This year, PPT has grown and changed in ways we are thrilled and challenged by: we’ve conducted multiple paid organizing fellowships developing talent in our community, we’ve hired new staff, and we’ve brought over 25,000 new contacts into our universe (!!!), partially through the massive upscaling of our statewide campaign.
When we take stock of all these changes, we feel humbled and awestruck by the strength of our community. What we’ve accomplished in such a short time is stunning. In the course of doing this work, we’ve cultivated connections across Pittsburgh and beyond: old friends we’ve deepened relationships with, new friends we’ve brought into the fold, and organizations we’ve come to partner with.
It’s not an overstatement to say that none of this would be possible without our members. PPT members volunteer at phone banks, they chant and cheer with us at rallies, they tell us the needs of their communities, and they steer our organizations in crucial ways.
What is a PPT member?
PPT members hold the crucial privilege and responsibility of co-drafting our Strategic Plan and electing our Board of Directors. Members are also the only ones who are able to run for positions on our Board. These are vitally important functions, helping guide our organization into the future, shaping our campaigns and the way we do our work.
Until now, the official definition of a PPT “member” has been anyone who supports the Transit Bill of Rights, and contributes $2.75 or more–the cost of a PRT standard bus fare–to PPT in a given year. We intentionally kept this financial cost low to minimize barriers to participation.
But there are many folks in our community who play crucial roles in shaping our work, who don’t have the ability to contribute financially. PPT is a community, it’s a union, and it’s a democratic movement–and we never want to exclude people based on their financial situation.
That’s why we’ve decided to enact a change to the way we define membership at PPT.
New PPT membership definition
Beginning now, there are two ways someone could be considered a member of PPT:
- Someone could contribute $2.75 or more in a given year. Membership dues are a critical way we fuel our work, so we wanted to maintain this option. Folks who make this contribution will be called dues-paying members. Dues-paying members help us pay staff, run campaigns, throw events and direct actions, and generally keep the lights on with their financial contributions.
- Someone who supports our work by taking action with us in a given year–filling out an advocacy form, volunteering, attending a rally–AND attending at least one event (virtual or in person) will now be considered a member as well. This allows our membership count to more accurately reflect the many, many people who build our movement without contributing financially. Folks in this group will be simply called members.
Both groups of members will still need to sign on to the Transit Bill of Rights, our guiding statement that affirms our beliefs and theory of change.
So, how many members does PPT have?!
When we add up the number of people who have taken action with us and attended a meeting OR donated $2.75+ in the last year, we get the big, shiny, inspiring, fabulous new membership number:
Image Description: A sparkly black, white, and gold handmade sign reads “We are 1500 PPT members strong!”, as photographed through a fisheye lens. Sign lovingly made by Dan Yablonsky and Jess Cox, and photographed by Marcelese Cooper.
1,500!
If you’re a member, thank you for being part of this movement. When we started making good trouble for transit back in 2010, a movement this big and strong was our wildest dream.
If you’re not yet a member, it’s never been easier to join! Check out our events calendar for upcoming ways to plug in, and scroll through our campaign updates blog for opportunities to take action. (We’d recommend starting by taking action to support statewide transit funding!)
With solidarity and appreciation–
Pittsburghers for Public Transit staff and board