Infographic credit: Christina Castillo

Over the past several months, Pittsburghers for Public Transit has been working with residents in the Mon Valley to make sure the 61 A, B, and C buses don’t get cut in frequency and that any transit improvement is an improvement for all!

A couple of really awesome Braddock residents organized an event at the Braddock Library where over a hundred folks gathered to sign postcards to send to the Port Authority about how important the 61ABC buses are to access all their basic needs. We’re working with many allies across the Mon Valley to remind the Port Authority that equity is one of their own three main criteria for making service decisions.

December 11, 2017

Great testimony from residents of Hilltop Parkview Manor in Duquesne about the need for transit! Take a look at coverage from Ed Blazina at the Post Gazette: 

“Deb Watson of Duquesne and her neighbors in the Hilltop Parkview Manor Apartments don’t think it’s too much to ask that Port Authority route a bus to the complex. The alternative for the 600 residents is a hilly, mile-long walk on busy streets with no sidewalks and limited streetlights. Ms. Watson, who uses a cane, and several other residents with a variety of mobility issues lobbied the Port Authority board Friday to return direct service to their complex on Duquesne Place Drive. Right now, the nearest bus stop is either on Hoffman Boulevard or Route 837.“It’s terrible,” Ms. Watson said. “We have to walk in the middle of the street in the winter. We really need a bus.””

Additionally, PPT and Just Harvest submitted over 200 BRT surveys to the Port Authority from riders in the Mon Valley to ensure they are not left out of the decision making process!

Over the past month, PPT has been partnering with Just Harvest, both on the BRT campaign to ensure equity in the Mon Valley and in the restoration of service to the the Hilltop Parkview Manor apartments in Duquesne. Residents here face a dangerous walk on steep roads with no sidewalks and heavy car traffic. For those who are elderly, disabled, or responsible for small children, the walk makes access to food, healthcare, jobs, family, and community extremely arduous and difficult.

On Wednesday, November 29, dozens of climate and grassroots community activists testified at Pittsburgh City Council chambers about Pittsburgh’s proposed Climate Action Plan. PPT issued the following call to our elected officials:

The Pittsburgh climate action plan has positive, attainable goals for public transit in our region, and highlights the importance of public transit in building a sustainable future. Pittsburghers for Public Transit celebrates the intention to have the amenities and efficiency of a bus rapid transit (BRT) system, to move to an all-electric bus fleet, and to double transit ridership by 2030. And we are glad to see that the Port Authority is taking initial steps towards greening their fleet, even if the full BRT project is not realized.  However, we are deeply troubled by the city’s plan for implementation of the BRT, which actually threatens existing transit ridership in the Mon Valley. The riders of the 61 A,B and C are facing a 45% cut in the frequency of their service, and are facing the additional financial and physical burden of mandatory transfers in Oakland to complete their rides to downtown. Riders in Braddock, Duquesne and McKeesport often have no other transit options, and many are the service workers that are the economic underpinning of our major city employers. We are urging the city council not to foolishly implement one goal of the climate action plan—the BRT—at the expense of another—ie. the maintenance and growth of our current transit ridership. Many of the transit efficiency components of this BRT project like bus-only lanes, signal prioritization and jump lanes for buses are relatively inexpensive but very effective, and should be considered in other routes in our system as well.

As recently as this past September, state legislators tried to cannibalize our state transit funding under Act 89 to cover the PA budget shortfall. Act 89 is also set to expire in 2022.  We ask the city council to insist on truly long-term dedicated funding for transit at a state and regional level, so that riders can purchase homes, plan their bus routes and build their lives around these lifelines without worrying that they will abruptly be taken away. Stable, dedicated transit funding is THE recipe for doubling transit ridership, so that “climate action” is not merely a slogan, but actually a plan.

PPT submitted an open letter highlighting our transit priorities, published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on 11/26. Writing credit is largely due to PPT Board Member Dean Mougianis:

“The Port Authority has hired a new CEO, and Pittsburghers for Public Transit would like to warmly welcome Katharine Kelleman to this region (Nov. 9, “Port Authority Hires Public Transit ‘Superstar.’”)

As an organization that works closely with riders, drivers and residents, PPT would have preferred a more transparent hiring process. The Port Authority, as a public institution, has a responsibility to solicit public input in decisions as important as selecting a new CEO. But that’s a bus that’s left the stop and none of the new CEO’s doing.

As her tenure begins, here are some of PPT’s major concerns:

The Port Authority’s plans to enforce a new fare policy on the T with armed police officers is a waste of resources and needlessly risky. Other more benign but still effective ways exist to ensure that fares are collected.

The proposed BRT system connecting Downtown with Oakland and other neighborhoods could provide marginal speedups to Pittsburgh’s busiest transit corridor. However, the current plan will reduce service to many Mon Valley communities that need service the most. Let’s address the county’s pressing transportation needs first, and remember that none of our communities are expendable.

New technologies, including autonomous vehicles, could offer many benefits for transit riders. These innovations — in fact, any Port Authority investments — should not come at the expense of transit workers and their livelihoods. As we look ahead, we must ensure that workers are never simply cast aside.

The Port Authority, from all appearances, has hired an energetic, community-minded and forward-thinking CEO. We expect that those qualities will be applied to helping all transit stakeholders build a better future for all of us.”

LAURA WIENS
Director
Pittsburghers for PublicTransit
Garfield

Image of Commuters on the T: Photo Credit Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette

The Pittsburgh Public School board joins the Coalition against Policing on the T to endorse a civil fare checking process, with civilian fare ambassadors. Our gratitude is extended to Moira Kaleida, school board representative of Brookline and Beechview, for drafting the powerful letter, to which all board members signed on. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on their views, directed to the Port Authority:

“The board of Pittsburgh Public Schools is the latest group to oppose Port Authority’s controversial plan to have armed police check fares on light-rail vehicles.

In a Nov. 17 letter to incoming authority CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman, the nine school directors echoed concerns from earlier this year that the idea could lead to deportations and confrontations between officers and immigrant students who may have language difficulties. Nearly 3,800 public, charter and private school students in Pittsburgh take public transit.

‘We have immigrant and refugees from all over the world who now call Pittsburgh their home. Using the current proposed system, PAT would essentially be creating a fare-evasion to deportation pipeline,’ the letter said.

‘Many of our students experience trauma on a daily basis, have had negative interactions with policeor simply cannot understand what is being said to them. Having someone who holds a gun confront a young person can be scary and may escalate the situation.'”

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Also, notably, incoming Port Authority CEO Kelleman is quoted saying that she was asked about her position on this policy as part of her job interview process:

“I would be shocked to find out that the Port Authority board is really focused on the law enforcement criminal aspects. That’s not our jam,” she said in an interview.

“It should be the goal for any transit entity to remove as many barriers as possible to use the service … If fare enforcement turns into a barrier, what have we accomplished?”

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Find the whole article here.

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For your support, we’d like to send you these gifts (see main image above for pictures and designs):

• For a donation of $35, we’d like to send you a beautifully designed shirt by Christina Castillo, a local artist and organizer in Pittsburgh (We’ll be in touch with you for t-shirt sizes)
• For a donation of $50, we’d like to send you a t-shirt, a PPT button, and a transit haiku written by a talented PPT member just for you!
• For a donation of $100, we’d like to send you 2 t-shirts, 2 PPT buttons, and a transit haiku written just for you!
• For a donation of $1,250, we’ll send you an awesome piece of art made by artist Nathan Van Patter, a wooden piece showing riders waiting at a bus stop
• For a donation of $3,000, we’ll send you an amazing 3-D piece, also by Nathan Van Patter, showing a streetscape with a Port Authority bus at the center

Also, save the dates for some upcoming events and fundraisers:
Come support the Smokestack and Lightning Benefit Concert to help raise money for both PPT and Casa San Jose on December 1st at 7:30pm at the Quaker Meeting House (4836 Ellsworth Avenue)

Join us for our Holiday Happy Hour at Mixtape on Thursday, December 14th at 5pm. We’re excited to be partnering with this great local bar that pays its workers a living wage. All “tips” from this month and that event will be going to PPT!

The Port Authority has hired Katharine Kelleman, former head of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transportation Authority in Tampa, Florida as the new CEO for Port Authority. Although we are disappointed that there was no public selection process, we welcome Ms. Kelleman to Pittsburgh.

(Photo by Margaret Krauss, WESA News)

Great turnout at the URA Lexington Park community meeting! Thanks to all the North Point Breeze, Homewood and PPT members that turned out to support affordable housing on the site. We will continue to advocate for community members to have a seat at the URA table to decide on the conditions set in the Request for Proposals (RFP) for developers, and to choose the developer for the site.

From WESA’s Report: Homewood, Point Breeze North Residents Push for Greater Involvement in Future Development: “For too long, development has driven poor people out of neighborhoods, said Mel Packer of Pittsburghers for Public Transit.

‘We have destroyed affordable housing,’ he said. ‘We have the chance here to develop a model community of mixed housing.’ ”