as smaller transit agencies would get a dedicated share. Port Authority board members must speak up to ensure that the federal Heroes Act transit stimulus gives all regions their fair share.

On Public Engagement, Equity and Data-Driven Decision-Making

“With data, you get a real-time or recent look into metrics like, for instance: ridership per route over time, ridership by time of day, the types of complaints (ADA issues, buses passing riders by) that Port Authority is receiving over time, or the percentage of transit workers out on sick leave, etc. However, data is nothing without an equity lens, and without capturing it by race…And Black and Brown people must be given ownership over the data…When you say that the community runs the Port Authority, it is time we start to see that in action.” 

-Fawn Walker-Montgomery, Executive Director of Take Action Mon Valley

“Signing up [to speak at the board] required me to click on two unique links, which are not readily available on the homepage…Scrolling through the past year of posts, I found that neither the Port Authority’s Twitter nor Facebook…have linked to the meeting sign-up page. In fact, as far as I could find, neither of these made reference to the existence of public board meetings.”

-Sinjon Bartel, PPT member

The bar is too high to access Port Authority board meetings, and the allowable forms of participation are too limited. The only way to give public input is by pre-registering to testify a week in advance on two separate website links for a 9:30 am Friday meeting, once a month. The lack of Port Authority board meeting accessibility has always been a concern, but it is particularly egregious at a time when decisions on funding, transit service allocation and fares are happening quickly and behind closed doors. The threats to transit are existential. Riders must have the opportunity to share their experience of using transit and the ability to guide decision-making to address the transit barriers that they are experiencing. Moreover, these board meetings and board committee meetings must be spaces for meaningful discussion among the board, staff, and the public, and not merely be a pro-forma stamp on decisions already made. 

The Port Authority has created a valuable new data dashboard (starting at 1:10:01) that provides insights into ridership levels, complaints and out-of-service impacts by route and bus garage. However, it’s apparent that the decisions around allocating transit service frequency are not happening in a dynamic or nuanced way, which is what riders need to ensure that transit is effective and safe. At a time when overcrowding is a public health hazard, this data dashboard must be used to evaluate and reallocate transit service to address the communities where the ridership is still high. Port Authority should make it clear how this data is being translated into policy decisions to address issues around equity and accessibility. Moreover, this data platform should be made public to allow members of the community and the Port Authority board to offer insights into our transit system at a systemic level, and to hold our agency accountable to making progress on any barriers to access.


Join PPT’s Transit Justice Townhall – More Transit, Not Less – on June 10th to build the agenda for transit advocacy in these times.