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.
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