image description: Hilltop Fellows pose while canvassing bus stops to connect with riders

PPT’s new Organizing Fellowship in the South Hilltop Communities is building new leaders to grow our movement and win better transit service. Every few weeks we’re publishing interviews with our fellows with our takeaways. Here’s our first publication in the series!

In October, PPT launched a new organizing fellowship in the South Hilltop. With generous help from multiple organizations including the Hilltop Alliance, Brashear Association, Ms. Charlene Saner and Councilman Anthony Coghill’s office, PPT recruited 7 fellows from across the South Hilltop area to explore public transit access, infrastructure, financial barriers, and equitable development.

Examples of these topics include:

Canvassing in your community to meet riders and build your base,
Learning about bus shelter and sidewalk expansion and improvement,
Winning improved service through Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT’s) Bus Line redesign process,
Enrolling South Hilltop residents into the half-fare program, Allegheny Go, and advocating for a fully free program,
Zoning/land use relationship connecting access to housing and quality transit.

So far, we have met our 7 amazing fellows in two classroom sessions. The first was an introduction to past and present PPT campaigns with special guest Teaira Collins speaking to winning weekend service on the 93, followed by a brief training on powermapping. Our second classroom session covered transit service, exploring what visionary service could look like with buses that run frequently, are accessible to all riders in the county, and run late and on weekends when we need it. We were able to compare maps of service past and present with former Program Manager of Service Planning and Schedules, Fred Mergner. We talked about the connections that people wish were easier to get to by transit from the Hilltop, including to grocery stores, church service in the Hill District, and family in Hazelwood.

*Image description: South Hilltop Fellows comparing maps of present and past service*

Interview with our first fellow

Key Takeaways from the Hilltop Fellowship so far:

Our newly launched fellowship in the South Hilltop aims to build transit rider power and find ways to advocate for safer, more accessible, and more reliable transit
Our fellows identified the disconnect between PRT’s planning of service with riders’ lived experiences
Effective rider advocacy requires overcoming feelings of powerlessness to change civic infrastructure

PPT: What are one or two things you feel like you’ve learned from the fellowship so far?

Fellow: I’ve learned more just about some of the struggles and the fights just to maintain and provide the service. Learning about the campaigns and the actions that have been taken, I didn’t really realize how many people have been involved. It’s like what we saw in the video today – neighbors just really coming together and fighting for their service.

I grew up riding buses. Even now relying on the car a bit more, I think I have lost some of the perspective of transit issues. But I will say for myself, I would use transit more if it was more available. I honestly don’t like feeling like I have to drive a car everywhere.

It can be convenient, but it’s also a hassle, having a car. Maintaining it, getting the gas. I mean, I’d rather sit on a bus and read a book.

If I could drive a car less – and I understand a lot of people don’t have that option – but If we could get back to where we had more service I would be able to use [transit] every day.

PPT: Earlier you said, you used to ride the bus a lot more. How has your ability to get to the places that you need to get to changed in the past few years completely?

Fellow: Like I was saying earlier, one of the buses that I used all the time ran every 10 minutes and I’m not sure what it is now but now it’s maybe every 17-18. I was still riding it and it was definitely more like 20 minutes, which isn’t huge but that is double the time. When you’re trying to get to work or any little thing that happens if it’s late, then you’re late.

The service used to be so constant and it ran early and late. The routes were more plentiful and the service was just more frequent. It’s a lot harder now because it’s not going everywhere it used to go. It’s just taking more time, and stops have been eliminated. You used to walk a certain distance that’s even greater now. I’m fairly healthy, but I just had a medical incident recently. Another two blocks and I’m not making it. That was one that I wasn’t even thinking about earlier, but all the stops that have been eliminated just makes it harder for people, especially if you’re limited in your ability or in any way.

PPT: What do you think PRT is missing or underestimating when they are planning reliable and safe service in the South Hilltop?

Fellow: I honestly wonder if they’re really thinking of the actual human beings that are using the service, how they’re using it. Are they thinking of actual people or just this broad idea of bus service or transit service?

I’m not sure they’re thinking about this mom with her young child that she has to get to daycare and then she has to get to work and then when she comes home, she’s stopping at the store and how that looks and where she needs. I don’t think they’re looking at the human aspect with the time frames.

I’m newer to this area but I do get the sense, the Hilltop is kind of a forgotten area a little bit. I live in Bon Air, which I know it’s very car centric. We have a bus that comes through the neighborhood and a T-stop. The bus that comes through the neighborhood is limited service – it doesn’t go downtown. The T-stop is down the hill down steps. So it’s one thing if you can get down there, but coming back up… oh my gosh.

I don’t know exactly how much ridership is within the neighborhood, but I do see people using the service. I think that was talked about being eliminated, the 54D. So I feel like we maybe are not a high priority compared to some other areas.

PPT: If you and your neighbors wanted to come together to advocate for better transit, what do you think is an important first step and what would people need to get started to feel like they can speak up too an agency like PRT?

Fellow: I don’t know, I think it would probably be good to get out and talk to neighbors, just to gauge and see if people are happy with how it is. What are things that people would like to see happen? And then maybe, you know, if we could get a group of people together and then go figure out the next step.

Once we have a group of people and some thoughts of what the needs are then figure out who we go to from there.

PPT: You’re doing this already. You’re here!

Fellow: I’d like to actually go and meet people and talk, like to people waiting for the bus.

PPT: Foreshadowing what we have planned already! We’re gonna be doing some canvassing later. In thinking about getting folks involved, what do you feel is actually the biggest barrier to that?

Fellow: I think for me prior to coming to this it was just not knowing where to go, who to talk to about it. I think other people may just not know what to do. A lot of us feel powerless – this is a big bureaucracy and we’re just little people and is anybody going to listen? Does anybody really care what we have to say? So we need to find that empowerment and some direction on knowing where you can be heard.

PPT: Great. We’ll end there, but do you have anything else you want to say?

Fellow: The one thing here where you talked about safety. It ties into all the other things. When the service is more sporadic or when the stops are further apart, I think that’s a safety issue. The hours that the bus starts and stops – if you miss that last 10 o’clock bus, where there used to be one at, you know, midnight, then you’re stranded somewhere at night. I think just reliable service, frequent service, and easy to get to stop that are lit at night are important for safety.