PPT members are ready to organize for transformation
Pittsburghers for Public Transit is proud to announce that we far exceeded even our reach goal for the organization’s 2020 year-end fundraiser – “Transit Towards Transformation” – with over 320 people helping to raise $19,500! These dollars and the community who raised them are absolutely essential for keeping our advocacy moving forward.
The American system is built on inequity. As we started in 2020, 140 milllion people were in poverty. Tens of thousands were without healthcare, struggling with education, crushed with debt, and on the brink of eviction. Then COVID hit, and things got far worse.
The pandemic has decimated transit systems, the riders who rely on them, and the cities and states that they move. The only way that we can support each other and defend our freedom to move is to organize together.
This incredible support for PPT amidst this time shows we are ready to organize for transformation.
Together in 2020, the PPT community:
- WON WEEKEND SERVICE on 99% of local routes
- DEFUNDED THE MON OAKLAND CONNECTOR and moved $4-million to fund affordable housing, sidewalks, and support to small black-owned businesses
- WON AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEAR GREAT TRANSIT, and showed that essential community benefits – like affordable housing, improved transit, food access, and safe streets – can be built by eliminating structured car parking in new developments
- STABILIZED TRANSIT SYSTEMS AMID COVID-19 BY SECURING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN FEDERAL STIMULUS FUNDS – PPT worked in collaboration with advocates across the country and the county to win $40 billion for transit systems across the country and $313 Million for the Port Authority
- WON AN EQUITABLE REDISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE to meet the needs of riders in low-income communities with higher rates of transit ridership who were experiencing overcrowding on buses due to COVID-19 restrictions
- DISTRIBUTED THOUSANDS OF MASKS to keep transit riders and workers safe during the COVID-19 crisis.
- FOUGHT FOR #FairFares – Launched advocacy for an emergency fare program to help low-income riders weather COVID-19
- LAUNCHED A STATEWIDE TRANSIT RIDER ORGANIZING PROJECT with the Philly Transit Riders Union that will play an essential role in elevating transit riders’ voices for increased transit funding in PA.
- MOBILIZED 80+ ORGANIZATIONS TO DEFEND TRANSIT FUNDING IN PA and block a dangerous proposal to move transit funding into the state’s general fund
- ORGANIZED A NATIONAL COALITION OF TRANSIT RIDER UNIONS with groups in 20 cities across the country – from Atlanta to New York, to Boston, to Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, and more – to build skills and expand the network of riders advocating for equitable transit in their cities.
More is ahead for 2021. These campaigns and victories will only expand as we build our base and sharpen our vision for change together.
We want to send a huge thank you to the 280 people who donated to the year-end fundraising campaign, and the 40 people who volunteered to help make it a success. We want to send a special thank you to Ms. Teaira Collins, Ms. Terri Minor Spencer, Ms. Cindy Rulli, and Ms. Nora Kelley who all shared their stories as people who lead successful campaigns for weekend service.
Most of all, thank you to everyone who has been active with PPT over the last year. Whether you came to a meeting, canvassed bus riders, signed a petition, or followed PPT’s newsletters and social media – we all contributed to this success. We all make this work impactful.
We have what it takes to transit toward transformation. Please invite your people to join PPT, to come to a meeting, to donate, to subscribe. We are showing that democratic grassroots organizing can bring change and we all need to be involved.