All public utilities and essential services have started assistance programs to support low-income residents survive the pandemic and economic depression.
The Port Authority must follow their lead and implement an emergency low-income fare program now.
Moreover, the data shows that full-fares during an economic depression are harming Black and Low-income Pittsburghers and keeping them stranded from accessing life’s essentials.
Sign the petition now to support a COVID Fare Relief program to support access to food, healthcare, housing and jobs.
Allegheny County residents have been hit hard by COVID-19 and the ensuing economic depression. Nearly every other public utility and essential service has programs to ensure all people can access their life-sustaining resources.
Transit is no different.
Port Authority must start an emergency fare relief program now.
Click here to sign the petition for emergency COVID fare relief. And add your name below to help circulate the petition at transit stops. PPE will be provided, and signatures will be collected verbally so there will be no contact or sharing pens. Make sure to come with a full charge on your cellphone and an extra battery if you have it. We will also have paper petitions if you need to use them. Please contact us with any other access needs or questions – info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org
PPT releases a new report that calls on Port Authority to implement a COVID-19 Fare Relief program, for the lives of low-income riders and the health of the transit system.
On a sunny Tuesday, PPT members rallied under the colorful MLK mural near the Wilkinsburg Busway Station to release our new report, “No Greater Need, No Greater Opportunity: The Time for COVID-19 Fare Relief for Low-Income Riders is Now.” This report calls for Port Authority to implement an emergency policy. Noting that the fastest, cheapest way to do so would be to allow SNAP-eligible riders to show their EBT-ACCESS cards in place of fare payment. It analyzes months of pandemic ridership data, and was a collective research effort by more than a dozen PPT volunteers.
This report shows that the majority of people riding transit right now are Black, low-income, and traveling to access essential needs like food, healthcare, and jobs. It also shows that bus lines that run through predominantly Black & low-income neighborhoods saw the largest decreases in ridership when Port Authority re-implemented full-fare payment in June. Fares are keeping low-income riders from taking transit to access essential needs during a global pandemic and economic depression.
But along with the great need for this program, the report demonstrates why a fare relief measure is an important opportunity for the Port Authority. Ridership is at a historic low, between 30-35% of pre-pandemic levels. A COVID Fare Relief program could help stabilize and restore 9% of its ridership immediately. Moreover, because there is excess capacity on buses and a number of unique COVID-related funding sources, there is no more affordable time for this policy to be implemented. The Port Authority’s commitment to redistribute transit service to high-ridership lines during November’s service changes is an important step towards equity, and to help ensure that this policy would not require Port Authority to incur increased operating costs.
For the lives of low-income riders and the health of the transit system, Port Authority must implement an emergency low-income fare now.
Black residents and low-income residents represent a disproportionately high percentage of transit ridership during COVID-19.
Transit routes serving Black neighborhoods have seen steep ridership losses from the reinstatement of full fares.
Port Authority Transit ridership is at an all-time low (down 65-70%), and an emergency low-income fare program could allow PAAC to quickly regain 9% of its ridership.
Unique revenue sources that could cover the estimated annual fare revenue loss of $4M-$8M include: The $141M in CARES Act Funding received by the Port Authority, Cares Act Funding received by the County and/or State, philanthropic partner support for emergency COVID relief efforts.
Sara Saltz, PPT Research Committee Volunteer and New York University Urban Planning Masters Student, explains the research team’s process in drafting the report. Highlights that Black and low-income communities are being kept off transit by full-fares.Teaira Collins, PPT Member, says that Port Authority needs to follow the lead of other utility companies and begin a program to help low-income people access transportation because it is an essential service.Bonnie Fan, Ph.D. Student at Carnegie Mellon and PPT Coordinating Committee Member, was a co-author of the new report. Bonnie explains the data that shows Port Authority could regain 9% of its riders with a low-income fare program during a time when its usage is historically low.Fawn Walker- Montgomery, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Take Action Mon Valley and PPT Coordinating Committee Member, says that Port Authority must make policy decisions like a low-income fare if they truly believe that Black Lives Matter.
This new report lays out how collecting full fares during the pandemic is disproportionately harming Allegheny County’s low-income and Black residents, and preventing these residents from accessing basic needs including groceries, healthcare and jobs. Emergency fare relief is in line with measures being taken by other public utility providers, to ensure that connections to critical services are not cut off in the midst of an unprecedented economic and public health crisis.
Port Authority has stated that they are interested in a long-term low-income fare program. There is no better time to pilot its implementation. Transit agencies are facing an existential ridership crisis, with no clear pathway to recovering the 65-70% of pre-COVID-19 ridership that has stopped taking transit. Allowing SNAP-eligible riders to show their EBT/ACCESS cards to board could provide an immediate ridership boost without incurring increased operating costs.
19 local and state political leaders followed suit with a letter to Port Authority calling for fare relief for low-income riders, and Allegheny County Council passed a Will of Council advocating for the measure.
Black residents and low-income residents represent a disproportionately high percentage of transit ridership during COVID-19.
Transit routes serving Black neighborhoods have seen steep ridership losses from the reinstatement of full fares.
Port Authority Transit ridership is at an all-time low (down 65-70%), and an emergency low-income fare program could allow PAAC to quickly regain 9% of its ridership.
Unique revenue sources that could cover the estimated annual fare revenue loss of $4M-$8M include: The $141M in CARES Act Funding received by the Port Authority, Cares Act Funding received by the County and/or State, philanthropic partner support for emergency COVID relief efforts.
Listening to feedback and moving resources to support core riders, this is what transit equity is all about.
In a massive win that riders have been fighting for since the start of COVID-19, the Port Authority announced on Thursday that it would redistribute service from low ridership lines to better serve riders in high-ridership communities!
This is a huge victory that riders in heavily transit-reliant communities have been calling for since the start of the new COVID capacity limits on buses (10 riders per 35-foot bus, 15 riders per 45-foot bus, and 25 passengers per 60-foot articulated bus or a light rail car). These capacity limits are important safety measures, but without increasing service frequency they leave riders in the most transit-reliant communities at the curb – while buses in low-ridership communities run empty.
The Port Authority’s decision also lays the groundwork for Port Authority to pilot an emergency low-income fare program, which riders have also been calling for since the start of the pandemic. High ridership transit routes during COVID-19 are serving predominantly low-income communities, in many cases without access to alternative means of transportation.
The people who are riding transit during this pandemic are the Port Authority’s core riders. Pittsburghers for Public Transit applauds the Port Authority for supporting these core riders and building greater transit equity.
COVID has threatened transit riders and our transit system like never before. To get both back on their feet, Port Authority must implement an emergency low-income fare now!
Join PPT to release a new report authored by our members that lays out the case for why Port Authority can’t afford to wait on piloting a low-income fare program. This is exactly the action that riders need during this economic depression, and what Port Authority needs as its ridership hits historic lows. COVID Fare Relief Now!
Rally & Release of New Report Tuesday, 9/22, 11:15-12:15 Wilkinsburg Busway Station, at South Ave & Hay St.
Masks & Social Distance Required. Event will also be live-streamed with Closed Captioning via this Google Hangout Link: meet.google.com/zzh-fbnz-qwnFor a ride or for any access needs, call PPT at 412-626-7353
#TrustRidersFundTransit is on October 6th is organized by Transit Riders of the US Together (TRUST), an emerging coalition of Transit Rider Unions from across the country
On October 6th, transit riders across the country will call on Congress and their local agencies to #TrustRidersFundTransit! This day to action will pressure elected officials to pass $32B in relief for public transit agencies and give riders a real say in determining how these dollars are used.
Local advocates in 10 cities across the country will tie these national demands to local campaigns to decriminalize public transit, improve rider engagement, and increase service. Check this blog to find out how to get involved with #TrustRidersFundTransit on October 6th
And tweet with the following hashtags to tell your elected officials and local agency to trust riders and fund transit! #TrustRidersFundTransit #RideWithUs #TransitIsEssential
The Port Authority Board of Directors has a public engagement problem.
The Port Authority’s Board of Directors is the Agency’s highest decision-making body. They meet monthly (with the exception of August) to make major decisions about the agency’s finances, governance, performance oversight, technology, planning, and stakeholder engagement. (…yes, pretty much everything that happens at Port Authority must be set in motion by the Board of Directors.)
The Board meetings are open opportunities for the public to give input and feedback to the board. This is a vital component of operations for any public agency: the public must be part of the conversation about the decisions these public servants are making.
However, without PPT’s work bringing riders to the Board of Director’s table, would you want to take a guess at how many people have given public comment to the board in 2020? The answer is 2.
Without PPT’s efforts, Port Authority’s Board of Directors would have only heard from 2 people in 2020, the year that has devastated transit riders and the transit system (one a paid staff member of a local community group and the other a retired Port Authority Employee). This is unacceptable for a Public Transit Authority that carried over 200,000 riders/day before the pandemic, and nearly 75,000 riders/day since COVID.
The Port Authority needs to alter its approach on how it conducts its Board meetings if it wants to measure up to peer agencies and its own claimed value of public engagement. Following a big mobilization of riders that PPT organized to speak to the board about the effects of COVID-19 on transit, PPT worked with riders to build this list of recommendations for Port Authority’s decision-making. Many of these practices are in use by other public agencies in Allegheny County. Riders are experts in transit, and can contribute to building a transit system that is truly responsive to everyone’s needs.
PPT Recommendations for Improving Port Authority’s Board Engagement Policies // Drafted June-September 2020
Promotion & Accessibility
Information about the upcoming meetings and the details for registration to speak should be shared monthly via the Port Authority social media outlets. This information should also be advertised on transit vehicles. This should include accessibility information and contact info for requesting accommodations.
There is currently no information on the online registration pages providing contact information or steps to request accommodations. A contact number, access provisions, and a space for attendees to specify other access needs.
Port Authority should have closed captioning on the video, and the ability to have ASL video interpretation and audio interpretation in other languages. This should be explicitly publicized on all media advertising Board meetings along with contact information to request additional accommodations.
Avenues other than Board meetings should be available for riders to contact the Board members.
Best Practice: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency that operates Muni has a phone number and mailing address listed on the website to contact the office of the Board of Directors. In addition, the public can contact the Board via an email address provided on the website regarding items expected to be on the Board’s agenda.
Scheduling & Attendance
At least one Board Meeting per quarter should be held after regular work hours to enable robust public participation.
There should only be one form for signing up to attend and to give testimony. It should be displayed prominently on the Port Authority’s homepage. Registrants should also receive a confirmation email so that they are certain that they have signed up correctly by the deadline.
Best Practice: Due to COVID, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is posting Webex link and call-in information on the website for virtual meetings along with the agenda for the Board Committee and Board meetings. Public comments can be made via telephone or email prior to meeting. The registration link for attending provides an option for either attending the meeting or providing a testimony.
The public should be able to register to attend and to speak through the Port Authority customer service line. The Port Authority customer service could simply fill out the online registration form on the behalf of the caller.
Best practice: Due to COVID, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is allowing the public to register via an online form and phone to provide pre-recorded comments. Once registered MTA provides details about how and when to record the comments. Thirty minutes of comments are played at the beginning of meetings. All comments are delivered to the MTA Board.
Public Comment & Participation
Shorten and/or eliminate the pre-registration requirement for public comment. Currently, the only way for the public to speak their comment to the board is to register to speak via a unique link on the Port Authority’s website 5-business days in advance of the Board Meeting, and then attend that meeting the 4th Friday of the month at 9:30am to await the public comment period at the end of the meeting. This is a very high burden for public agencies both locally and nationally and must be changed to allow greater public participation.
Best Practice: Pittsburgh City Council allows citizens 3-minutes of public comment if they register ahead of the meeting, or 1-minutes of comment to anyone in attendance as time allows.
Best Practice: Public can make comments at the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit) Board meetings by signing up prior to the start of the meeting as long as the items are on that day’s agenda for final action. Written comments not related to specific agenda items can be placed in a general comments tray available in the Boardroom.
People should be able to submit written testimony and video in advance of the meeting, which will be read to the Board and recorded in the notes.
Best practice: Due to COVID, Sound Transit is asking public comments to be sent via email. Comments received up to one hour before the meeting will be provided to Board members electronically during the meeting. Comments received after that deadline will be provided to Board members after the meeting.
Best Practice: The SEPTA board has coordinated with the Philly Transit Riders Union to allow the Union to submit video testimony prior to the meeting that is then played for the board and recorded in the meeting notes. (Click to 28:10 of this Periscope video to see how this worked at their Operations Budget Hearings earlier this year)
Public comment should be allowed at the beginning of Board Meetings & Board Committee meetings to allow for consideration of the issues being put before the Board.
Best Practice: RTA Board of Trustee Meetings have public comments on agenda items prior to various committees providing their reports. At present, public comments happen through phone-in with no need for prior registration.
Stakeholders should also be able to provide comments and ask clarifying questions at the Board Meetings and Board Committee Meetings.
Best Practice: RTA Board of Trustees meetings allow the public to ask questions or make comments on non-agenda items at the end of the meeting. At present, comments happen through phone-in with no need for prior registration.
If there is a petition with a significant number of signatures, the Port Authority Board should hold a public hearing specifically about the petition.
Rules and tips for giving public comments should be posted on the same page that you register, including information about the amount of permitted testimony time for individuals versus organizations. The Port Authority’s current Board Presentation Policy needs to be updated, as it includes dead links, and old, inaccurate information.
Best practice: Sound Transit has Rules and Tips for public comments on the same page where information on public comments during Board meetings is provided.
The Port Authority should remove the restriction that their current Board Presentation Policy places on the number of members from an organization who are allowed to address the board during a single meeting. A citizen may be a member of an organization, but they may not be speaking on the organization’s behalf.
The Board should keep track of its progress towards addressing rider questions, comments, and concerns. This information should be publicly available and regularly reviewed by the Board.
Board seats should be filled by people who are regular riders of the Port Authority system, some Board members should be entirely transit reliant.
Best Practice: NJ Transit in 2018 updated its bylaws to expand the number of Board members from 8 to 13 to allow for a public member who must be an NJ Transit train, bus or light rail rider and four public members with transportation policy experience.
Best Practice: New York State Senate passed legislation requiring transit authorities to seat at least two members who are entirely transit relient. The Assembly is considering similar legislation.
Best Practice: The Metropolitan Council (which oversees Metro Transit in Minneapolis-St.Paul) has a Transportation Accessibility Advisory Committee. At least half of the committee members must be certified as being eligible for ADA paratransit and be active users of public transportation in the metro area.
There should be a number of rider-elected seats on the Board to ensure that rider interests and perspectives are included in decision-making at our public transit agency.
Best Practices: Just like on the Boards of Credit Unions, Co-Ops, and other private companies who have their Boards elected by its stakeholders, Port Authority must allow its “customers” a say in its leadership.
There should be an annual published audit of transit usage by each Port Authority Board member, using the data from their CONNECT cards.
Best practice: Board members of the MTA in New York City receive free transit cards and their usage is published every year.
The Port Authority Board should work with TransitCenter to hold regular training and workshops for its members.
Resource: “TransitCenter is working to make transit agencies more accountable, attuned to best practices, and responsive to rider needs.”
COVID-19 has shown that there has never been a greater need to listen authentically to the people who are riding transit. They are experts on the system and together we can build a system that works for all.
Stand with transit workers this Wednesday and assert their right to say that Black Lives Matter.
On July 22nd Port Authority amended its dress code and began punishing local transit workers for wearing buttons and masks that read, “Black Lives Matter”. At least two workers have been sent home and disciplined for wearing “Black Lives Matter” messages. The workers organized with their union and were able to overturn the disciplinary action. However, Port Authority continues to insist that “Black Lives Matter” has no place in the transit agency.
If you stand with transit workers and their right to stand up for Black Lives, join them at their protest: 4pm this Wednesday (9/2) at 345 Sixth Ave.
Flyer for Wednesday’s protest created by local transit works
“Black Lives Matter is not a social or a political protest. It’s a movement. It’s how I live my life every day as a Black man in America.” – Sascha Craig, Port Authority Worker, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85.
Support for public transit, and support for public transit workers, is critical in the Movement for Black lives. It has long been recognized that the public transit industry has played a vital role in elevating Black Americans to the middle class, particularly Black Women. And public transit systems are essential tools to economic justice for Black riders too.
Port Authority released this statement in response to the workers who organized this protest, saying “Port Authority unequivocally believes that Black lives matter.” But riders and workers who are fighting for transit as a human right need more than words and niceties. To draw on a blog that we released in June, our struggle for transit justice and “Black Lives Matter” must mean we:
Fight for a low-income fare program at a time when riders are disproportionately Black and Brown and low-income. These communities are also more harmed by the economic fallout of this health crisis, and more likely to be taking transit to work to get to work and to access essential services.
Use equity metrics and analyze ridership data during COVID-19 to redistribute transit service, to prevent overcrowding or rider pass-ups on lines. Bus overcrowding is a public health hazard for riders and transit workers during a global pandemic.
Ensure that transit workers receive PPE and hazard pay, as they are disproportionately getting infected and dying from COVID-19. Transit jobs are also disproportionately held by Black workers and particularly Black women.
Ensure that we have dedicated and sustainable funding for transit at a time when cities and states are pushing a narrative of austerity; funding robust public transit is one of the most effective pathways for cities to achieve racial equity. In Pennsylvania, state police have been siphoning more than $850 million dollars a year of dedicated transportation funding from the Motor License Fund. Defund the police and ensure public investments go towards uplifting our most marginalized residents.
Weigh into #cancelrent and #cancelmortgages, and pass policies that effectively tie affordable housing and transit land use. The forthcoming wave of evictions triggered by COVID-19 will lead to a transit/mobility crisis, particularly for Black and Brown communities, and will accelerate the harm we’ve seen from displacement and gentrification.
Decriminalize transit. For black and brown community members, policing is a threat. In this time, Black transit riders have found themselves subject to police violence for both wearing a mask or not wearing a mask.
Ensure that riders’ voices- particularly Black riders’ voices- and data around equity are governing decision-making around public resources.
Tell Port Authority that Black Lives Matter. September 2nd, 4 pm Port Authority Offices at 345 Sixth Ave. Solidarity with transit workers and riders. See you in the streets.
With fare hikes, layoffs and shutdowns on the horizon, transit riders & workers came together to push Senator Casey to champion $32B for transit’s COVID recovery.
On Tuesday, July 28th, more than 300 transit riders and transit workers from across Pennsylvania participated in a virtual Transit Crisis Talk with PA Senator Bob Casey, calling on him to be a champion for $32 Billion in COVID emergency transit funding. The hour-long forum featured questions posed by representatives of the Transport Workers Union Local 234, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85, Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Transit Forward Philadelphia, One Pennsylvania, and 5th Square. The live video is posted and has received over 1,500 views.
During this pandemic, PA transit agencies are seeing millions of dollars of operating revenue loss a day, but still must provide reliable and safe service to ensure that essential workers can keep our cities running.
Yasha Zarrinkelk from Transit Forward Philadelphia asks Senator Casey what he’ll do to ensure that $32B is passed for public transit.
Yasha Zarrinkelk, organizer for Transit Forward Philly said, “Fare hikes, layoffs, and shutdowns are on the horizon if Congress does not pass the 32 billion dollars necessary for public transit. Pennsylvania itself is facing a 1.4 billion dollar shortfall,” and asked what Senator Casey will do to ensure that the full amount of needed funding gets passed in the next Senate COVID recovery act.
Transit riders Bill McDowell and Lish Danielle (One Pennsylvania) raised the importance of fully-funded, reliable and affordable transit as a disability justice and racial justice issue.
Lish Danielle, Member of One Pennsylvania, says public transit funding is a racial justice issue, asks Sen. Casey what he will to do ensure transit money isn’t spent on policing.
Bill McDowell, speaking as a member of Pittsburghers for Public Transit and the Committee for Accessible Transit said, “The HEROES Act that was passed in the House did not allocate funding directly to the Port Authority. Instead, it dedicated funding to larger transit agencies and left all mid-sized, life-line, and rural transit agencies and paratransit services to compete with each other for a small portion of funding that could never meet their needs. When you leave these agencies stranded, you leave Allegheny County stranded. You leave me stranded.” Mr. McDowell called on Senator Casey to ensure a fair allocation of COVID relief funds to all PA transit agencies and paratransit services.
Transit leaders from the Transport Workers Union Local 234 and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 also spoke about the need for federal guidance on PPE and transit safety, as well as federally-funded hazard pay for essential workers. More than 200 transit workers have died from COVID-19, with tens of thousands more workers infected.
Willie Brown, International Rep. & President of TWU Local 234 representing SEPTA workers asks about PPE for frontline workers.
This Transit Crisis Talk is followed up by a call to action for contacting federal legislators around the COVID transit relief. It has also come on the heels of an open letter to PA Senators Casey and Toomey, signed by 64 community organizations, advocacy groups and unions across the state of Pennsylvania, and calling on these elected officials to champion a $32 Billion dollar COVID relief package for transit with the Senate version of the HEROES Act.
