Affordable Housing and Access to Good Transit

“The city has talked the talk about affordable housing and talked about a commitment to access and mobility, but here’s the opportunity to actually prove it,” said Crystal Jennings, organizer of the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition.

“The Lexington site is next to the best transit in the city — the [Martin Luther King] East Busway. Residents displaced from the city in the East End and North Point Breeze and Homewood should have the right to return to affordable housing in the neighborhood, and it should be built there.”

From the Post Gazette article: Affordable housing eyed as part of East End site redevelopment

The High Cost of Transit, and Transit-Oriented Development

Photo credit: Ryan Deto, Pittsburgh CityPaper

“When it comes to building affordable housing, there is no better place to do so than near public transportation. Since low-income people are less likely to own cars than higher-income individuals, good access to public transit is necessary for affordable-housing dwellers to travel to work, visit family and just get around. According to the nonprofit Center for Housing Policy, people in the Pittsburgh Metro area spend 34 percent of their income on transportation, the second highest figure of large U.S. metro areas, just behind Tampa.

And at a Aug. 10 meeting, this thinking led a group of affordable-housing advocates to request that Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority include affordable-housing measures in its pitch to redevelop the Lexington Technology Park, in North Point Breeze.”

From City Paper’s Blog: Advocates call for Lexington Technology Park redevelopment to include affordable housing

Residents and Riders speak up at PAAC Board Meeting about the negative impact of the BRT in their communities:

Great Press Coverage on Possible BRT Impact on Duquesne and Braddock communities. If you missed the meeting, you can still email comments and concerns around the BRT proposal to brt@portauthority.org.

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Residents and community representatives from Duquesne and Braddock highlighted the consequences of less frequent service along the key 61 A,B,C & D routes, along with the financial and physical burden of mandatory transfers in Oakland to get downtown. The Port Authority has not finalized their service plans for these routes under the BRT, however, it is likely that riders will lose their all day one-seat ride to downtown. Pittsburghers for Public Transit recognizes that there are some benefits to bus riders under the BRT proposal, including improving the experience and efficiency of a heavy transit corridor for riders, bikers and pedestrians, and the transition to a green electric bus fleet. However, Pittsburghers for Public Transit stands along with the Committee for Accessible Transportation and City of Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Task Force on Disabilities in opposing the BRT plan as long as concerns around accessibility and equity are not addressed. Riders and disability advocates have highlighted how the proposed BRT bus-only lanes prevent para-transit vehicles from complying even with ADA minimum curb drop-off standards.

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“Mamadou Ndiaye, an intern for Braddock, said the changes would put a burden on the borough’s many low-income residents traveling Downtown for access to health providers and other services.

“Within the borough, we don’t have many social services for our residents,” Ndiaye told the board. “So to impose a change that would make their commute time even longer … is something we see as being inequitable.”

From the Trib:
http://triblive.com/…/passengers-ask-port-authority-to-reco…

From WESA:
http://wesa.fm/…/braddock-duquesne-residents-voice-concern-…

From WPXI:
http://www.wpxi.com/…/residents-voice-concerns-ov…/574841250

Transit Riders Testify Against Port Authority Policy Proposal of Armed Police Fare Checkers

Nearly 30 community activists, transit riders and allies gave powerful testimony at today’s Port Authority Board Meeting in opposition to the proposal for armed police to check fares on the T! Speakers addressed concerns around police’s racial profiling of black and brown communities, the criminalization of youth and the poor, the risks of deportation for our immigrant neighbors, and inadequate police training and accountability.

One recurring question posed to the board was “who does this policy make safer, and who is put at risk?”

Ed Blazina from the Post Gazette covered the meeting here: http://www.post-gazette.com/…/Groups-c…/stories/201706300542

PPT Demands Public Process in Port Authority CEO Search

PPT presented the following letter to the Port Authority Board today, naming specific qualities that should be looked for in a Port Authority CEO, and requesting a public process to screen candidates for the position:

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To the Port Authority Board and CEO Hiring Committee,

The Port Authority plays a key role in shaping the future of our community, and in ensuring that Southwestern PA is a place that is truly livable and accessible to all. The search for a new Port Authority CEO is an opportunity to build a truly innovative mass transit system, with a holistic vision for the role of public transit and its contribution to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of our region.

To that end, we at Pittsburghers for Public Transit believe there are a number of key attributes that should be emphasized in the search for a new CEO.

The Port Authority CEO should:

-Demonstrate a commitment to institutional transparency and elevating community voices in planning and decision-making. Riders and drivers, in particular, are experts in our transit system and offer valuable insight into how to best serve the communities in our region.

-Show evidence of a commitment to equity as a guiding principle. The CEO should understand how transportation and housing policy have had a disproportionately negative impact on low-income and minority communities, and work towards reversing that harm.

-Have demonstrable experience leading organizational change, and a willingness to embrace and implement new ways of thinking about transit. An ideal candidate should be a nationally-recognized expert and industry leader in green vehicle technology, equitable transit-oriented development, the first-mile last-mile public transportation “ecosystem” among other transit innovations.

– Be someone who has successfully built and maintained relationships with a diverse set of city and county entities and stakeholders, and will identify overlapping priorities and coordinate with those stakeholders in planning and project initiatives.

-Be a passionate public transit advocate, who recognizes that mass transit is first and foremost a public good, and not a business out to make a profit.

Finally, Pittsburghers for Public Transit believes that it is important for representatives from different stakeholder organizations, including labor, riders, policy advocates, neighborhood groups and foundations to participate in an initial screening to determine finalists for the Port Authority CEO, and that final candidates participate in a public forum and Q&A session. We respectfully request that, as an important public asset, the public be given an opportunity to weigh in on the final selection of a CEO.

Sincerely,

Laura Wiens

On Behalf of PPT

Port Authority Delays Implementing “Proof of Payment” System on the T

The Port Authority has just announced a postponement of the implementation of the “Proof of Payment” system on the T until at least October! While we agree that the implementation should be delayed, we are disappointed that the Port Authority has not addressed our coalition’s concerns about the use of armed Port Authority police to check fares.

We expect the Port Authority to use this additional time to create a fare policy that is more just; we believe fare-evasion should result in a civil charge rather than a criminal charge, and that penalties as high as a $300 fine, jail time and even deportation for our undocumented neighbors is too steep a price to pay for a $2.50 fare.

We will continue to make our voices heard in the boardroom and in the streets!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Port Authority of Allegheny County is postponing the implementation of the cashless proof-of-payment system on its light rail system.

The postponement is the result of several factors, including a delay in the delivery of additional ConnectCard machines, the devices that dispense fare cards and tickets at stations around the system. It was expected that ten of these machines would be delivered and installed in June but manufacturing delays have moved that back to October.

Additionally, issues have developed with software performance on existing ConnectCard machines as well as validators that are part of the new system. Port Authority is working with on-site experts from the company that manufactures and installs its fare collection hardware and software on each of these items.

“The goal of the policy is to make the customer experience better, but in order to make that happen all of the equipment must be available, functional and reliable,” said Port Authority Interim CEO David Donahoe. “Because these items will take time to resolve, I’m not prepared to announce a new start date until I see the results of the work now underway, including field testing .”

The Authority plans a 60-day public education campaign before putting the new system into service, providing riders with the opportunity to learn about and plan for the changes before they occur.

The changes to the light rail system include eliminating cash payments in favor of pre-purchased ConnectCards and tickets that riders would validate on the platform before boarding the car at stations. The system is designed to speed up boarding by allowing all doors to be opened at more locations.

“Groups Train Volunteers to Oppose Port Authority Fare Enforcement Policy”

“We’re talking about for less than $5, we’re going to give people a citation up to $300,” Brandi Fisher of the Alliance for Police Accountability said during a presentation about the policy before training began. “We’ve already seen across America where very small incidents can lead to someone’s death.”

from the Post Gazette article by Ed Blazina about our meeting “Don’t Criminalize Transit Riders!”

Sign the petition HERE to voice community concerns about the new “proof of payment” policy proposed for the T.

The current policy for fare enforcement is here.

Port Authority police page is here.

Port Authority Holding Community Meetings on BRT

Port Authority is holding BRT community education and feedback meetings in

Oakland: June 19+28
Uptown: June 20
Greenfield and Squirrel Hill: June 27
Downtown: June 28

Come out and give your input on station location, and find out your how bus service in your community will be impacted. Folks that ride the 61a, 61b, 61c, 71a, 71c and 71d could have less frequent service and required transfers.

Residents of Regent Square, Braddock, Elizabeth and Duquesne could lose their one-seat ride to downtown and are encouraged to show up to share concerns.

More details about the meetings here.

PPT sees opportunities here, but still has a lot of questions and concerns.

-What will the schedules look like for the local service on the 61’s and 71’s? How often will they come?

-Why aren’t you having community meetings in the communities that will be getting less frequent service and the places that will lose one-seat rides to downtown (Duquesne, Braddock, Regent Square, Elizabeth)?

-Are transfers going to be free?

-How are you going to handle the curb-to-curb drop off for Access vehicles?

-Where are you going to come up with 230 million dollars in local money, if the federal money is not available?