100+ Riders Join PRT’s BRTx Meeting to Raise Concerns

I’m a student, a freelance interpreter who travels around the city, and also a carer for my grandmother. I rely heavily on the ability to get downtown, and these line changes are cutting my transportation options in half. 

CJ’s question at PRT’s 9/12 Info Session about the BRTX service changes
image description: rider wearing a mask steps off a red PRT bus as another rider in a pink head scarf waits to get on.

Over 100 people attended PRT’s meeting to call for BRT investments to expand access, not limit it

More than 100 riders attended PRT’s info session last night to voice serious concerns about changes being made to the 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D because of the new BRTx (Bus Rapid Transit University Line) service plan. According to the plan, these routes will stop servicing downtown and Uptown starting October 1st, 2023, and riders will need to get off and wait for another bus to continue inbound or outbound.

Riders who attended the meeting were very clear that this will sever access to schools, grocery stores, apartments, shelters, social services providers, healthcare. They voiced concern that the cuts will affect some low-income neighborhoods and force riders who pay in cash to put out another $2.75 for the transfer. Additionally, they pointed out PRT’s ableist assumptions about transfers, saying that transfers are not just minor inconveniences that add minutes; for many, especially disabled riders, transfers introduce a huge time uncertainty which is an obstacle and disincentive to using transit.

At the meeting, riders flooded the chat with question after question about the changes. Riders felt like the rug was being pulled out from them. Why were these changes happening now? For what purpose? How is it that hundreds of millions of public dollars are being spent on a transportation project that actually reduces their access?

PRT’s answers to these questions seemed scattered and contradictory. They said on the one hand that the changes were always part of 10-year planning process, but instead now that they were being made because of the recent operator shortfall. They also claimed that it was to reduce bus bunching while the construction in the corridor was taking place, which would imply that it would be resolved once the construction is completed.

Riders won’t stop their organizing for BRTx investments to actually improve transit access, not limit it! Join us on September 29th to rally and testify at the PRT Board Meeting.

PRT refuses to release the recording of the meeting (which do they for nearly all other public meetings)! So we have to share these quotes from riders that we pulled from the chat. Do you have a story about how these changes will impact you? Share your story here.:

  • CJ is a student, ASL interpreter and caregiver for grandmother. He asked PRT this question about the changes:

    “I understand that there is a level of redundancy when it comes to what lines go downtown, but that is because many locations in the city can only be reached by transferring downtown. I’m a student, a freelance interpreter who travels around the city, and also a carer for my grandmother. I rely heavily on the ability to get downtown, and these line changes are cutting my transportation options in half. How does PRT plan to help people like me who rely on downtown transfers?” 
  • Verna Johnson is a senior who uses a mobility device:

    “The 61D is the only route that travels from Downtown to the Waterfront in Homestead with good weekday and weekend frequency. During the week, you can expect to get from the Waterfront to Downtown in about an hour. What other transit options is PRT planning to implement to not sacrifice the time it will take or added fare payment from riders who are already rationing their trips due to the cost of fares?”
  • “Unless PRT is willing to pay riders for these transfers, this is a PROBLEM. People don’t have extra money for bus transfers. Make it make sense!”
  • Someone asked a route question and PRT said to call customer service: Viv Shaffer, “I’ve called your customer service and they have no idea. That’s why I’m asking you.” She said, “If maintaining service were a priority you wouldn’t be making all these service cuts. Options that involve transfers are not viable options.”
  • Noelle C. “You keep talking about transferring but that is much easier said than done.”
  • All I want to know is how to get home from downtown after work on a Saturday afternoon without having to change buses and whithout having to climb the hill from the busway. Is the 67 my only option?
  • From Katie L: “Today I am able to take the 61 C/D and 65 bus ot get to Duquesne University from Squirrel Hill. After Oct. 1 I will only be able to take 61C to get to work because the 61D will not go all the way home and the 65 is being detoured AWAY from Duquesne University.”
  • In response to a comment about the changes being good for everyone, Julian X said: “This would only be true if we had outrageously frequent, reliable buses with well-timed transfers. I think what’s more likely in real life includes:
    -Folks paying on cash fares have to pay $5.50 instead of 2.75 to get places.
    -Folks waiting at the end of 5th or Forbes to get their transfer, potentially without a shelter / in the dark / in the rain
    -Folks living in certain places need to walk a lot further to reach the buses that DO go downtown”
  •  Kaitlin B says: “Not to mention- this is a surprise to every consumer/user. We knew some of this was going to happen, but we didn’t know it was NOW. We thought it wouldn’t be for years due to the PRT stops and curb cuts having to be constructed.”
  • Lorita G. says, “My main concern is that 71D bus goes through low-income neighborhoods and riders may not have a Connect card and only have enough money to get downtown and back home. now they have to get off in Oakland and pay another full fare. Also, people with disabilities and seniors who use walkers and canes have to get off and wait for another bus to get them to downtown. what if the weather is bad we will have to wait and are not guaranteed a seat because strollers can occupy the wheelchair and disabled seating area and they will also be over-crowded making me and others have to wait for another bus. This is not fair.”

The push for improvements isn’t over! Join us 9/29 to rally and testify with fellow riders at the September PRT Board Meeting

Feel those temperatures coming down? October 1st is right around the corner and we have no time to waste. That is why we need every rider’s voice to be heard. We need YOU! Rally with us on September 29th to say that the BRT should expand access, not cut it down. 

Riders Say ‘NO’ to cuts on the 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D.

image description: graph with feedback from January Public Comment period on proposed cuts shows that more than 640 comments were lodged in opposition to the cuts on the 61D, 71A, 71C and 71D.

Hundreds of riders have spoken up about how service cuts to 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D will harm access for tens of thousands of Pittsburgh residents – and they will continue to do so on 9/12 and 9/29.

On Tuesday, September 12th at the 5:30 pm virtual PRT meeting, dozens of transit riders will raise questions related to four PRT lines facing service cuts starting October 1, 2023. The new Downtown to Oakland Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project will provide worse access to transit for many thousands of riders, at a cost of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.

The 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D are some of the top 10 highest-ridership routes in all Allegheny County

Ridership on lines facing service cuts are some of the highest amongst all PRT buses; in 2022, the average weekday ridership for the 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D were 3,467, 3,366, 3,509, 2,659 riders respectively, with fewer than five routes in all of Allegheny County serving more daily riders.

The consequences of these cuts will be severe: for all riders making these particular trips, travel times will be longer. Disembarking and boarding a second bus can be very difficult for older adults and riders with mobility impairments, and because each bus can only accommodate 2 wheelchair users at a time, riders with disabilities are concerned about long waits for available buses. Moreover, cash-paying riders, who are disproportionately very low-income, will be obligated to pay double their fare to make the same trip, with poorer service.

With the 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D short-turned in Oakland, riders will lose direct connections to Downtown and Uptown. Critical Uptown destinations like Mercy Hospital, Duquesne University, and PPG Paints Arena – where thousands of people travel for jobs, healthcare, higher education, and recreation daily – will no longer be directly accessible on these routes. Conversely, important destinations in the East End like Shadyside Hospital and fresh food access at the Waterfront will no longer be directly accessible for Uptown residents and Duquesne University students.

Riders have always been opposed to these changes – 640 lodged comments against them in January

Riders have long raised concerns about these proposed service changes. In January of this year, more than 640 comments were lodged in opposition to the cuts on the 71A, 71C and 71D during the BRT service public comment period. 

Many more riders in this corridor are becoming aware of these cuts now, because PRT only recently posted about these cuts at bus stops on affected routes, with an imminent implementation date. PPT is disappointed that PRT is choosing to host a meeting that is only a “question and answer session” rather than soliciting public comment now that a broad swath of the affected constituency is becoming aware of the change.

PRT transit operators are deeply concerned about the proposed changes too.

PRT transit operators are deeply concerned about the proposed changes.

Over the last several years, tensions have increased substantially between riders and operators, and have resulted in an escalation in driver assaults. Operators have raised concerns about the logistics of turning around in Oakland, about passenger confusion, and the lack of communication from PRT about the changes to both riders and the workforce. Moreover, because nearly fifty percent of existing service is being cut in the Downtown to Oakland corridor, drivers also worry of overcrowding on 61 A, B and C buses that will continue driving the route, and on keeping their route schedules on time. As the main point of contact for transit riders about PRT, operators fear that rider frustration about these dramatic service changes will continue to be misdirected at them.

Riders are speaking out against these changes – Join transt advocates on 7/29 to rally against these cuts

At the September 12th info session, dozens of transit riders will be asking questions at PRT public hearing related to anticipated impacts of these service cuts to their transit trips. But riders’ organizing will not stop there! Pittsburghers for Public Transit and riders will follow up with a rally and PRT board testimony about the impacts of these changes at 8:30 am on September 29th at 6th and Wood St Downtown. We are encouraging all riders who are impacted by these changes join us at the Board Meeting to speak up for more service, not less.

Take Action Now to Expand Transit Funding in PA!

image description: photo of a person wearing a yellow shirt riding a bus, next to superimposed text that reads, “Tell PA Lawmakers: Support Public Transit. Paid for by Clean Air Action Fund.

Take Action Now to Expand Transit Funding in PA!

We deserve safe, dignified, reliable, public transportation, and right now the federal government has offered us unprecedented opportunity to achieve these ends.

Today, local governments cannot enact local taxes or fees to raise funds for public transportation initiatives. And with permanently-changed travel patterns since the pandemic, ridership and therefore revenue to maintain current service is facing a major cliff.

An ongoing lack of capital funding, combined with limited local matching funds, has created a backlog of maintenance and improvements that are limiting Pennsylvanians’ access to reliable transit and holding back our economy. 

As a result of these restrictions, your local transit agency does not qualify for certain streams of federal transportation dollars. All transit agencies are similarly facing major cuts to service and fare increases without quick action from the state government to ensure stable operating funds.

Show your support by contacting your legislator directly from this page.

The Benefits of Local Transit Funding Control

  1. Fund key capital projects like the return of the Reading line, the proposed Roosevelt Boulevard Subway, and the expanded East Busway
  2. Tackle essential maintenance and construction projects, including making all train and trolley stations accessible
  3. Capitalize on historic federal funds through the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act.
  4. Expand public transit access and equity 

The Opportunities of Increased Operating Support

Enable faster, more reliable, and more frequent service – the number-one priority of transit riders across demographics

Prevent catastrophic cuts to service and fare increases threatened by transit agencies across the state

Allow agencies breathing room to adjust schedules and routes to meet permanently-altered post-COVID travel patterns

2 Bills, 1 Chance for the Commonwealth

Public transportation operates in all 67 counties in Pennsylvania; this isn’t just an urban issue.

Proposed legislation (HB 1307, HB 902) eliminates barriers to local funding, allowing local experts and lawmakers in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and local governments  across the state to plan and prioritize much-needed capital projects.

If passed, this legislation would give local municipalities the freedom to adjust local funding to supplement existing state funding.

Better Transit Now and in the Future

Local control gives SEPTA, PRT and other local transit systems the ability to invest in critical capital projects and maintenance that will ensure safe and reliable ridership for decades to come.

Projects like:

  • Reading Line Extension
  • Pittsburgh Regional Transit East Busway Extension
  • Making all SEPTA stations and vehicles ADA-compliant

A Historic Opportunity

This legislation comes at a critical time, as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have created a once-in-a-generation opportunity for local governments to capitalize on federal funding and dollar-matching programs. Our agencies are also facing major deficits, as COVID emergency funds disappear.

Unless lawmakers act now, Pennsylvania will miss out on these federal dollars for major projects, and also leave agencies scrambling to make cuts and increase fares to make up for funding deficits. Use this widget and tell your elected officials: Support these bills. Support local transportation control. Support stable and reliable transit for Pennsylvania.

What exactly are the benefits of local transit funding control?

image description: an animated infographic details the benefits of local transit funding control: 1. Fund key capital campaigns like the return of the Reading Line, the Rosevelt Blvd Subway, the expanded East Busway. [next to an image of buses and trains] 2. Capitalize on historic federal funds through the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act [next to an image of a train, bridge and money] 3. Tackle essential maintenance and construction projects, including making all train and trolly stations accessible. [next to an image of accessibility symbols] 4. Expand public transit access and equity. [next to an image of raised hands of different skin tones]

Some 61s and 71s will stop running to downtown. Here’s how to give feedback.

image description: two maps show how the 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D will turn around in Oakland

Major changes are being proposed to the 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D. Riders have two opportunities to give feedback before they take effect on October 1

Pittsburgh Regional Transit has announced that some major changes to service on the 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D will go into effect on October 1st. The changes are being brought on as part of the BRTX project between Oakland and Downtown, but that project is still years from being finished. Riders have been outspoken about the fact that these changes would cut off their easy access to healthcare, jobs, food and schools. Pittsburgh Regional Transit has two opportunities this month to speak up about how these changes will impact you.

Sign up here to rally with PPT and speak up about these changes on September 29th @ 8:30am

What are the changes that are being proposed?

The 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D will turn around in Oakland and rejoin their traditional outbound route. This means riders on these routes will lose the direct connections to Downtown and Uptown. Destinations like Mercy Hospital, Duquesne University, and PPG Paints Arena – where thousands of people travel for jobs, healthcare, higher education, and recreation daily- will no longer be directly accessible to these routes. Conversely, riders in Uptown will lose direct access on these routes to locations in Oakland, East Liberty, Highland Park, Larimer, Homewood, Point Breeze, Park Place and Wilkinsburg.

These changes may also result in overcrowding on the few buses that will continue into towntown. AND, it will that riders who pay cash fares will need to pay DOUBLE the fare to transfer to a new bus in Oakland.

Sign up to join advocates to rally and give public testimony at the PRT Board Meeting on September 29th at 8:30am

Join the Labor Parade With Transit Riders and Transit Workers

image description: Flyer for PPT’s delegation with ATU Local 85 for the 2023 Labor Day Parade. Includes a photo of PPT holding our banner with ATU Local 85 at the 2014 Labor Day Parade. ATU members are wearing blue shirts. A red Port Authority is in the background as we round the corner from Sixth ave onto Grant Street. Details for the event are included: “September 4th, 10am-1pm, meet 10am at 91 Crawford St, reach out to info@pittsburghforpublic transit if you need a ride, if you have questions, or if you have any other accessibility needs”

Join PPT and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 to march in the 2023 Labor Day Parade!

PPT is a grassroots union of both transit riders and transit workers. We know that we are the ones using the system every day and that together, we have the knowledge needed to improve conditions for us all. One of our most fun celebrations of this community-union solidarity is when we march in the Pittsburgh Labor Day Parade – which is the oldest Labor Day Parade in the country!

You can join us at 9am for breakfast with our transit workerf friends from Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 85, at 91 Crawford St, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, right across from Freedom Corner. After breakfast, we’ll head to our spot in the parade lineup. The parade steps off at 10am, but we probably won’t be moving until 10:15. A 40′ PRT bus will join us for the march! We’ll walk our route (approx 1 mile) and then walk back to the start. If anyone needs rides to the event, or back to the start, just reach out to let us know: info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org.

RSVP below to join us and show solidarity with the labor that keep our city moving – September 4th, 10am-1pm. Meet 10am at St Benedict the Moore and reach out to info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org with questions or accessibility needs.

It’s Simple: More Workers = More Service = More Riders = More Justice

Image Description: PPT logo foregrounded over an image of bus riders waiting at the Wood Street Station

The reinstatement of fired transit workers will provide some immediate relief to our current service crisis. But in order to create public transit that gets us to more places, more quickly, with more reliability, PRT must show us how they plan to treat existing workers with dignity and hire more.

Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) celebrates the reversal of the vaccine mandate, which opens the door for the 80 experienced transit workers who were fired 1.5 years ago to return to their jobs. This is an important step towards addressing our regional transit crisis of on-going service cuts and unreliable transit schedules, and a step towards improving workforce morale at PRT. 

Riders and workers deserve both quality service and safety on public transit. Although PRT claimed to be uplifting rider safety, the March 2022 decision to abruptly terminate 80+ seasoned transit workers came at the expense of both service quality and safety. The result has been years of buses overcrowded with riders (who vastly outnumbered drivers on any bus, and were vaccinated at a far lower rate than operators), and ghost buses that left riders at the curb.

It added insult to injury when Pittsburgh Regional Transit lifted the masking requirement on public transit– likely the most effective COVID-19 preventative measure– just a month after firing dozens of frontline workers for not being vaccinated. The harm of the vaccine mandate terminations have been compounded by the fact that hundreds of transit workers have reached or are hitting retirement age this year and next, creating a predictable frontline workforce gap that now numbers over 200 employees.

We need more and better transit service in Allegheny County. But to have more access to more places and better quality transit service means that PRT must get serious about the hiring and retention of transit workers. Show us the plan.

Transit workers are heroes; we need to treat them with dignity and we need more. Our region’s economic prospects rely on it. Our region’s climate prospects rely on it. Our transit riders and the grocery stores, doctors’ offices, schools, parks, libraries and families that they visit demand it.

The reinstatement of fired transit workers will provide some immediate relief to our current service crisis, but will not be enough on its own to restore and expand service to pre-pandemic levels. And we demand a plan from PRT.

This Spring, ATU Local 85 President Business Agent Ross Nicotero laid out several policies that PRT could implement now to grow our region’s transit workforce; we urge our County leadership to listen to his expertise.

Sign on to support a vision for transit service that meets all of our needs. PPT is building this vision arm in arm with our transit workers, because we are a Union of transit riders and workers, and because we know that without our collective expertise and experiences, there is no transit system.

Special Photos: Magic Times at PPT’s 2023 Summer Picnic!

image description: PPT Members Alejandro, Laura, and Nicole pose for a photo under the Mellon Park Pavilion at PPT’s Summer Picnic

PPT Members know how to organize – and party! 100 members celebrated our victories at Mellon Park. And wrapped up a successful Summer Membership drive that brought on 115 new and renewing PPT Members!

image description: PPT Members give ideas for PPT’s 2024 Strategic Plan by putting colored post-it notes on poster paper.

Wednesday, August 9th, was our 2023 PPT Family Picnic and we had a ball. 100 PPT Members, their friends, and family gathered in Mellon Park to celebrate the victories that we’ve won so far in 2023 and have a whole lotta fun with our crew. We got to hang out, eat great food, listen to inspiring speakers, groove to fun DJs and party into the evening. Events like these bring us together as an organization. We build bonds with other members and create connections to our work. This develops the type of trust and commitment to each other that strengthens our organization. We are fighting for each other and we love it!

But our picnic wasn’t just fun and games, we also got down to business! PPT Staff Nicole and Laura worked with PPT Members Dean, Laura, and Teaira to host a PPT Member engagement station. At the engagement station, members had their last opportunity to vote in our 2023 PPT Board Elections. They also had a chance to kick off our 2024 Strategic Planning process.

115 people joined or renewed their PPT Membership during our Summer Member Drive. You can join this community and win improvements in our communities by becoming a PPT Member today:

We want to send thanks to all of the PPT Members who joined us – especially all those who volunteered to help set up, facilitate, and break down the party. We also want to say thank you to all the PPT Members who showed up ready to speak power to why our organizing is important during the program portion of the picnic – Mel Packer, Joy Dore, Damitra Penny-Harris, Antonia Guzman, Teaira Collins, and Sascha Craig. And finally, we need to send a big loving shoutout to all of the folks who helped with their professional services: DJ Franky Nitty for spinning fun tunes all night (send DJ Frank an email djfranknitte412@gmail.com or check out his facebook to book him), Chef Khristian Sheard for providing us some DELICIOUS catering; fried chicken, pulled pork, green beans, pasta salad, kung pow coliflower, Mmmm! Mmm! (you can book her by sending an email or Facebook Message), O’Ryan the O’Mazing for dazzling us with their circus performer talents (oryantheomazing.com for info and booking).

Thanks for PRT Bus Operator Khristian Sheard for providing the catering and to DJ Frank Nitte for spinning A+ tunes all night (send DJ Frank an email djfranknitte412@gmail.com or check out his facebook to book him).

Use the arrow buttons on the image to flip through photos from the party:

230809 PPT Summer Member Picnic

Become a PPT Member Today:

Congratulations to PPT’s New Board Members!

image description: graphic includes the portraits of all 7 people who won positions on PPT’s Board of Directors in the 2023 board elections.

7 PPT Members were elected to the PPT Board until 2025

Pittsburghers for Public Transit is unique in having a fully democratically, member-elected Board of Directors. Every year, half of the general member seats are voted upon for a two-year term, as well as one of the two specific seats allocated for members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). The PPT Board of Directors is comprised of some of our most active organizational leaders, and sets PPT’s strategic direction, oversees staff and the finances of the organization. This summer, because dozens of PPT members called their peer PPT activists, we had a record number of new members join the organization for the Summer Membership Drive, vote in the Board elections, and party down with us at the Summer Member Picnic!

Congratulations to the PPT Members who were elected to the Board for the 6 PPT General Member seats: Ms. Teaira Collins, Bonnie Fan, Paul O’Hanlon, Gabriel McMorland, Dean Mougianis, Nickole Nesby. And congratulations to Kevin Joa, who was elected into the PPT Board seat reserved for unionized transit workers.

We’re thrilled and humbled by the level of wisdom, dedication, and love that these folks bring to the PPT community. It must be said, however, that all of the candidates that ran for the Board are incredible, selfless and deeply appreciated members of our community.

Become a PPT Member today to build the power of our grassroots union

Read some more about the PPT Members who were elected to the Board in our 2023 Board Elections:

Bonnie Fan (they/them)

Image Description: Bonnie Fan speaks at a rally outside Carnegie Mellon University

Bonnie worked in transit for four years before coming to Pittsburgh, seeing laid bare the lack of regard for operators, the policing of riders, and the power-grabbing mindset of management that prevented any kind of internal change possible. While joining Otolunji Oboi Reed’s Equiticity campaign prior, they found a stronger force in mobility justice worked centered in Black and Brown communities.

Seeing the work made possible with PPT’s grassroots mobilization has changed the way Bonnie orients her work. In seeing the narrative arcs of other cities play out, especially for post industrial cities, they are deeply concerned by the secret privilege of private developers, universities and tech companies when it comes to how the public domain should be made and who it should be made for. In this landscape, also complicated by political and financial relationships, PPT has been one of the few where grassroots voice has been able to fight and win for riders and workers without compromise.

Much of the other work they are involved in is against predictive policing and #NoTechForICE – all of which falls in the realm of tools and decisions made in favor of existing oppressive power dynamics.

Dean Mougianis (he/him)

Image Description: Photo of Dean Mougianis holding his video camera on a bus trip to Harrisburg

Dean Mougianis has been a media producer for forty years and an educator for twenty-five. Dean began his media misadventures on a gap year (well, several) in his education when he fell in with a group of people who had the audacious idea of founding a radio station. This became WYEP-FM. He later transitioned to video, worked in a variety of production facilities, then struck out on his own as a freelancer. As a producer, writer, video editor and motion graphic artist, Dean has worked with a wide range of commercial clients, had enough of that, and began working instead for non-profit, labor, and social service clients.

Somewhere in mid-life, Dean decided to pay back the legacy of many people who taught him so much and sought out teaching opportunities. As an educator for the past twenty-five years, Dean has taught courses and workshops in various aspects of video production from beginner to advanced for Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Grove City College, Laroche College, and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. An early convert to digital media, Dean now specializes in teaching motion graphics and animation.

Dean sees his primary role in assisting and advancing PPT’s communications and media efforts. Along with this he wishes to help develop membership participation and leadership and do what he can to connect PPT to broader transit advocacy coalitions at the state and national level.

Gabriel McMorland (she/her)

Image Description: Gabriel McMorland smiles, looking down, with a blue ribbon on her shirt

Gabriel is a white trans woman, who is also blind and transit-dependent. She has been active with PPT since 2015, and was previously on the Coordinating Committee from 2017-2022. Gabriel was very involved with the Don’t Criminalize Transit Riders campaign and early service campaigns, and on the current campaign around scooters and sidewalks. She was the Community Organizer at The Thomas Merton Center from 2014-2017, and TMC’s Executive Director from 2017-2023, doing work that ranged across racial justice, ecological defense, labor solidarity, immigrant rights, and other moves towards liberation. She is also a musician, and played bass in the live performance of Wheels on the Bus at PPT’s end-of-year celebration. 

Gabriel invests time and leadership into PPT because she needs PPT to succeed. She has seen many times how PPT includes the sidewalks, curb cuts, and crosswalks as part of the overall transit system, and how PPT has centered people with disabilities to ensure that everyone’s needs are served. She believes that the outcomes of PPT’s work are practical, tangible, and truly affect peoples’ lives: PPT enacts its radical values of racial justice and worker justice, and makes them real through organizing. Gabriel’s vision for PPT is to ensure that organizing and leadership development continue to be at the heart of PPT’s work. 

Nickole Nesby (she/her)

Image Description: Mayor Nesby smiles for a selfie in front of a white wall

The honorable Mayor Nickole Nesby is a dedicated public servant with 20 years’ experience in legislative government. In November 2017, Nesby successfully unseated incumbent Phillip Krivacek to become the first female and African American to head the city of Duquesne, PA. She was elected to PPT’s Coordinating Committee in 2019 and is now running for her third term.

No stranger to socioeconomic disparity, Ms. Nesby was born in McKeesport, PA. Her parents were hard working steel mill workers. One of seven siblings who she had to raise when her mother fell victim to the crack epidemic, she refused to allow poverty to derail her goal of attaining higher education. Nesby recently completed her fourth degree, an MBS from Northcentral University in Organizational Leadership Specializing in Nonprofit. While Mayor Nesby has no children of her own, she works to build spaces where all her community’s children can succeed.

As a first-term mayor, Nesby is dedicated to improving the quality of life for Duquesne’s population of 5,481. Plagued by systemic poverty, illiteracy and incarceration, 80% percent of its residents are welfare recipients and of that number, half have criminal records.  Deemed the worst-performing school system in Pennsylvania, Duquesne was forced to close its high school in 2007.

Duquesne’s future may appear bleak, but Mayor Nesby’s aspiration is to make Duquesne a better place to live. She works so that residents have a quality education, affordable housing, better transportation, healthcare, and parks. These are the things that all people deserve, and they can be real by working together.

Paul O’Hanlon (he/him)

Image Description: Paul O’Hanlon sitting in his wheelchair outside in a garden.

My name is Paul O’Hanlon, I’m a retired lawyer.  From 2001 to 2014, I worked for a disability rights law firm, and before that I was the Senior Housing Attorney and Housing Unit Chief with Neighborhood Legal Services Association in Pittsburgh.

I caught the “transit bug” in 1991.  At that time Port Authority began the long process of becoming accessible to passengers in wheelchairs.  Since that time I’ve been involved in advocating for the best, most accessible, area-wide and affordable public transit.  

I have been involved in a number of advocacy issues in Allegheny County, particularly around housing, accessible public transportation, and voter engagement.

Teaira Collins (she/her)

Image description: Teara Collins holds a megaphone while speaking at a PPT rally in 2020

Teaira Collins is a lifelong transit rider, a Hazelwood community leader, a mother and foster mother, and now a grandmother to six grandchildren. Ms. Teaira met Laura Chu Wiens while at Port Authority testifying for improved transit service in Hazelwood, and has since become a leader in PPT’s Our Money, Our Solutions campaign for weekend service on the 93 and the extension of the 75. Ms. Teaira spoke at the City Council Capital Budget hearing press conference about the Mon-Oakland Connector alongside Barb Warwick, and on behalf of PPT during the Poor People’s Campaign Jubilee Caravan. She recently traveled to Atlanta on behalf of PPT on a delegation to connect with other Human Rights organizers across North America, and raise the important connections between public transit, housing, healthcare and food access. She is very active in the community, volunteering with The Mission Continues to help veterans and with the Hazelwood Family Support Center to uplift young mothers. Ms. Teaira also runs her own non-profit to advocate for those like her son Judah and other famlies with children who have Down Syndrome, and fundraises for the National Kidney Foundation to help research related to her daughter’s health. 

Ms. Teaira’s excited about winning weekend service for underserved neighborhoods like Hazelwood, and is passionate about fighting for reliable and safe transit for all communities. She is dedicated to the fight for a permanent low-income fare program because it is needed now more than ever for all communities. Ms Teaira Collins has been:

  • A Hazelwood leader in PPT’s Our Money, Our Solutions campaign to create a resident-based mobility alternative to the Mon-Oakland Connector
  • A PPT organizing fellow for the FairFares campaign and helped sign up dozens of riders for the pilot program
  • A Volunteer and community advocate for The Mission Continues, Hazelwood Family Support Center, PPS PTA, and for people with Down Syndrome and Kidney Disease.
  • A Member of the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council Board of Directors

Kevin Joa (he/him)

Image DescriptionL Kevin Joa wears his PRT uniform for a selfie in front of a chainlink fence

Kevin is a Port Authority bus operator and member of ATU Local 85. He was first elected to PPT’s Coordinating Committee in 2019 and won his re-election in 2021. Kevin has taken part in PPT campaigns to encourage Port Authority board members to ride transit; push for expanded transit funding in PA; and build more affordable housing near great transit. Kevin was part of bus ride-alongs with County Executive candidates to lay out demands for policies that support transit riders and workers for the new leadership of the region. He was most recently quoted on WESA for speaking out at the Pittsburgh City Council hearing about the Spin scooter pilot program about the ways that he’s observed the e-scooters affecting transit access at bus stops. 

Before joining Local 85 as a bus operator, Kevin worked at a local public school system. Kevin also is a proud owner of a beautiful dog!

Big Service Changes: PRT plans to stop service on the 61D, 71A, 71C, 71D to Uptown and Downtown

image description: Repost from Twitter.com, a flyer from PRT reading “Starting Sunday, October 1, 2023, the 61D, 71A, 71C and 71D will no longer serve Uptown and downtown Pittsburgh. The above routes will turn around at Robinson Street and begin their outbound trips on Forbes (61D) or Fifth (71A-C-D) avenues. Riders heading to Uptown or downtown Pittsburgh can transfer to the 61A, 61B, 61C or 71B (no routing changes are being made to those routes. Transfers within three hours are free with a ConnectCard or mobile payment. Riders paying with cash must play another fare.” It shows two maps of proposed routing changes on the 61A and then on the 71A, 71C, 71D.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) has posted a date for major service changes coming to the 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D this Fall. These changes will significantly impact riders going to healthcare centers, universities, jobs, shopping destinations, Pittsburgh neighborhoods, and surrounding boroughs.

How will these changes impact you? Share your story now.

PRT’s Downtown to Oakland Bus Rapid Transit project, now called PRTX, has been in the works for more than a decade, and the agency has just posted notices to riders with a confirmed date for the first round of service changes accompanying this project:

October 1, 2023.

In this blog, we are focusing on these recently widely-published changes for BRT routes. If you want more info on what riders have been saying about these service changes and this project, read our previous blogs at the end. 

What is happening to the 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D?!

image description: maps show the new routes being proposed for the 61D, 71A, 71C, 71D where all will turn around in Oakland at Robinson St.

PRT’s new Bus Rapid Transit service plan will have major impacts for the 61D, 71A, 71C, 71D. Their plan says that these routes will turn around in Oakland and no longer service Uptown and downtown. For example: 

If you need help visualizing this: The 61D will go down Fifth Avenue to Robinson Street, turn around at Robinson, make a right on Craft, then turn left and left onto Forbes Avenue. The bus will then become outbound. For the 71A, 71C, and 71D the buses will go inbound via Fifth Avenue until Robinson Street, turn around, then go back on to Fifth Ave but in the opposite direction this time, going outbound. 

The 61A, 61B, 61C, and 71B will all continue from the start of the routes through downtown and be able to use the BRT bus-only lanes. 

*Wait, you say “what about the P3”-(wasn’t that one of the routes slated for changes as well)?  Good question. We published a previous blog on the win for riders reversing the proposed routing changes to the P3.*

So, what does this mean for riders??

1. Loss of direct connections:

With the 61D, 71A, 71C, and 71D ending in Oakland, riders will lose the direct connections to Downtown and Uptown. Destinations like Mercy Hospital, Duquesne University, and PPG Paints Arena – where thousands of people travel for jobs, healthcare, higher education, and recreation daily- will no longer be directly accessible to these routes. 

Conversely, these changes will also mean Uptown residents will lose direct access via these routes to Shadyside Hospital, Hillman Cancer Center, Neighborhood of Homewood, and other points in the East End. 

Uptown riders would also lose a direct connection using the 61D to the Waterfront shopping destination in Homestead. 

Some riders from Homewood would lose a direct connection to Uptown destinations – Mercy Hospital or Duquesne University. They are forced to transfer to a different bus in Oakland, which could add time to a trip.

2. Service Frequency Reduction and Overcrowding:

The 61A, 61B, 61C and 71B will now have riders from the short-turned buses getting on to continue to travel downtown

All of the redundancy of routes that we currently see on 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D and 71A, 71B, 71C, 71D between Oakland to Downtown made service really frequent. Reducing the routes serving the corridor between Oakland to Downtown by half means that riders will have less service frequency in that corridor.

3. Double Fare for Cash Paying Riders:

While riders will still be able to access these locations mentioned above, a transfer will now be required (which means the overall trip will take longer, and people paying cash will need to pay an additional $2.75).

In a previous blog post, we’ve discussed the disproportionate cost burden faced by riders who pay with cash. Read New Fare Changes Leave Largest Inequities In Place for more info.

4. Accessibility on Transit: 

New transfers may cause additional burden onto disabled riders who will have to exit and then reboard a connection going inbound or outbound in Oakland.

5. Modest Service Increases on 61B, 61C, 71B, 82, 87, P1, P3, and P7:

To alleviate hardship on riders who are losing direct connections to downtown on the 61A, 61B, 61C and 71B, PRT has added modest service increases on the 61B, 61C, 71B, 82, 87, P3, and P7. Additionally, service will be increased on the P1.

How else would these changes impact you? What can riders do now?

Clearly, riders have a lot to say about how these changes could impact how, when, and where they take transit. If you take the 61D, 71A, 71C, 71D, we want to hear how this will affect you. Tell us your story by completing this form or emailing us at info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org. We will be organizing with a lot of affected riders and transit workers to speak up about the impact of these changes in the coming weeks.

You can get involved in our organization by visiting the “Get Involved” tab and registering for our Monthly Meeting on September 13, 2023.

Share your story and advocate for change

Get your tickets now! PPT’s Summer Member Picnic

image description: flyer for the PPT Membership Summer Picnic includes animations of PPT board members chatting and having fun getting ready to board a bus, with a purple background and confetti. Details say the picnic is August 9th 6-9pm at Mellon Park there will be dinner, music, and transit family.

PPT Members! RSVP below to join us at our Summer Picnic
August 9th, 6-9pm at Mellon Park Shelter

PPT Members are making waves and its time to celebrate <3

Whether its a victory to center disabled people as leaders in City planning, or elect a transit champion to be the next County Executive, or increase funding for local transit, or launch a program to give free fares to all low-income households in Allegheny County, PPT Members are making waves and its time to celebrate.

PPT is hosting this picnic to celebrate the incredible effort that its Members are putting into this organization. Members are volunteering on our committees, creating our strategic plan, electing our leaders, and building our base. We are winning our campaigns left and right because of it.

We want all PPT Members to join us on August 9th at the shelter in Mellon Park across from 6602 Fifth Ave, for an evening of great food, good people, and fun music.

Reach out to info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org or 312.307.2429 with any questions.

image description: photo of the 2022 summer picnic has PPT members doing a line dance together underneath a city park shelter.

Details for the PPT Summer Member Picnic

What to expect: the event will be a casual outdoor picnic. Folks should wear whatever makes them comfortable, but don’t be afraid to bring some fun flare and spunk to your outfit. The picnic will be on August 9th at the Mellon Park shelter across from 6602 Fifth Ave from 6-9pm. There will be a full dinner served free to all PPT Members who RSVP. Music will be provided by our friend DJ Frank and dancing will certainly happen. PPT members will facilitate some planning around a new campaign that we’re launching to improve transit frequency and reliability in the county. And PPT members from different campaigns will talk about what it takes to win and what it means for their families and our communities. Attendees do not feel obligated to attend the entire event, so feel free to arrive and leave at whatever times work best for you.

Accessibility: The Mellon Park Shelter has some important accessibility features. The shelter provides some good cover and picnic table seating for a few dozen people. There is also ample space to socialize outside the shelter. There will be some pop-up tents for the DJ and food service. There is a paved pathway from the lower parking lot up a small hill. The bathrooms are indoors and accessible. They are a 2-4 minute walk from the shelter along a paved walkway and across a parking lot. There will be a DJ playing music outside the shelter, which could be loud, but we will do our best to play it at a volume that is comfortable for all attendees.. Attendees should be ready for variable mid-August weather and lighting. There will be interpretation in both ASL and Spanish upon request.

Food: Full dinner will be served to all PPT Members who RSVP. Veggie/vegan/gluten-free options will be available. Water and other non-alcoholic beverages will be available.

Getting there: The Mellon Park Shelter is across from 6602 Fifth Ave, near the corner of Fifth and Penn. There are a number of bus stops within a close walk. On Penn Ave side of the park, the 71C and 88 will drop you off with a 2-4 minute walk to the shelter along paved paths. On the Fifth Ave side, the 28X and 71D will drop you off with a 1-3 minute walk to the shelter along paved paths. There is bike parking and car parking in the Mellon Park parking lot which is a 1-3 minute walk to the shelter.  If you need help with transportation, contact PPT to discuss options, 312.307.2429 or info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org.

COVID procedures: Event will be outdoors with areas to socialize under the shelter and in the areas surrounding it. Masks are not required. We also encourage everyone to take an at-home COVID rapid test before arriving. Please stay home if you are feeling sick or have come into contact with someone who has COVID-19.

FACEBOOK EVENT HERE + SPANISH/ENGLISH FLYER BELOW
EVENTO DE FACEBOOK AQUÍ + FOLLETO EN ESPAÑOL/INGLÉS ABAJO