Author Archive: Dan Yablonsky

Transit Day is May 9th!

To draw attention to this crucial public infrastructure, both the Pittsburgh City Council and Allegheny County Council will be proclaiming May 9th to be Transit Day!

To celebrate our public transit system, Josh Verbanets of local band Meeting of Important People will rock Market Square at noon on May 9th, along with GoBurgh, Pittsburghers for Public Transit, the ATU, the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network, the Committee for Accessible Transit and many other coalition partner community organizations and businesses.

Speakers will include County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, ATU Local 85 President Steve Palonis, and State Senators Jay Costa (D) and Randy Vulakovich (R).

GoBurgh and Pittsburghers for Public Transit invite all transit supporters to join us for music and rally to call on all our elected officials at both local and state levels to support the public transit so crucial to the health of our communities!

B.Y.O.B. Build Your Own Bus on May 5th

On May 5th, from 2-5pm, we’re having an art party at Assemble, 5125 Penn Ave, to make creative signs and a fleet of cardboard buses to rumble through the Capitol Rotunda during our big June rally in Harrisburg in support of public transit.

Even if you can’t come to the rally, you can make a visual splash in support of public transit! 

Assemble (art + technology space) and Pittsburghers for Public Transit will offer paints, markers, crayons, glitter, scissors, glue, poster board and all sorts of other goodies. On May 5th, please do bring your own creative ideas to 5125 Penn Ave, right next to the Merton Center on Saturday, Feb. 9th from 1-4pm. 

Everybody of all ages is welcome as long as they want to help keep our buses rolling! And there will be pizza from Spaks, too!

Big Actions Being Planned with Local and Statewide Coalitions: Be In On the Action!

Pittsburghers for Public Transit is working with a broad local and statewide coalition of organizations to build support for legislation which will provide far more funding for public transportation than the Governor’s plan. 


You’re invited to learn about our projects and campaigns and how you can contribute your talents, experience and expertise based on your own interests and concerns for public transit.  Please join us at our General Membership meeting this Saturday, from 10-11:30 am at the Allegheny County Human Services Building, One Smithfield in the Liberty Conference Room, in downtown Pittsburgh. 


Pittsburghers for Public Transit Strongly Supports City’s Challenge of UPMC’s Charity Status

Pittsburghers for Public Transit continues to call for the equitable distribution of public transit costs with corporations paying their fair share. UPMC has long acted far more like a corporation than a charitable organization, failing to meet the criteria for their tax-exempt status by placing their own bottom line profits above the needs of their community, their workers and their patients.


As PPT member Molly Nichols of Bloomfield has publicly testified, “UPMC is one of the largest employers and landowners in the region…It is heavily dependent on public services like transit; nearly 5% of all Port Authority rides are to medical appointments… UPMC needs to start living up to its tax-free status by contributing to the community… They insist that “at the heart of all we do is you,” but when the service cuts were proposed last year, UPMC told its workers to ride a bike or take a cab to work. Cab and limousine service may be feasible for Jeffrey Romoff and his 6 million dollar salary but not for most residents of our county.”

With 55,000 employees, UPMC is the biggest private employer in Pennsylvania, yet many UPMC workers depend on public assistance to survive because they are not paid living wages. UPMC is the largest real-estate owner in Allegheny County and made $1billion in profit in the last two years, with $3.9 billion in reserve funds according to their own first fiscal report for 2013. Yet UPMC has spent hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars to represent itself as a charity to avoid paying real estate or payroll taxes.

UPMC is profiting off of our needs while violating the labor rights of its employees and failing to contribute their fair share towards public infrastructure like transit. If UPMC is going to remain a charity, then this has to change. We need UPMC to step up and give back more to our community. We call on our elected officials to stand strong and hold UPMC accountable. PPT calls on whoever is elected to lead our City as the next Mayor to continue the lawsuit and make sure this challenge is resolved successfully.

Volunteer Training on Sunday, March 10th from 1-3pm

As our state legislature works to develop a budget, we must call for dedicated state funding for PUBLIC transit. At this point, the governor’s budget falls far short of what is needed to keep our transit rolling!

 You’re invited to join your fellow Pittsburghers for fun, interactive training with drivers, riders and other transit supporters who want to learn more about the transit crisis and how they can help win dedicated funding for public transit. 

Sunday, March 10th from 1-3pm at the Human Services Building, One Smithfield St., downtown. 
  


Enormous THANKS to all the volunteers, organizations and elected officials who helped RUMBLE that rotunda in Harrisburg for PUBLIC mass transit!

B.Y.O.B – Build Your Own Bus

This Saturday, February 9th from 1-4 pm, we’re having a party to make signs and a fleet of cardboard buses to rumble through the Capitol rotunda at the rally in support of public transit this Monday, Feb. 11th.

If you’re registered for the rally, you can get creative with your most crucial messages to the media and our elected officials. But even if you can’t come to the Harrisburg rally for public transit, you can make a visual statement for the cameras!

Assemble (art + technology space) has generously offered paints, markers, crayons, glitter, scissors, glue and all sorts of other goodies. Please bring a cardboard box or a couple of pieces of poster board to 5125 Penn Ave, right next to the Merton Center on Saturday, Feb. 9th from 1-4pm.

Kids, friends, dogs, cats – whoever or whatever – everybody is welcome as long as they want to help keep our buses rolling! And there will be pizza from Spaks, too!

RUMBLE IN THE ROTUNDA!

JOIN THE FIGHT TO SAVE OUR PUBLIC TRANSIT LIFELINES!

· RALLY IN HARRISBURG STATE CAPITOL ROTUNDA AGAINST TRANSIT CUTS 

· MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2:OO P.M.  

· FREE BUSES & LUNCHES FOR ROUND TRIP FROM PITTSBURGH

· JOIN PEOPLE FROM ACROSS THE STATE TO BACK THE TRANSIT BILL OF RIGHTS

· IF YOU CAN’T BE ON THE BUS, PLEASE CALL CORBETT TO DEMAND FULL FUNDING FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT ON THAT DAY: 717-787-2500

We will speak out strongly FOR a transportation bill which dedicates long term, sufficient funding to sustain public mass transit. 

Three Port Authority buses will leave on February 11th at 7:30am from two locations, Freedom Corner at the intersection of Crawford and Centre and from Oakland in front of the Hillman Library across from Schenley Plaza. Box lunches will be provided at no charge.

To register for the free bus and the box lunch, go to www.bit.ly/feb11registration

Or, to register by phone, call PPT Community Organizer Helen Gerhardt at 412-518-7387.

PPT Launches Direct Organizing and Legislative Campaigns

PPT hit the papers and the airwaves today, at a press conference announcing the launch of our direct organizing and legislative campaigns. Enormous thanks to our speakers, Dave Vinski of the Allegheny County Labor Council, Andrew Austin, Executive Director of Americans for Transit,  and to Natalia Rudiak, who passed a Will of Council in support of dedicated State funding in support of public transit! And many big bus fulls of thanks to all the hard-working volunteers who helped make all of this happen!

Our first New Volunteer Training will be this Sunday, January 27th, from 1-3 pm at the Human Services Building, One Smithfield Street, downtown. Our first pilot test was a lot of fun and we got enormously valuable feedback on the training from both riders and drivers. We’ll be having free weekly trainings, so please register at pittsburghersforpublictransit@gmail.com.

We’ll be meeting downtown each week for Transit Tuesdays from 3-5pm to practice what we learn together and mobilize our fellow riders and drivers. Join us at 3pm at Crazy Mocha, 801 Liberty Ave. downtown for a brief review of upcoming events and training tips before we launch out onto the buses and streets. 

We’ll be inviting everyone we meet out there to sign up for PAT buses to Harrisburg to rally for dedicated funding for mass transit on February 11th. Port Authority buses will pick up rally participants at Freedom Corner at 7:30 am on February 11th at the intersection of Crawford and Centre. Box lunches will be provided at no charge, and we will be back that same evening.To register for the free bus and the box lunch, go to register, please visit www.bit.ly/feb11registration

Thanks again, everybody!