Community organizing gets the goods!! When a corporate property owner tried to remove important bus stops, more than 1500 riders spoke up to demand better – and won!
Besides Downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland, two of the busiest bus stops in our system are out front of the Giant Eagle and Target in Homestead. It was announced late-Summer that the corporation that owns the Waterfront (M&J Wilkow) wanted to remove those stops because of unsubstantiated claims about “safety”. When the announcement came, transit riders in the Mon Valley snapped into action. Within a week we had collected 1,500 signatures on a petition, we’d gotten the County Executive and Congressperson involved, and a solution was reached that maintained access for transit riders (and may even improve it in the future)!
On Monday, October 20th, PPT membrers and elected officials celebrated our win in style. We showed that this decision doesn’t just impact riders, but employees, transit workers, neighbors with disabilities, children, people who live in City of Pittsburgh and the Boroughs throughout the Mon Valley.
The issue of bus stop access is particularly important in the Mon Valley region because it is an area that has experienced disinvestment. Many communities in the Mon Valley face food and healthcare apartheid, and pedestrian infrastructure is often nonexistent or inaccessible. In this region, bus lines serve as crucial lifelines, connecting residents to jobs and essential needs.These problems would have been obvious if the people actually impacted had been involved in these talks and decisions from the very beginning.
While the decision to not remove the stops is a win, riders will not be pushed to the margins. We will not stand for our basic needs being cut due to deep prejudice. We want to recognize once again the incredible power of Black Women who have demonstrated longstand leadership and stood at the forefront of mobilizing (and spreading the riders petition) retail workers, neighbors, operators, elected officials, and so many to take action. We thank Rep. Summer Lee, Homestead Borough Vice President Mary Nesby, Homestead Resident Kristen Greene, Hazelwood Resident Tameeka Jones-Cuff, and Community Organizing Manager Cheryl Stephens.
See the news coverage:
- From Ed Blazina at the Pittsburgh Union Progress: Transit riders celebrate keeping bus stops at The Waterfront
- From WPXI: PRT riders celebrate decision to keep bus stops on Waterfront
Stay tuned as PPT continues to insist the Waterfront developers do right by transit riders. We belong here!
