PPT Member, Swetha Jasti, is doing a study on how bus stop consolidation is affecting communities. Help her out and get involved!
Riders and operators of the 16-Brighton or 51-Carrick: are you interested in participating in research on bus stop consolidation? Your contribution will be part of a research project that aims to place riders and bus operators at the center of the conversation about bus stop consolidation.
Click on the image for a printable flyer to share w your community
Bus stop consolidation is the process by which bus stops are removed. The Port Authority has implemented this process on the 16 and 51, and we would like to get rider and operator input on its effects.
Your participation in this research would involve a 15-30 minute interview in-person or over the phone. In-person interviews will be conducted at the branches of the Carnegie library. Your contribution will be part of a research project that aims to place riders and bus operators at the center of the conversation about bus stop consolidation. Any opinions that you express on this topic will remain anonymous. The only risk associated with your participation is a breach of confidentiality; however, this risk will be minimized by storing your contact information (name, email, and phone) separately from your interview answers. There are no direct benefits to you from participation. Additionally, your participation is voluntary and you can withdraw from the study at any time.
The principal investigator of this research is Swetha Jasti, a sociology student at the University of Pittsburgh.
If you are interested in learning more, or participating, please contact Swetha, at spj18@pitt.edu or call 913-575-4824 for more information. Thank you!
240+ supporters! Raised $18,000+! PPT is rising for transit justice!
It is time to celebrate! PPT is about to close out a wildly successful year-end fundraising campaign! Together, our grassroots network mobilized over 240 supporters to raise over $18,000!
We did this as a team, coming together to say that public transit is a human right! That bus lines are lifelines! That we have a right to our city. And that our elected officials and agencies need to be accountable to people, not developers’ profit.
But its not too late to join this movement! Give your gift now to propel PPT’s work into 2020!
PPT sends a heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this campaign a success!
As always with PPT, it is only through grassroots leadership that we accomplish anything. There were dozens of members and volunteers who came together for this win. We need to thank everyone who was involved in putting on an amazing party, two successful phone banks, sharing stories for our fundraising appeals, writing and performing transit sing-alongs!, donating (and painting!) items for our auction, brainstorming messages for our outreach, taking photos, engaging on social media, and giving your TIME, DOLLARS, and SOLIDARITY!
Join us at the next PPT General Meeting! 2nd Wednesday of the month 7pm @ 1 Smithfield St. Reach out if you need a ride: info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org
“Pittsburghers for Public Transit is changing the conversation around the power and importance of grassroots transit activism, and we do it with joy.”
A note from Laura Wiens, Director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit:
It’s no secret that they’re trying to keep us divided – by race, class, gender, sexuality, and with policies that produce gentrification, low-wages, and poor public transit.
We can only effect true social change when we organize across difference, and center the needs and leadership of our most marginalized neighbors. PPT has done this from the start. We are changing the conversation around the power of grassroots transit activism, and we do it with joy.
You can move this work forward by rising up with us, donating to this year-end fundraising campaign, and getting involved in this movement for transit justice.
In 2019, PPT made headlines with 96+ new stories in both local and national press. 37 different PPT members were featured in this coverage.
We only win when this work is led by members of our diverse communities. It is with that belief that we push forward bold community-led campaigns to expand transit in underserved areas like the Mon Valley and Eastern Suburbs, to ensure affordable housing in neighborhoods with high-quality transit like East Liberty, to insist on equitable public investments to benefit communities like Hazelwood, Four Mile Run and Greenfield, and to hold public officials accountable to resident’s needs.
Together we are moving the dial, but we are up against entrenched money and power that wants to see us disorganized.
Whether it is donating to this year-end fundraising campaign, attending our monthly meetings, giving public comment, rallying in the streets, or riding the bus with your neighbors; we each have a part to play.
I hope that you’ll ride with us for a better transit future.
In solidarity,
Laura Wiens, Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Director
“Transit riders and transit workers must advocate together for a better transit future.”
Pittsburghers for Public Transit believes in living wages, benefits, safe working conditions, and union rights for transit workers. It’s in our Transit Bill of Rights. PPT’s advocacy has always centered the needs of riders AND workers because that’s how we build a system that works better for everyone.
Stand with PPT in this belief during the Year-end Fundraising Campaign. Your donations and involvement will elevate this vision. The more perspectives that we have in the movement, the stronger we will be.
A message from James Hanna, Port Authority Bus Operator, Amalgamated Transit Union Member, PPT Leader:
‘Driving a bus is a challenging job. The safety of hundreds of people are my responsibility each and every day. And those days are long – early mornings, late evenings and split shifts. If commuting through rush hour takes a lot out of you, know that it takes a toll on your drivers too. But I know there are so many passengers who depend on what I do to make their lives work. That’s why I got involved with PPT.
Effective transit advocacy requires solidarity between transit workers and transit riders. We are collectively the ones who use the system day in and day out. Our work with PPT brings that knowledge and diversity together, and we draw our power to affect positive change from that collaboration.
– James Hanna, Port Authority Bus Operator, Amalgamated Transit Union Member, PPT Leader
Your action will make it possible for PPT to continue this intersectional advocacy to win quality, affordable public transit for all in Allegheny County.
PPT’s goal is to rally 200 people to donate before the end of 2019 – we are so close! Just 12 more people donating any amount – $2.75, $10, $50, $200! – will tip us over the goal line!
Each quarter the Port Authority adjusts its transit schedules and routes to account for rider’s requests, ridership shifts, construction, road closures and/or all of the other unexpected hiccups that might affect Pittsburgh roads.
Additionally, Port Authority’s new Bus Stop Consolidation program aims to eliminate 20-30% of stops in the entire system. PPT’s feelings about this program are complicated, but every quarter PAAC plans to announce plans for stop consolidation on two new routes. We’re also going to begin including information about this program in these quarterly service adjustment blogs.
The @PGH_Bus_Info Hotline is a volunteer-run twitter account that gives riders updates on Port Authority’s daily happenings. The Hotline has no official connection to the Port Authority (again, it is a volunteer-run twitter account) but the updates are helpful nonetheless. The Hotline is a big supporter of PPT, and an enormous advocate for public transit. We’re thankful for they’re support and happy to share this rundown of the Q3 service changes compiled by the @PGH_Bus_Info Hotline.
Rundown of quarterly Service adjustments, with takeaways from the @PGH_Bus_Info Hotline
The @Bus_Info_Hotline’s overall takeaway from this quarter’s changes:
Hard to believe that the next quarter is already upon us, but yes! Its time for the Q4 service changes. This Quarterly Service Changes Update isn’t super Wow – no big changes.
However, with the Port Authority launching their new bus stop consolidation program. We’ll begin watching and commenting these changes as well.
Remember that riders can give any input or requests to the Port Authority’s Customer Service via twitter, the website or a phonecall: 412-442-2000
Route changes below went into effect on Sunday, November 24th 2019:
1-Freeport Road – Some time points have been removed, though the schedule has not changed.
28X-Airport Flyer – Buses will now drop off passengers at the commercial departures curb of the landside terminal. Buses will continue to pick up passengers at the commercial arrivals curb at door 6 of the landslide terminal.
@PGH_Bus_Info Hotline’s takeaway:
For an airport route to drop-off at departures and pickup at arrivals, sure makes a lot of sense. We approve. Though this routing isn’t so new, this was the original 28X format. Sometimes whats old is new again.
67-Monroeville – Some time points have been removed and schedules have been adjusted.
P67-Monroeville Flyer – Some time points have been removed and schedules have been adjusted.
69-Trafford – Some time points have been removed and schedules have been adjusted.
P69-Trafford Flyer – Some time points have been removed and schedules have been adjusted.
77-Penn Hills – Some time points have been removed and schedules have been adjusted.
P10–Allegheny Valley Flyer – Regular routing will no longer serve RIDC Park in O’Hara. The P10 Limited will serve RIDC Park. Schedules have been revised to reflect this change. + P10–Allegheny Valley Limited – This modified routing will operate between Downtown, East Busway, and RIDC Park.
@PGH_Bus_Info Hotline’s takeaway:
Positive that reverse commute trips have finally been restored after over a decade of people in the Valley asking for it.
Also positive is that the P10L will be making its debut .
Unfortunatly, this is a sloppy execution of a good idea. These reverse commute trips will start inbound by looping RIDC PARK then running into town. In the PM Rush, these routes will run via RT 28 Washington Blvd and the busway into town rather than giving the entire valley or Harmar folks reverse commute access.
Conversely, AM P10L WILL ONLY run between Town and RIDC PARK also via the E Busway Washington Blvd and RT 28 again leaving a part of the valley out of the reverse commute equation.
Also this change needlessly and unfairly takes away existing commuter options for RIDC PARK Riders via the normal P10 non-limited service. A proper execution would’ve benefitted ALL Riders and we (PBI and the writer) hope that this erroneous and inequitable execution will be improved at a later date.
P16-Penn Hills Flyer – Service will be re-established to Hulton Road, Hulton Arbors, Oakmont and Harmar once Hulton Road reopens. For Hulton Road detour information or service updates, please call Customer Service at 412-442-2000.
@PGH_Bus_Info Hotline’s takeaway:
Service has thankfully been fully restored albeit in the same limited capacity to Hulton Arbors in Penn Hills and Harmar following Port Authority refusal and supposed previous inability/unwillingness to detour around a aoadwork project this past Spring and Summer. This effectively stranded those riders ALL of summer, part of spring and part of fall. Not great customer service…
We imagine folks will be glad to have their service restored. Unfortunately, service now ends slightly earlier and there appears to be 1 less Hulton Arbors + Harmar trip…
Rundown of Quarterly Stop Consolidation, with takeaways from the @PGH_Bus_Info Hotline
@PGH_Bus_Info Hotline’s takeaway:
On November 24th, the Port Authority consolidated stops on the 16 and 51 after announcing their plan in early September. Although the first draft plan and progcess was meh, we’re glad that residents in the North Side and Carrick were able to speak up and keep their stops.
The Port Authority’s next round of stop consolidation will happen on the 88 and 48. However, because lots of other buses use the same roads, nearly 3,000 riders on the 88, 48, 71C, 74, 77, 82, 86, 89, 54, 91, 43, 44, 51L, 75.
Port Authority has made some big changes to their process after riders and PPT spoke up about ways it could get improved. We’re glad that they were responsive, but people should deinatly review the plans and get their feedback in asap.
Port Authority Customer Service can be reached via twitter, the website or a phonecall: 412-442-2000
The @PGH_BUS_INFO Hotline can be reached by phone @ 412-759-3335 ONLY When PortAuthority Customer Service is Closed/unavailable
The PGH Bus Info Hotline will be back on PPT’s blog in for the next set of Quarter Service Adjustments. See ya then! (And if you want, you can check out Q3 changes here, Or Q2’s changes here)
Pittsburghers for Public Transit is looking to ride with 200 new supporters before the end of the year. Support at any level, even the cost of a $2.75 bus pass will help! Make your contribution today. #SolidarityNotCharity
On Monday some 100 residents and organizations attended and testified at a City Council Public Hearing demanding increased transparency and accountability through the City of Pittsburgh’s Budgeting Process. A rally was organized by the Economic Justice Circle to propose a series of improvements to the City’s budgeting process. It provided the perfect platform for residents to continue highlighting concerns they’ve raised for years around the lack of transparency surrounding the Mon Oakland Connector project.
Residents demanded that the public money going to construct the multi-million dollar MOC roadway through Schenley park instead be invested in the solutions put forward by the community. These solutions focus on transit improvement, pedestrian safety, and bike connections. More than 20 organizations and 650 residents have signed on to this plan titled: Our Money. Our Solutions.
Through this advocacy, residents were successful in moving Councilmembers O’Connor and Strassberger to commit to introducing a resolution to examine the cost of these solutions. Once costs have been identified residents will continue working to move money away from the MOC and towards their needs.
See these news stories for more background on the action, the project, and resident demands. Reach out to get involved:
Pittsburghers for Public Transit is looking to ride with 200 new supporters before the end of the year. Support at any level, even the cost of a $2.75 bus pass will help! Make your contribution today. #SolidarityNotCharity
Residents and Community Groups Affected by Proposed Mon-Oakland Roadway release Letter Calling on City Council, Foundations, Academic Institutions, and Public Agencies to Fund Alternative Transportation Proposal Entitled “Our Money, Our Solutions.”
December 6, 2019 – Pittsburgh, PA – As the City of Pittsburgh continues to advance the “Mon-Oakland Mobility Corridor,” a controversial roadway project that would cut through Schenley Park, 23 community stakeholders in affected neighborhoods—as well as more than 600 City residents—have issued a letter calling on City Council to reallocate the $18–23 million of roadway funding toward accessible sidewalks, bike trail connections, expanded transit service and safe pedestrian crossings on busy streets.
Hazelwood resident and father of four Eric Williams says, “I’m a commuting cyclist, and I do a lot of walking through these neighborhoods—both by myself and with my children. There are numerous broken, missing, unsafe, and illegally parked-on sidewalks, as well as unsafe crosswalks in Hazelwood where my children and I have nearly been run over several times. I know my neighbors have unmet public transportation needs, too, such as weekend bus service gaps. Has the City asked residents if this project is really the best solution to meet their needs? Did they check its alignment with the Greater Hazelwood Neighborhood Plan? I’m not convinced they have.”
Requests for these critical mobility and safety investments have been documented in countless studies over the years, including in the recently approved Greater Hazelwood Neighborhood Plan and in the recent SPC 885/2nd Ave Corridor Study. Time and time again, the public has been told that there is no money to make these investments a reality. Yet now a project costing more than $16 million dollars is being put forward instead of community solutions. The Mon-Oakland roadway would instead host unspecified privately-run transportation modes—leaving a plethora of open questions such as usage costs, disability access, hours of operation, passenger-carrying capacity, safety for other park users, and impact on adjacent neighborhoods and the natural environment. Because of these concerns—and the Mon-Oakland Corridor’s dubious utility in addressing the communities’ very real transportation and pedestrian safety needs—the proposal has been met by considerable opposition. Funding these priorities instead would be in line with Pittsburgh’s 2016 adoption of the Complete Streets ordinance.
Four Mile Run resident Barb Warwick says, “We need flood mitigation, not a roadway that would degrade Schenley Park, and one that would drive through the heart of our community. Public money should be used for public good, and we are proud to collaborate with our neighboring communities to enhance the transit, bike and pedestrian connections between us—in an equitable and effective way.”
Dozens of Four Mile Run, Hazelwood, Greenfield, Panther Hollow, and Oakland residents will testify along with other stakeholders on Monday, December 9 at 10 a.m. at the Tax, Budget and Citizen Participation Hearing at City Council to raise concerns about the proposed roadway and its transportation utility, environmental consequences, safety impacts for cyclists and pedestrians, traffic and affordable housing implications, and whether it’s a responsible use of public funds. They will call for the “Our Money, Our Solutions” plan to be funded instead.
You can speak up for community-generated mobility solutions over the top-down Mon Oakland Connector Project. Sign the petition today. Join us at City Council on Monday, 10am at 414 Grant St, to testify in support.
Calling all transit lovers! Ride with us! Rise with us!
It’s PPT’s end-of year celebration, and we want to get down with you all. 2019 has been quite a ride, kicking off with our #FairFares push, bringing Port Authority board members on the bus (and throwing one under the bus), a kick-ass organizing fellowship cohort and rider-led planning effort to build better transit #BeyondtheEastBusway.
We’ve led the fight of People over Robots with our “Who’s Driving this Thing” AV paper, and been mobilizing with the Mon-Oakland communities to claim “Our Money. Our Solutions.” Now we’re leading the charge with our partners at Pittsburgh United’s Housing Justice Table, Just Harvest and Bike Pittsburgh to insist that developers radically reallocate money from excess parking into affordable housing, free bus passes, food access and pedestrian and bike needs.
And who can forget the sinkhole bus! 2019. What a year!
With DJ Shoe spinning the tunes, transit-related party games, appetizers and drinks, it’s a not-to-be-missed way to usher in 2020. All attendees will get a free Ride with Us, Rise with Us poster designed by Christina Acuna Castillo.
$10 suggested a donation, but no one will be turned away. See you soon!
Come Party with us for a better transit future! Friday, December 13th 7-10pm at the Irma Freeman Center 5006 Penn Ave.
Pittsburghers for Public Transit is looking to ride with 200 new supporters before the end of the year. Support at any level, even the cost of a $2.75 bus pass will help! Make your contribution today.
art credit: Christina Acuna Castillo, Digital Organizer at Pittsburgh United
Developers want to spend $15Million on a super-sized parking garage instead of providing for real community needs: affordable housing, improved transit, healthy food access, safe streets. We say no.
The Giant Eagle Shakespeare site is a chance to reverse East Liberty’s legacy of gentrification and displacement. It is an opportunity to show what truly equitable transit-oriented communities can look like.
The site is across the street from the East Liberty Busway Station, and there are dozens of other high-quality transit lines that pass it frequently. It literally has some of the best service in the entire transit system. Yet, the developers want to spend $15,000,000 on a 500-space parking garage.
Over-building car parking in this dense, walkable, transit-rich, amenity-rich neighborhood would be misguided (…to put it lightly). More car parking will only lead to more driving, more traffic congestion, more expensive rents, more costly products, more pollution, and more dangerous streets. Studies have already shown that there are hundreds of unused, publically-subsidized parking spaces within a block of the site. Why should an entire community pay by trading their personal health, clean air, and quality of life for a new building’s overbuilt parking? Why spend millions on a luxury amenity like car housing when our neighbors need affordable housing? There is a better way to create community equity and you can help make it happen.
Advocates for affordable housing, public transit, and food justice are coming together to demand that the parking garage money, and other public/private dollars go towards increasing the affordability of the rents, providing free bus passes to residents, ensuring access to healthy food, and building out safe streets.
You can help support and shape these demands at these upcoming events. Sign up below and reach out with any questions, info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org
“We all rise up when we center those who are at the margins.” -Ms. Pearl Hughey, PPT Member
You can build this grassroots movement for transit equity, one that centers the leadership and value of those most marginalized. Donate today to push PPT’s rider-led advocacy towards our year-end goal of raising $10,000 and activating 200 new supporters.
Here is a story from Ms. Pearl about her work to defend and expand public transit:
My name is Pearl Hughey. I’m a lifelong resident of Rankin. For me, my family, and my neighbors, public transit is a lifeline to opportunity. Last year when the transit agency said our bus service in the Mon Valley would be cut by 50% because of new rapid transit between Oakland and Downtown, we knew our communities would be devastated. We knew we had to stand up for change.
Change doesn’t come without strategy and commitment. For 18 months we organized. We built a movement. We gained power.
When the transit authority made their final announcement, we saw all of our hard work pay off. We won and we won big! Not only would the cuts be reversed, but now this rapid bus corridor would speed up our buses too.
The fight isn’t over. We need to keep working so that everyone in the Mon Valley, Eastern Suburbs and Allegheny County has access to quality, affordable transit.
We designed a grassroots approach to transit planning—one that allows the people who are directly affected to set priorities. Now we need you to rise up with us in this campaign to help see it through. When we come together, we can win.
Pearl Hughey PPT Member East Busway Organizing Fellow
Your action will make it possible for more neighbors like Ms. Pearl to work with PPT’s Organizing Fellowship and win quality, affordable public transit for Allegheny County.
Your gift of any size—whether $5, $50, or $500—will go toward our goal of $10,000. Your voice in sharing this work will help toward our goal of activating 200 new advocates.
