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Victory for Grassroots Public Transit! + PHOTOS!
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!
Here are the faces of PPT!! Photos from our Year-End Celebration on December 13th! ❤️
THANK YOU!
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
From Laura: Why 37 transit activists shared the spotlight
“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.
There is a place for you in this movement.
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
PS: Only 12 more people donating any amount – $2.75, $10, $50, $200! – will tip us over the goal line!
Transit Workers & Riders for a Better Transit Future
“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.
– James Hanna, Port Authority Bus Operator, Amalgamated Transit Union Member, PPT Leader
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.
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!