image description: Graphic shows a bus shelter in the City of Pittsburgh that lacks accessible connections. Text is overlaid on the image that reads “Bus Stop Audits”.
It’s time to take a closer look at bus stops in Pittsburgh. Join us for a community audit.
Pittsburghers For Public Transit’s Organizing Committee will be conducting a month of Bus Shelter Audits to inventory what is lacking at shelters, and identify where new shelters need to go.
Our first audit will kick off Sunday, February 4th in honor of Transit Equity Day, which is Rosa Parks’ Birthday!
We’ll be looking at shelters all over the city, focusing on the Justice 40 neighborhoods in the north, south, east and west of the city. The first audit will be in Homewood. We’ll then move to the North Side, East Liberty, and Banksville Rd in the South Hills. This last audit will require shuttling to the different bus shelters in cars due to unsafe pedestrian conditions on Banksville Rd. Rides on Banksville Rd, high visibility gear, and all other materials necessary will be provided.
All of our audits are weather permitting. Alternate dates, as well as meeting locations for each neighborhood will be communicated after registration. Please let us know if you have any accessibility needs.
Sign up to join us for a bus shelter audit using the form below!
image description: three PPT Members it at a table. One holds a sign that reads “Ready to Ride!”. Behind them is a red PRT Bus.
Sign up to join PPT and speak to your elected officials about how they can fight for better public transit service.
From the Federal, to the State, to the County, to the Local: elected officials at all levels have a role to play in building world-class public transit. PPT Is driving this narrative home during our upcoming event, Representing Our Routes, Legislative Roundtable to Secure the Transit We Deserve, on February 20th. And we need you to help us invite your elected officials to the table.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be setting up meetings with elected officials and their staff at the local, County, State, and Federal levels. We’ll talk about the quality of transit service in their district, outline solutions that their colleagues are fighting for, and invite them to join the effort.
PPT will hold a training before our meetings to get our teams up to build skills for communicating with elected officials, rehearse our personal stories, and practice asking for our demands. Whether this is your first time meeting with an elected official, or whether you’re a politico-pro, you have a powerful part to play in advocating for service improvement.
If you want to join PPT for a meeting with your elected officials about the need to improve transit service, sign up below! PPT will reach out to you within a few days to include you in our meeting with your elected official.
Image Description: Graphic for Legislative Roundtable says “Representing Our Routes: Legislative Roundtable to Fund the Transit Service We Deserve”. Has a photo of a PRT bus and three riders holding a sign that says “Ready To Ride” with logos for PPT and the date, February 20, 10-11:30a
Join us for “Representing Our Routes: Legislative Roundtable for Securing the Transit Service We Deserve” NEW LOCATION: Pentecostal Church Temple, 6300 East Liberty Blvd
Who: Elected representatives in local, county, state and federal government, Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT), transit riders and press
What: We will hear stories from transit riders about the current state of transit in the region, important research on why investing in transit service yields big dividends, and from legislators at all levels who are leading the effort to deliver world-class transit service in SWPA.
Pittsburghers for Public Transit will host elected leaders at the local, state and federal levels, along with supportive constituent advocates, to lay out a coordinated strategy to fund world-class public transit service in Allegheny County. Investment in quality public transit service yields dividends for our region’s economic growth, for congestion mitigation and better air quality, for healthcare access and more. With a new generation of visionary political leaders who are committed, responsible, and able to deliver results for our region, our time is now.
From Fox Chapel to Brentwood, McKeesport to McKees Rocks, most of us want our communities to be inclusive and vibrant. Public transit gives us a healthy, clean and affordable way for everyone to get around. But for too long, some elected officials have sold us the idea that we can’t have all the transit we need. In the last twenty years, due to inadequate investment, more than 37% of total PRT transit service has been cut in our region. That has led to a transit system that doesn’t go where we need it to go, long wait times between buses, and service that doesn’t always run at the times we need it.
We know what makes our communities thrive. Just as generations past created our library system, our public parks, and Social Security, we too can create what we need for a better future. When transit riders come together with transit workers and elected officials, we can achieve a fully funded, accessible and reliable public transit system, giving all of us the freedom to get where we need to go.
image description: photo of PPT Director Laura Chu Wiens being interviewed on the set of WTAE Listens. On her left and right are photos of Katharine Kelleman, CEO of Pittsburgh Regional Transit, and Rich Fitzgerald, past Executive of Allegheny County.
WTAE Channel 4 agrees: transit rider advocacy plays a critical role in the future of transit service in Allegheny County. PPT’s organizing is featured alongside agency CEO and ex-Executive of Allegheny County
In their first WTAE Listens episode of 2024, Channel 4 got right to one of Allegheny County’s most pressing issues as we enter the new year: public transit service.
Allegheny County’s public transit has been on the minds of many throughout our county. Transit service in 2023 was some of the worst in recent years. A new County Executive at the helm who has been a vocal supporter for better public transit. Moreover, some big local, state, and federal projects have been grabbing headlines with some big potential for our system.
We were grateful that the WTAE production team recognized that rider advocacy has a critical part to play in the future of our transit system. The team invited Pittsburghers for Public Transit to share the airwaves with two of the most powerful voices for public transit in Pennsylvania. Katharine Kelleman is the CEO of Pittsburgh Regional Transit. Rich Fitzgerald is the ex-Executive of Allegheny County and the new CEO of the Southwestern PA Commission. Together these people are responsible for directing how hundreds of millions of federal transportation dollars are spent on projects in our region – and the inclusion of PPT shows that rider and worker advocacy needs to set the agenda.
Check out the segment above, where we outlined the work that we are doing to fight for more reliable and expanded service, affordable fares, increased funding and equitable infrastructure. Ms. Kelleman and Mr. Fitzgerald highlighted the Bus Rapid Transit project, the Bus Line Redesign project, the East Busway Extension to Monroeville and a number of other regional transit projects – all of which PPT is organizing around!
Pittsburghers for Public Transit is fighting for transit riders and workers every day. If you’re a transit rider, transit worker, or engaged neighbor who cares about building access for all, join PPT as a Member to support the organizing!
image description: photo from PPT’s Beyond the East Busway Organizing Fellowship in 2018 that engaged more than 600 residents in the Mon Valley and Eastern Suburbs and identified 3 priority corridors to extend the East Busway.
New $142.3 million grant marks the next phase in residents’ successful campaign to extend the East Busway
Transit riders, residents, businesses, and elected officials in the Mon Valley and Eastern Suburbs have been working hard to extend the East Busway’s benefits into their communities. After years of organizing to uplift the demand for better transit, we are celebrating the U.S. Department of Transportation grant announced last week that will fund an extension of the East Busway to Monroeville, improve sidewalks and pedestrian connections around Monroeville bus stops, and fund some important maintenance on the existing East Busway.
The total USDOT grant will bring $142.3 million to transportation improvements through the Eastern corridor of Allegheny County. $50+ million of the grant will go towards the East Busway extension and transit improvements. $48.5 million will go towards installing variable speed limit signs along 376 that are expected to ease congestion and reduce crashes near the Squirrel Hill Tunnel. And $39 million will be spent to fix flooding on the portions of 376 near the Mon Warf in Downtown affectionately known as “the bathtub”.
PPT has been organizing for extensions to the East Busway with transit riders in the Mon Valley and Eastern Suburbs for years. We celebrate this win.
The East Busway is our transit system’s highest-performing asset, caring for tens of thousands of riders each day and our members have known that it needs to be a spine of transit improvement in our system. Our members have long been organizing for both extensions of the busway and improvements to existing sections, as well as equitable development and affordable housing near East Busway stations.
In 2018, PPT hired 16 community leaders from the Mon Valley to survey nearly 600 residents on our Beyond the East Busway campaign to identify key destinations that should be better served by transit, and to make recommendations about which alignment of an East Busway extension would best meet transit rider needs.
PPT organizing fellows surveyed a broad range of people living and working in the Mon Valley, including parents, single mothers, older adults, people with disabilities and students. Pittsburgh Regional Transit ’s decision to focus on this corridor in their long range NEXTransit Plan (Corridor E) and for this FTA planning grant reflects vocal transit rider advocacy and explicit support by the elected leadership in Rankin, Braddock, and East Pittsburgh in the grant application process.
This investment is long overdue.
There is an extremely high and growing percentage of transit commuters in this region. In fact, four of the municipalities with the highest transit usage in all of Pennsylvania are within these corridors: #3 is Rankin (35.5%), #5 is East Pittsburgh (31.6%), #8 is Swissvale (24.9%), and #10 is Braddock (24.4%).
In addition, five of the ten routes with the highest ridership increases for Port Authority from FY2019 to FY2020 were in the Mon Valley and Eastern Suburbs (P68 Braddock Hills Flyer, 52L Homeville Limited, 69 Trafford, P67 Monroeville Flyer and 55 Glassport), demonstrating that even during a pandemic, transit is a critical lifeline for riders of these routes.
Despite this, transit access is poor for most of these communities: from Braddock to downtown, a bus trip averages 60 minutes even when using the high speed Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway. Due to cumbersome last-mile challenges, a passenger may spend 20 minutes using the busway, but must travel an additional 40 minutes before they enter the borough. A car trip, by contrast, takes 20 minutes from start to finish.
Sign on to ensure that all three of the Mon Valley and Eastern Suburb transit corridor improvements come to fruition!
We are calling for the full implementation of bus rapid transit corridors, in line with Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s NEXTransit plan, along the 376 East to Monroeville, from Rankin to Braddock up to Monroeville, and along the full 61C corridor from Homestead to McKeesport:
Image Description: (photo credit to Casa San Jose) selfie of three Casa San Jose members riding the T with a brightly-colored, flower-shaped sign that reads “Si Se Puede”
Casa San Jose and Pittsburghers for Public Transit Celebrate Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s Steps Toward Language Equity!
You may have noticed that starting the week of December 10th, Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) began playing bilingual announcements in English and Spanish at select train stations along the Red Line! PRT also added Spanish language access on its Customer Service line (412-422-2000), and Spanish language information has been added to LED info boards along the Red Line.
Casa San Jose and Pittsburghers for Public Transit applaud these important steps toward a more accessible transit system for Latino residents. The changes bring us closer to a Pittsburgh region that celebrates culture, welcomes immigrants, and embraces inclusion, dignity, and respect. Spanish language announcements on public transit provide essential information for transit riders and send a city-wide message that non-native English speakers are welcome in our city.
But this victory does not come easy. We have organized with Latino transit riders for years toward this win – congratulations to all!
Public transit is critical for Latino residents and the entire community. Latino transit riders have long been advocating to the Pittsburgh Regional Transit Board of Directors to improve language access along the T and throughout the rest of the system. Already, the Spanish-language announcements are making it easier for riders to use PRT. This will expand ridership and build a stronger transit system.
Casa San Jose has already received feedback of good customer service in Spanish. Once a Spanish interpreter was requested, the attendant said “Un momento, por favor.” The interpretation was good, and the PRT attendant seemed well-trained in using an interpreter. Casa San Jose is excited to share this customer service number with the community we serve, and we appreciate all the efforts PRT has undertaken to make this resource available to our community.
The week of December 11th, 2023, PRT began playing the following announcement over the speakers and on the LED scroll boards in a number of T stations in downtown Pittsburgh:
<< ¿Sabía que la información del Servicio de Atención al Cliente de PRT está disponible 24 horas al día, 7 días a la semana? Llame al cuatro-uno-dos, cuatro-cuatro-dos, dos mil y pulse dos para la traducción al español. O, durante el horario comercial normal, solicite un traductor cuando hable con un agente en vivo. >>
On Wednesday, December 14th at 8:30am, two Spanish-speakers were waiting in the Steel Plaza Station for their Red Line train to Beechview. Upon hearing the auditory announcement in Spanish, one of them jumped up and, speechless, pointed at their ear. The other recognized their native language over the loudspeaker and a big grin spread across their face. Another community member told Casa San Jose, “Lo escuché ayer y me sorprendí! Es muy excelente lo que están haciendo para nuestra comunidad, de saber que podemos llamar a ellos en español.” (I heard it yesterday and I was surprised! It’s excellent what they’re doing for our community, to know that we can call them in Spanish.)
Casa San Jose welcomes hundreds of Spanish-speaking community members in our office each month. Most of our people do not have access to driver’s licenses and are looking to make Pittsburgh their forever home. We are so grateful to Pittsburgh Regional Transit for setting the example in how to make Pittsburgh a Welcoming City, and we look forward to working with them in the future.
Get involved in a PPT Working Committee to help make more wins like this possible for better public transit!!
Image Description: PPT Executive Director, Laura Chu Wiens, presents an award to Lorena Pena!
Sweet victory! It was an all-out celebration at our year-end victoy party last week.
YET AGAIN! We were overjoyed to close out another year of organizing with a tremendous victory party with all of our members. This one was probably our biggest yet! with more than 100 people coming from all parts of the county. The blow-out gathering of PPT Member-love was certainly a fitting finale to our year.
It has been a difficult year for the PPT family, as many of our members struggled with health issues, and we lost two core members to complications. So we started our party with their spirits centered in our hearts, holding a moment of silence for PPT Members Lisa Gonzalez and Jon Robison and a moment of solidarity with PPT Members Paul O’Hanlon and Molly Nichols. These people have all shaped our work in their own ways and built our family. Each of their legacies will always be a part of our organizing.
We also made some more big steps forward on the other campaign goals of our 2023 Strategic Plan. On Fair Fares, we were able to continue organizing to enroll 14,000 people into the Department of Human Services Discount Fares Pilot Program, that tested the impact of free fares for Allegheny County families who receive SNAP/EBT benefits. We were also able to secure the indefinite extension of the pilot program, giving these families support as we push to make a fully free and permanent program for all. Big victories on the other areas of that plan will be pushed on an upcoming blog!
Member Voting Continued on the 2024 Strategic Plan! Don’t forget to vote before January 1st!
image description: a visual rendition of our 2024 Strategic Plan takes the form of a tree. With 5 core campaigns spread out as the trunk, the roots, and the branches. The Organizational Strength goals are at the trunk of the tree. The Expand Reliable Service, Secure Equitable Infrastructure, Win Affordable Fares and Fund Transit for All PA! goals are the branches. And the #VoteTransit at all levels campaign is at the roots.
Our 2024 Strategic Plan is called We Ride Together! And it has been crafted over the last 5 months with input from more than 150 PPT Members at 3 big events. Its been edited and workshopped by our staff and board and the final draft is up for a ratification vote before January 1st.
If you’re an active PPT Member, you’re eligible to vote on this plan! See more of the plan’s details and cast our ballot below.
Thanks to all the members, staff, and volunteers who made this year a success. Also, thanks to County Executive-Elect Sara Innamorato and Councilwoman Barb Warwick for stopping by!
We need to give so many thanks to all of the members who came to celebrate. Thank you for donating your time and resources and believing in the work that we’re doing together. Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped to make the event a success, and helped us with all of our phone banks to invite people!
In another 2023 first, we gave 20 awards to 20 different and utterly incredible PPT Members! All of our members play a vital role in moving our campaigns forward, but these folks went above and beyond this past year. Below are the names and awards that each received!
Contact Name
Award Name
Gabriel McMorland
Badass Bass Builder Who AMPS Us Up
Bill McDowell
Sidewalk Superhero
Damitra “Penny” Harris
Capitol Steps Speech Slayer
Gina Anderson
Deploys Planner Powers for Good
Teaira Collins
Just Fabulous. Wherever she is, you wanna be
Fred Mergner
Best Hidden Historian
Mona Mezcar
Rogue-ish, Most Chaotic Good
Rahul Amruthapuri
Dynamo Data Digging Dad
Amy Zaiss
PRT Board-Dogger Award
Spike Lewis
Transit for All PA! One Man Army
Brian Hatgalakas
Phonebank Phenom
Andrew Hussein
Serving the Inside Scoop since PRT was PAT
Jessica Benner
Cartographer and Scribe Most Wise
Clair Hopper
Chief Strategist of Strategy
Lorena Pena
La mera, mera guerrera de transito
Morgan Cikowski
B(adass) R(ebel) of T(ransit)
Antonia Guzman
Campeona de Tarifas Libres Para Todas
Ross Nicotero
The People’s Transit Boss
Joy Dore
GODMOTHER OF ACCESSIBILITY REBEL FOR THE CAUSE
Sue Scanlon
PPT’s Drive or Die
These victories are only won when we have folks invested in this movement. Become a PPT member today and join our fight for transportation that all can access.
image description: below are photos from PPT’s Victory Party & Year-End Celebration. There are lots of people in these shots. Photos of colorful food. Colorful outfits. Many smiles. Dancing. Wonderful transit-themed artwork. Feather boas, and crowns. Delicious food, balloons, shiny tinsel wall decorations, and all-round fun times with loving community.
PPT is successful because we organize with love and vision. We organize as a family. Be a new member of our family, and join as a PPT Member today!
image description: PPT staff members Laura and Dan take a selfie in front of the US Capitol Building during
Help push for more funding for more service in our systems! Ask your Representatives and Senators to support the “Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act” today!
Pittsburghers for Public Transit went to Washington DC to talk about how public transit, like trains and buses, and accessible walking and bike routes, give us a healthy, clean, and affordable way for everyone to get around. We meet with our Senators, Congressional Representatives, and their staff to ask them to support Congressmember Johnson’s “Stronger Communities through Better Transit Act”, as well as the Senate version of the bill led by Senator Ossoff.
These bills would create a new federal formula grant program available to all transit agencies, rural and urban, to increase service frequency so that people don’t have to wait so long for the bus; to provide additional hours of service so that those who don’t work regular hours can still get to their jobs; and to add new, frequent service in the region.
Contact your representatives in the US House and Senate to co-sponsor the “Stronger Communities through Better Transit Act.” to increase transit service, frequency, & reliability.
Image description: image shows PPT Member and PRT Transit Worker Sascha Craig wearing a neon yellow jacket. Next to him is a quote that he said during an interview, “At PPT, Transit riders and transit workers roll together. We’re not letting the system divide us and we’re building power.” In the background is a photo of County Executive-Elect Sara Innamorato from the bus ride-along that Sascha helped coordinate with PPT.
“At PPT, Transit riders and transit workers roll together. We’re not letting the system divide us and we’re building power.” – Sascha Craig, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 Member and PPT Member
Your PPT membership or donation will help our advocacy with transit workers like Sascha to build an equitable transit system for all.
Image description: illustration from PPT artist Neve Monroe-Anderson shows 5 people standing together on top of a bus holding signs. One of them is a transit worker. One is wearing a PPT t-shirt. One is in a wheelchair.
Here at PPT, transit riders and transit workers ride together.
Together, we are laying out a vision – and developing the plan – for a transit service that truly serves us and meets all our region’s needs. With a new County Executive taking the helm, there has never been a greater opportunity to turn this bus around, but to win, we need you.
Hello!
I’m Sascha Craig and I’m proud to have worked at Pittsburgh Regional Transit now for almost 33 years. But transit is not just important to me; my family and community are full of both transit workers and transit riders who need our system to succeed. That’s why, during this year’s election for our next Allegheny County Executive, the stakes were too high for us to sit on the sidelines.
The County Exec is the single most powerful elected official when it comes to our region’s transit. The County Exec controls appointments to PRT’s Board of Directors, they set policy and direct a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars meant to keep Allegheny County moving. With so much power on the ballot for Election Day, it was clear we had to organize, educate and elect a true transit champion as our next leader.
This year, PPT invited the County Exec candidates to ride the bus with transit riders and transit workers like me to hear firsthand the issues we face. We sent each of the candidates a questionnaire about their transit priorities and mailed out those answers to thousands of County residents. We mobilized riders and workers in every corner of Allegheny County to #VoteTransit on Election Day – and our efforts paid off.
But the hardest work is yet to come! And that’s why I’m asking you to take action and become an active member of Pittsburghers for Public Transit. The opportunity to shape the future of transit in Allegheny County is truly at hand, but we’re going to need everyone to achieve the transit justice we deserve. Here at PPT, we ride together, and that means with you.
In Solidarity,
Sascha Craig
Your PPT Membership dues and involvement are critical as our new County Executive takes office.
Can you join the network of transit riders and transit workers who are moving our County forward by becoming a member or renewing your membership today?
Image description: full illustration of Neve Monroe-Anderson’s illustration shows 6 people standing on top of a bus holding signs and flags cheering for PPT. Text is overlaid on the bus that says “We Ride Together”.
PPT knows how to party! Join our Transit Justice Victory Party on 12/15, 7-11pm at East End Cooperative Ministries. Free dinner and dancing. Bring your people.
image description: a white dog cocks its head sideways and holds a corded telephone in its mouth. To the left is an animated bus with the word “Future” on the head-sign
Its the most wonderful time of the year! Volunteer for one of PPT’s year-end phone banks to help us connect with members.
Every year PPT volunteers make hundreds of phone calls to connect to members. We talk about people’s experiences on transit throughout the year; we invite them to our year-end celebration; and we ask them for their continued support of our work. This year, we’re also going to talk to members about our new strategic plan, get their feedback, and invite them to vote to approve it. These conversations with members are important to our organizing, and you can help PPT strengthen our work by volunteering below.
Our phonebanks are virtual events.
Reach out to PPT Communications Director, Dan, with questions or accommodation needs: 551-206-3320, or dan@pittsburghforpublictransit.org
The schedule for our phone banks is below. Use the weekly forms at the bottom of the blog to sign up!
Sign up for one of the phonebanks below! (Note that each of the drop-downs includes a separate form that will need to be completed for each week that you want to volunteer. Also note that the shifts on each form do not display in order. Apologies for the confusion! We’ll work to fix it for next time.)
