Transit riders release a new report to give the state of public transit in the City of Pittsburgh and outline steps for the City to improve it

Transit moves us. In the City of PIttsburgh, tens of thousands of residents—and the businesses that they work at and patronize—rely on affordable, timely transit service. Transit should be considered as vital to the city as other public utilities. However, over the past year, transit service in the Pittsburgh region has taken a significant turn for the worse. In 2022, Pittsburgh riders experienced a dramatic increase in overcrowded, chronically late and canceled buses and trains. Service data confirms transit riders’ poor experiences: Last year, 38 out of 105 Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) routes were below 50% reliability for at least one month. And transit must be reliable for it to be useful. If riders have a 50% certainty or less than a bus or train will show up as scheduled, they will stop using the transit system. 

PPT member and transit rider Lorena Pena recounts, “Last year when the Red Line train was not working, I struggled and my community struggled just to get around. We did not know when the shuttles were coming because they did not run on the same schedule as the train. Instead of waking up at 5:15 am for work, I had to set my alarm for 4:00 am just to ensure that I would arrive at work on time.”

On Wednesday, February 8th at 1 pm, Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) hosted a press conference to release our new report, “Representing Our Routes: The State of Public Transit and How the City of Pittsburgh Can Improve It.” At the press conference, researchers shared broad trends from the report around transit service reliability in the City and key transit destinations, and transit riders from different Council districts will give testimony about their experience using transit in this past year. PPT members and the report identify ways in which City Councilmembers can support high-quality, reliable transit in their districts, and can enact policies laid out in the Pittsburgh 100 Day Transit Platform, now adopted into Mayor Gainey’s Transition Plan.

Read Representing Our Routes: The State of Public Transit and How the City Can Improve it

Representing Our Routes’ Key Takeaways

• All City Council districts were adversely affected by poor transit service reliability in 2022.
• Residents of every City Council district rely on transit, although access to jobs and other critical destinations on transit is uneven across districts.
• There is a lack of real-time, language-appropriate communication between PRT and transit riders to communicate service disruptions, service cuts, and bus stop removals—and the harm from this was particularly pronounced during the Red Line closures in the summer of 2022.
• Transit arrival times must match the published transit schedule in order to restore the trust that individuals, service providers, and employers must have in the transit system for it to retain and grow ridership.
• As in other cities, Pittsburgh City Council members can play a role in supporting and communicating with PRT about the transit service needs of their constituents. City Council can advance the Mayor’s transit-supportive infrastructure and land use policies that were adopted into his transition plan from the Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform.

City Council can improve transit for city residents

As in other cities, Pittsburgh City Council can play an indispensable role in ensuring that our region’s public transit system is effective, equitable, and attractive that is often overlooked.

Given the current service reliability crisis facing constituents in every Pittsburgh City Council district, we need Council members to join us in calling on PRT to publish transit schedules that accurately reflect run times. That could include Council members testifying at PRT board meetings alongside transit riders, and asking that PRT to provide quarterly updates to Council on service reliability and frequency changes on routes within their districts.

If no improvements are made to service reliability, Council should call for a post-agenda hearing and invite riders and PRT leadership to discuss the issue, to explore the citywide impacts of the transit service issues, and to hear PRT lay out a timeline for improvements. Council staff members should also monitor service changes or bus stop removals that affect their districts on an ongoing basis, and serve as one important new avenue for communications between PRT and the community.

City Council can also play a more direct role in supporting public transit through land use and accessible infrastructure investments. PPT has laid out 18 specific policy recommendations in the Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform, nearly all of which have been incorporated into Mayor Gainey’s Transition Plan. In the coming weeks and months, PPT would like to suggest Council support these four priorities for advancing equitable infrastructure and land use needs:

• Council should call on the City’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) to reconvene the quarterly Complete Streets Committee. In the past, this committee had stakeholders from the community and organizations in the pedestrian, cycling and disability justice space, and helped prioritize traffic calming and pedestrian infrastructure investments. The reconstituted Complete Streets committee should have a high-level staffer from DOMI who explains how and where the City is evaluating and prioritizing sidewalk corridors for maintenance and development, streets for traffic calming, bus shelter creation and relocation, and other critical pedestrian investments. There should be space for discussion, feedback, and clear communication of the time- lines for implementation of these baseline equitable infrastructure investments.
• City Councilmembers should ensure that street planning foregrounds the need for more accessible, safer, efficient, and dignified transit stops everytime DOMI does significant street construction or redesign within their council districts.
• City Council should ensure that City Planning’s coming Citywide Comprehensive Plan requires equi- table transit-oriented development (ETOD), which marries affordable housing, density, and mix of retail and services in the communities with existing quality public transit.
• City Councilmembers should fund the forthcoming effort to provide free transit passes for all city employees, purchased at a bulk discount rate from PRT. Right now, it is cheaper for city employees to lease a monthly parking space downtown than it is to buy a monthly transit pass—a decision that also costs the city in lost revenue for the market value of those parking spaces. Providing free transit passes would incentivize better transportation behavior, reduce congestion, and be an enticing job perk to support city employee recruitment. Also importantly, it would challenge PRT to finally establish a bulk discount fare purchase program that could be made available to housing developers, large employers, and social service providers.

PPT is enthusiastic that Pittsburgh City Councilmembers have been receptive to these ideas. A majority of City Council and the Mayor’s office joined PPT at the press conference to recognize and support the need for accessible, reliable, affordable public transit for all, some even offering quotes of support

• Councilwoman Barb Warwick notes, “Forty-four percent of residents of District 5 are transit-dependent. Public transit is a top priority for me because all residents must be able to connect to the jobs, education, healthy food, and healthcare they need. Public transit should be as dependable, accessible and safe as any other utility, like water or electricity.”
• City Councilwoman Erika Strassburger says “Equitable transit-oriented development is a key priority of mine because I view it as integral to the future success of all Pittsburghers. I look forward to working with partners in City government, PRT, advocacy groups like PPT, and residents to improve access and reliability in all of our neighborhoods.” 
• “As the Representing Our Routes Report shows, our Public Transit system is in desperate need of attention. As transit riders, we should not have to worry whether or not our bus will show up when we’re leaving for work, school, or running errands. Our region must assure that everyone has access to safe, reliable, and affordable transportation so that they can navigate the city without the use of a car. In order to achieve that goal, City Government must support efforts, such as the ones included in the Mayor’s Transition Plan, that promote transit-oriented development and expanded access to public transportation,” says Councilwoman Deb Gross

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You can help PPT push for more accessible, reliable public transit.
Sign on to tell City Council: Transit Moves Us

PPT Members are meeting with City Council to talk about transit improvements.

If you can’t join them, then sign on to show support!

We’ll bring your signature and more in to these meetings to show this is an issue that City Council needs to take seriously.

Reducing Timepoints on Route Schedules Does Not Increase Schedule Reliability. Instead, it Lowers PRT Scheduling Accountability and Leaves Riders Out in the Cold for Longer.

We need a timepoint for every neighborhood and one for every transfer point.

Transit service in Allegheny County is in crisis. As our forthcoming report Representing our Routes will explain, 38 out of Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s (PRT’s) 105 routes experienced a month or more of service reliability of 50% or less in 2022. That’s appalling.

Riders have been testifying at PRT board meetings and rallying in the streets over the past year to highlight the need for PRT’s schedules to accurately reflect the run times for routes. Riders are regularly left waiting for buses that never arrive or routinely arrive late, causing them to miss work, doctor’s appointments and other critical needs. Transit operators are pressured into foregoing bathroom breaks and unfairly targeted by frustrated passengers because of route schedules that do not accurately reflect the time it takes to drive the route.  

PRT has just announced February’s quarterly service changes, which we hoped would be revised to accurately reflect the run times to make the service better for riders and transit workers both. Instead, on 9 of the 16 service trip time adjustments proposed, PRT is going to reduce timepoints on the schedule.

Let’s be clear: reducing timepoints is not the same as increasing service reliability.

Removing timepoints makes it much harder for riders to know when a bus will arrive in their neighborhood, or when/if they can make transfers between lines. With longer gaps between timepoints in the schedule, riders have to consider a larger window of time and greater uncertainty for when buses will arrive at the stops between timepoints. For instance, starting in February, the 88 Penn will only show 4 (!) stops or time points on the schedule- North Point Breeze, Children’s Hospital, Strip District, and Downtown. That means that riders in East Liberty, Friendship, and Garfield have no specific time named for when the 88 bus will arrive at their stops, and have a large window in which the bus might theoretically arrive. This will also make planning ahead for trips with transfers exceedingly difficult because route planning relies on riders being able to compare stop times on two or more published schedules (the timepoint at Negley/Penn was removed, which is an important transfer point to the 71s, 77, and 87). 

We also worry that removing timepoints shifts responsibility for timeliness and issues with missing the bus from PRT to the riders. Fewer timepoints lowers accountability for PRT by lowering the visibility of their erratic or poor on-time performance. With fewer timepoints, PRT will track fewer data points around whether their service is performing up to standard.

The worst part is that PRT can adjust schedules based on the real-time data of how long it takes for buses to arrive at stops, but despite having accurate data, the schedule planning department has not made any adjustments! (See Transit Scheduling Director Philip St. Pierre’s response about the Uptown service in response to Board member Ann Ogoreuc in the 1/19/23 PRT Board Committees meeting, at min. 20.25) This would improve service reliability dramatically, particularly in corridors where there is construction causing service delays.

Riders need schedules that make transit EASY TO USE. That means we need a timepoint for all transfer points and one for every neighborhood. And we need reliable schedules, and ones that honestly reflect the amount of service that riders have access to.

Transit riders release a new report to give the state of public transit in the City of Pittsburgh and outline steps for the City to improve it

Public transportation is a lifeline for tens of thousands of City of Pittsburgh residents. City Council representatives along with Mayor Gainey’s administration have an important but often overlooked role to play in ensuring accessible, quality public transit across all City neighborhoods.

On Wednesday, February 8th at 1 pm, join Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) for a press conference to release our new report, “Representing Our Routes: The State of Public Transit and What the City of Pittsburgh Can Do to Improve It.” Representing our Routes will provide an in-depth view of what transit looks like for constituents in each of Pittsburgh’s different City Council Districts using data and will highlight personal stories from riders. The report will also identify ways in which City Councilmembers can support high-quality, reliable transit in their districts, and can enact policies laid out in the Pittsburgh 100 Day Transit Platform, now adopted into Mayor Gainey’s Transition Plan. 

At the press conference, researchers will share broad trends around transit service reliability in the City and key transit destinations, and transit riders from different Council districts will give testimony about their experience using transit in this past year. Afterwards, riders will meet with City Council members individually to do a deep dive into the data in their respective districts and identify concrete ways that elected officials can support high quality transit that meets the needs of riders and businesses.

Press Conference and Report Release: “Representing Our Routes: The State of Public Transit and How the City of Pittsburgh Can Improve It”
Wednesday, February 8th, 1:00pm – 2:00 pm
City County Building – 5th floor outside Council Chambers

What to expect: Speakers and supporters will gather outside City Council Chambers on the 5fth floor of the City County Building to release a new report, “Representing Our Routes: The State of Public Transit and What the City of Pittsburgh Can Do to Improve It”. Attendees will hold signs in support. Printed copies of the new report will be available.

Accessibility: The City County building is an accessible space – although not the easiest to navigate. The accessible entrance to the building is on Ross Street, between Forbes and Fourth ave. Elevators are available to bring attendees to the fifth floor. Pittsburghers for Public Transit will bring some seating for those who want to participate in the rally but need to rest. There will be interpretation in both ASL and Spanish.

Getting there: the doors to City Council Chambers are on the 5th floor of the City-County Building at 414 Grant Street, though the accessible entrance is on Ross Street between Forbes and Fourth ave. Downtown Pittsburgh has plentiful transit service, but attendees should be ready to walk a few blocks from their bus stop to the event location. Bike parking is available under the building’s Portico along Grant Street. And paid car parking is available on the street or any downtown garage.

If any of these transportation modes are cost-prohibitive for you, if you have further accessibility needs, or if you have questions about the event details, please contact PPT to discuss: 703-424-0854 or info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org.

COVID procedures: Masks are encouraged indoors. 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. There is outdoor space available outside the exits/entrences along Grant Street and Ross Street.

If any of these transportation modes are cost-prohibitive for you, if you have further accessibility needs, or if you have questions about the event details, please contact PPT to discuss: 703-424-0854 or info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org.

Please sign-up below to join the event:

Big service changes proposed for buses that go through Oakland, Uptown, and Downtown – Give your feedback today!

The changes that are being proposed as part of PRT’s new Bus Rapid Transit service plan will have major impacts on the 61D, 71A, 71C, 71D, P3. What PRT is calling “minor changes” will additionally impact the 28X, 54, 67, 69, 75, 81, 83, 93. See more information about these changes below and make sure to submit public comments to PRT before the public comment period closes on February 1st!

PRT’s Bus Rapid Transit project from Downtown to Oakland has been in the works for a long time. The agency has been looking at options to better connect Oakland and Downtown since the 90’s (and arguably even earlier). You can see some of that history and more info on the project in PRT’s Purpose and Need Statement Report or on PRT’s BRT webpage. All throughout this process, Riders have been advocating for better connections and improved public process. In 2018, PPT celebrated a major victory with residents of the Mon Valley who defeated a BRT service proposal that would have severely reduced service frequency, cut their direct transit connections to downtown AND forced them to pay a transfer. 

Now that PRT has their official public comment period open to give input on the changes, it’s time for riders to pay attention and speak up again. See our summery of changes below, and how to give feedback at the bottom of this blog.

Summary of the changes

As we said before, the BRT plan is making major changes to the 61D, 71A, 71C, 71D and P3. 

The same major change is essentially being proposed for the 61D, 71A, 71C, 71D: all of these routes will turn around in Oakland and no longer service downtown. These inbound routes will turn from Fifth ave onto Craft, then turn onto Forbes to continue their outbound trip. Here is a map of that routing from PRT’s website:

The 61A, 61B, 61C, and 71B will all still continue downtown and be able to use the BRT bus-only lanes, which will likely make those routes faster and more reliable.. 

The other major change is that the P3 will no longer serve Hamnet Station, Roslyn Station or Swissvale Station on the busway. Positive changes to the P3 are that it will continue into Downtown from Oakland, and that it will gain weekend hours, running 7:00am-11:00pm. 

There are also some minor proposals for changes being made to routes that service the Oakland, Uptown, and Downtown area, the 28X, 54, 67, 69, 75, 81, 83, 93. Most of them are small routing changes, but riders should read the details on PRT’s site to give comment.

See PRT’s project page for details on the BRT Service Plan.

Potential issues

There’s always potential for issues with any change. Changes that may be benefits for some may be barriers for others. The hope, as always, is that changes will be a net benefit to riders and the system. But here’s a summary of what we see and have heard about the biggest potential issues with the proposed changes:

• With the 61D, 71A, 71C, 71D ending in Oakland, riders will lose the direct connections to Downtown and Uptown. This includes Mercy Hospital, Duquesne University, and PPG Paints Arena – where thousands of people travel for jobs, healthcare and recreation everyday. Conversely, these changes will also mean Uptown residents will lose direct access via these routes to Shadyside Hospital, Hillman Cancer Center, Homewood and other points in the East End. So while riders will still be able to access these locations, a transfer will be required (which means the overall trip will take longer and people paying cash will need to pay an additional $2.75).

• The change to the P3 will likely be concerning for riders who live near Hamnet, Roslyn, or Swissvale Stations on the East Busway, and those who use either of the park and ride lots in this section. These people will lose their fastest direct connection to Oakland. Which again means riders will be forced to transfer to the P3 at Wilkinsburg Station or take the longer 61A or 61B routes to Oakland. Again, this means a longer trip for riders and another $2.75 for those paying cash. Moreover, if P3 service changes leave Wilkinsburg as the only East Busway Park and Ride for Oakland commuters, then this poses the potential for overcrowding at that lot AND directing more cars to park at Wilkinsburg station will mean that there will be less room for affordable housing during and small business space in that station’s redevelopment.

• Although BRT plan includes a reduction of stops along Fifth and Forbes in Oakland, Uptown and Downtown, there will be some serious improvements to the amenities included at the new stations – like new shelters, benches, ticket vending machines, real-time arrival, will be included at the new “stations”. Some good news is that during the January 10 info session on this BRT service plan, PRT said that there would not be any stop consolidation on BRT routes East of Oakland. PPT has long called for Pittsburgh Regional Transit to have a clear process for demonstrating the benefit of reducing bus stops, and evaluating whether that benefit justifies any hardship it causes to riders with low-mobility who may have a difficult time reaching a farther stop.  Riders should check out the BRT plans to see exactly which stops are being removed before giving comment. 

Give feedback

Any change to our transit service will have big impacts for riders, and we encourage folks to speak up to share their feedback with PRT before the change. If you have any issues that you want PPT’s help with, please send us an email at info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org.

PRT lists four ways that people can give feedback on this service plan:

1) Written comments submitted online at www.rideprt.org/brtcomments

2) Written comment sent by U.S. mail or hand delivery to:

Pittsburgh Regional Transit

Attn: BRT Service Changes

Heinz 57 Center, 345 Sixth Avenue, Third Floor

Pittsburgh PA 15222

3) Oral comment by calling 412-566-5335 and leaving a message on a recorded line

4) Pittsburgh Regional Transit will also hold 3 public hearings on Wednesday, January 18th to receive oral public comment regarding these proposed major service changes. The first is from 10am-noon and the second is from 2pm to 4pm. These can be attended in-person or virtually. The third hearing is from 6pm to 8pm and can only be attended virtually. Please register for a time to provide oral public comment by filling out the form on this page or by calling 412-442-2000.

A new video from PPT Board Member Dean Mougianis gives a look back at our organization’s history of winning campaigns.

2012 – PPT helped to win a more stable funding stream from our state

2013-2014 – PPT worked with neighbors and bus operators to win a series of campaigns that restored and expanded transit service into neighborhoods that need it.

2016-2017 – PPT organized with neighbors in the Mon Valley to overturn a decision that would have eliminated direct service into downtown PGH and forced a transfer.

2017 – PPT worked with riders and allies at Casa San Jose, the Alliance for Police Accountability to defeat a proposal that would have placed armed police on transit to check people’s fares.

2016 – 2022 – PPT organized with neighbors in Hazelwood, The Run, and surrounding communities to defeat a proposed shuttle roadway through Schenley Park that would have exclusively benefited CMU and the Hazelwood Green development site.

2018 – 2022 – PPT worked with hundreds of riders and allies to release the #FairFares platform that outlined steps necessary for more affordable fares at Port Authority. We launched the Fair Fares for a Full Recovery Coalition, issue reports and held rallies to speak to the importance of fare affordability. In the Fall of 2022 we won a major victory when Allegheny County announced they would start a Discounted Transit Fare Pilot program to test the impact of free and reduced fares for households with SNAP/EBT benefits. Our work continues as we organize to expand this program and make it permanent for all EBT/SNAP recipients in Allegheny County.

PPT is making headlines and making history. We are shifting the idea of is possible. We are winning more affordable and accessible transit. You can help us in this work by joining as a PPT Member today!

This Bus Is For All of Us! PPT Members celebrated our year in style.

After a long year of successful organizing and after 3 years of virtual gatherings, PPT Members were ready to have a good time at our Victory Party & Year-End Celebration last Friday!

We had a lot to celebrate! We won a major milestone during the fall when it was announced that Allegheny County would launch a Discount Transit Fares Pilot Program – and that 14,000 SNAP-EBT households in Allegheny County would be able to participate. It was such a big win, in fact, that it was awarded “Best Advocacy Campaign of the Year” by TransitCenter! (TransitCenter gave PPT a big red sash as an award, which brought on the party’s theme: pageant. So members wore fabulous outfits to celebrate). This summer we celebrated the adoption of our 100-Days Transit Platform into Mayor Gainey’s transition plan. And in the spring, had a massive victory on a years-long campaign to stop the Mon Oakland Connector and re-direct that funding towards affordable housing and traffic calming.

We also celebrated the launch of a new-and-improved PPT Membership Program – and we’re up to 250 active members who are participating in our organizing.

These victories are only won when we have folks invested in this movement. Become a PPT member today and join our fight for transportation that all can access.

“I am fighting for my friends, my children, my neighbors, I am fighting for all of y’all!” – Ms. Teaira Collins, PPT Member

We really are fighting for every community to have better access to the things we need to thrive.

We want to send some big love and thanks to all of the PPT Members who joined and made our celebration so beautiful. Special shoutout to everyone who gave speeches at the party: Ricardo and Lorena for their bi-lingual opening remarks about the importance of transit to Allegheny County’s immigrant communities, to Barb for talking about how the Mon Oakland Connector’s community organizing led to her winning a PGH City Council seat, to Teaira for sharing about what fueled her fight to win the Discount Transit Fare Pilot Program, and to Dean for putting together an INCREDIBLE video on some of PPT’s history.

Thanks to all the members who took on different jobs to pull off the evening: Mona, Andrew, Verna, Cheyenne, Tracy, Bonnie, Jess, Mayor Nesby, and others.

Thanks for PRT Bus Operator Khristian Sheard for providing the catering (you can book her by sending an email or Facebook Message) 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).

AND OF COURSE, HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS! See the full album here on Flickr.

image description: below are 50 photos from PPT’s Victory Party & Year-End Celebration. There are lots of people in these shots. Photos of colorful food. Colorful outfits. Many smiles. Dancing. Wonderful transit-themed artwork. Feather boas, and crowns. A sash that says “Frequency Award”, delicious food, balloons, shiny tinsel wall decorations, and all-round fun times with loving community.

This Bus is for All of Us! Join as a PPT Member to make it real:

PPT is successful because we organize with love. We organize as a family. Be a new member of our family, and join as a PPT Member today!

PPT wins “Best Advocacy Campaign of the Year” in TransitCenter’s 2022 Frequency Awards

TransitCenter is a national foundation that works to improve public transit. Its annual “Frequencies” Awards recognize outstanding work by transit agencies, workers, and organizers to improve transit service. This year, Pittsburghers for Public Transit was awarded with the Frequency Award for “Best Advocacy Campaign,” around the low-income transit fare pilot program win. In today’s announcement of the award, TransitCenter said,

“this pilot program is a visionary way to reduce bureaucratic obstacles for accessing transit benefits, one which could become a model for the rest of the country.”

– TransitCenter

Celebrate this win with us on Friday 12/16 at our Year-End Victory Party!

Since 2018, transit riders have called for free and reduced fares in Allegheny County, and have led a countywide “Fair Fares” coalition alongside the food justice organizations Just Harvest and the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council to elevate this demand. The campaign for affordable fares included years of public testimony by riders around the need, rallies, research, petitions and more. This year, riders won a huge victory with the announcement of a year-long transit fare pilot, funded and evaluated by the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS), which is providing free and half fares to 14,000 households who are eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Access Program (SNAP). The pilot will assess the viability of a permanent zero fare program for low-income transit riders, and the impact of providing the freedom to move on health outcomes, employment, food access, childcare access and other critical needs.

“We are honored by TransitCenter’s recognition of years of transit rider organizing to achieve transit justice, by lowering the cost barriers to access,”

– Laura Chu Wiens, Executive Director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit.

This low-income fare pilot in Allegheny County has national implications.

The Low Income Fare Pilot is a study with an eye toward policy and long-term implementation, not just research outcomes. Affordable public transit improves public health, and this pilot evaluates the ways in which transportation cost barriers are a root cause around issues of housing insecurity, underemployment and unemployment, food insecurity and health care underutilization. Using SNAP eligibility to qualify people for this program does away with onerous means-testing that has plagued the rollout of low-income fare programs across the country. And the piloting of zero fares– not merely reduced fares– keeps riders from having to ration their trips to fulfill basic needs.

PPT is optimistic that the outcomes of this pilot will demonstrate the value of a zero fare system for all SNAP households in Allegheny County, and provide an effective human services-based model for public transit funding for other cities to emulate.

PPT campaign and members are profiled in Scripps news network story sent to news stations in 60 cities across the US.

Millions of people across the country are learning about PPT’s winning campaign for a Discount Transit Fare Program in Allegheny County thanks to a new report from Jessie Cohen, a national news reporter for the E. W. Scripps Company which owns more than 60 TV news stations in the US – including cities like Denver, Las Vegas, San Diego, Southern Florida, Central Texas, North Carolina, and Montana.

The new report centers around Allegheny County’s new Discount Transit Fares Pilot Program that launched this fall. It includes PPT Member, Teaira Collins, and PPT Director, Laura Wiens, who speak about the campaign for more affordable fares that riders have been organizing for years. People can learn about the program and apply to be a part of it here.

It is exciting that reporter Jessie Cohen learned about the program by reading PPT’s website. She recognized that it is a story with national significance as cities such as Washington DC, Boston, LA and Kansas City move to provide free public transportation to its citizens. We hope that sharing our story with millions of viewers in cities across the country builds the momentum to make transportation more affordable and accessible for all people.

See the story here and read it below:

Cities test out free and low cost public transportation

by Jessie Cohen

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — From point A to point B, public transit connects people to their communities. Some people, like Teaira Collins, know what it feels like for those rides to be a lifeline.

“Currently I am right above low income but not too long ago I was low income,” Collins said. “2015 I had back surgery, 2016 I had double back surgery, so I went from making $40,000 a year to making zero.”

Regardless of her own needs, she finds herself out in the community advocating for others. Collins shares a story about a mother whose life just drastically changed.

“She’s able to take her kids to the doctors, she’s able to take her kids to a basketball game or to the park to play, and now have to worry about how to get there,” Collins said.

That’s because Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is located, just embarked on a new pilot program that is providing low or no cost public transportation to low income families who are currently SNAP recipients. Those who get accepted into the pilot, will be divided into three different groups; free fares, half-price and full price. After about three months, information from the pilot will be sent to researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard University to analyze data. They will look at where and how people traveled.

[Continued…]

read the rest here

RSVP below and reach out to PPT if you have any questions or accessibility needs, 551-206-3320 or info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org.

La invitación en español está abajo

The theme for our party is “pagent” so where whatever makes you feel fabulous!

Celebrate the major win on our campaign for more affordable transit fares and a year of successful organizing.

Join PPT to celebrate all that we can make possible when we organize together as transit riders, transit workers, and neighbors. Our Victory Party will uplift the major milestone that we achieved this Fall on our campaign for more affordable fares at PRT. The campaign even won Best Advocacy Campaign of the Year in TransitCenter’s Frequency Awards! After years of organizing by hundreds of transit riders, Allegheny County announced in September that it would begin a Discount Transit Fare Pilot Program open to all EBT/SNAP recipients in the county. We’ll recap the highlights of this campaign and hear from members that were involved throughout the years.

PPT also has a lot more to celebrate from 2022! For starters, it was the first year that the organization stood on its own two feet as an independent 501c3 organization – that’s a big step! Last spring we won another years-long campaign when the newly-elected Mayor Gainey made good on his campaign promise and canceled the Mon Oakland Connector Shuttle Road through Schenley park – and we successfully redirected this money to traffic-calming projects and affordable housing. In the summer, we kicked off a new membership program and we now have 250 people involved as active dues-paying members in the organization! We also spent the year working with a Disability Justice cohort to improve our accessibility practices and involve more people in our organizing across abilities and languages.

PPT Campaign Victory Party & Year-End Celebration
December 16th, 7pm-11pm
Irma Freeman Center for the Imagination
5006 Penn Ave

What to expect: The celebration will be one to remember! The theme is “pagent” so think streamers, tinsel, and balloons, and wear whatever makes you feel fabulous! We’ll be inside at the Irma Freeman Center for the Imagination (5006 Penn Ave) from 7pm-11pm. There will be a full dinner served free to all people who RSVP. Music will be provided by our friend DJ Frank and dancing will certainly happen. PPT members will host transit-themed games. 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 Irma Freeman Center for the Imagination is an accessible space. There is a ramp into the building from the sidewalk and there is an accessible bathroom. The space has an upper and a lower area that are very close together and connected by a ramp. You enter the space into the upper area where attendees can mingle and play games. The lighting will be good and consistent in this room throughout the night. The lower area will have music, dancing, speeches, and food. Lighting may be turned down for dancing and speeches. There will be interpretation in both ASL and Spanish.

Getting there: The Irma Freeman is a storefront at 5006 Penn Ave. There is a ramp into the space. The closest bus stop is at Winebiddle and Penn Ave, a 1-minute walk away, and is serviced by the 88. The 87 and 64 both stop on Friendship Ave, a 5-6 minute walk away. The 86 and 64 both have stops on Liberty Ave, which is a 10-minute walk to the venue. There is bike parking and car parking on Penn Ave.  If any of these transportation modes are cost-prohibitive for you, contact PPT to discuss options, 551-206-3320 or info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org.

COVID procedures: Masks are encouraged indoors. 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. There is outdoor space available on the sidewalk in front of the building and through an exit at the rear of the building.

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