Image Description: Waves and a gradient of yellow, red, and blue behind white text with white doodled waves and stars

Transit riders and workers like you have been hard at work building transit justice in Pittsburgh and across the state. Join the crew to kick back, relax, and have fun with neighbors, friends, and co-conspirators at the PPT Party—register by August 7th! 🏖️

The summer party will be a casual, indoor/outdoor celebration. We'll spin fun transit-oriented tunes, share yummy food, and celebrate all the incredible growth the movement has accomplished this year—and all the growth to come. It will be family friendly, with kids’ activities and childcare providers.

There's only 3 days left to register—reserve your spot today!

Wednesday, August 12th
5:30-8:30 PM 
Olympia Park Shelter House
1010 Virginia Ave
Pittsburgh, PA, 15211

Image Description: PPT members pose in front of a PRT bus, raising fists and doing thumbs up with the operator

PPT is launching a first-of-its-kind canvassing program, designed to meet transit riders where they are: the bus!

As a Bus Captain, you'd meet, develop relationships with, and build an intentional community with fellow transit riders. You'd hold 1:1 conversations with bus operators and transit riders on their specific routes, in order to identify shared issues and organizing opportunities to make this public good work better for its primary stakeholders—you! 

If you want to bring the wisdom of riders on your routes to PPT's organizing, apply to be a Bus Captain today!

The Bus Captain pilot runs from July 2026 - December 2026. Participants will be required to spend 3-5 hours per month on their chosen bus routes, complete data entry tasks after each session, attend every monthly Organizing Committee meeting and be in regular contact with a PPT organizer. 

Image Description: a polaroid of two transit advocates cheering and raising fists at the PA Capitol

For transit riders and workers, no funding this year means means it'll be harder and more expensive to get where they need to go—with catastrophic cuts happening this year in small urban areas like Lancaster and the Lehigh Valley, and major cuts and fare hikes headed to Pittsburgh, Philly, Berks, Lehigh, Northampton, and Lancaster counties in 2027.

But that's not the end of the story.

There may not be funding this year, but the grassroots movement of transit riders and workers demanding better for PA transit has never been stronger.

Are you ready to join the swell of rider power, and set PA transit up for big wins in the 2027 budget fight? Use our tool to tell your legislators that transit needs new funding sources, now.

Image Description: Downtown Pittsburgh at night, with stickers of a dollar sign and cash

This summer, land developers asked Pittsburgh City Council to approve a major tax giveaway scheme that would give them up to $200 million in taxpayer dollars—without any requirements around public benefit. 

This so-called Downtown Transit Revitalization Improvement District (or TRID) would move tax $ from the Strip District, Downtown, and the North Shore into the wallets of private corporations—for the next 40 years. (And despite the name, there's no guarantee that any of that money would go towards transit improvements!)

PPT members and other concerned Pittsburghers turned out in force to a City Council committee meeting on July 22nd to speak out against the Downtown TRID—but Council approved it anyways, in a 6-3 vote led by Bobby Wilson and Anthony Coghill. Thanks to Councilpeople Warwick, Gross, and Mosley for their courageous stance against the plan.

This isn't the end of the story. To be fully effective, the TRID would need to be adopted by all three taxing bodies: the City, the County, and Pittsburgh Public Schools. Stay tuned for more updates as the situation progresses.

Image Description: A crowd of transit riders, City employees, and elected officials holding colorful "transit moves us" signs, and decorated with confetti

Yesterday morning, PPT members joined with elected officials and City of Pittsburgh employees to celebrate the launch of Downtown City employees' newest benefit: free transit passes through the PRTner pass program!

The City of Pittsburgh is the latest and largest employer to purchase bulk fare passes for its employees through PRT's PRTner pass program—a win-win program that PPT members have called for since 2019. 

With free transit passes on their side, hundreds of City employees will find their commutes more affordable, less stressful, safer, and more beneficial for Pittsburgh's roads and air quality. The PRTner pass brings sustainable income to PRT, while being a great deal for employers like the City (to the tune of 70% off)!

After many drafts and tens of thousands of comments, PRT has created its final draft of the Bus Line Refresh. The plan will be publicly released at 8 AM on August 17th, at which point PPT's Research Committee will get to work understanding the changes between this draft and the last one, and which communities stand to benefit and lose the most. 

Here's what public engagement will look like for this next phase of the BLR:

The Bus Line Refresh is a massive change to our system, and each draft contains a lot of information to parse. You can read about how PRT can use the Refresh as a tool to benefit our region, and get up to speed on past drafts of the Refresh, at our blog.

🕺 Rider Power on the Horizon: PPT's Summer Party!
Wednesday, August 12th, 5:30-8:30 PM, Olympia Park
RSVP by August 7th!

🔎 PPT & Transit for All PA! Research Committee
Friday, August 7th, 3-4 PM, virtual

📝 PPT & Transit for All PA! Communications Committee
Tuesday, August 18th, 6:00-7:00 PM, virtual

🚶PPT Sidewalk Audit: Hill District
Saturday, August 22nd, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM, IN PERSON in the Hill District

Pittsburghers for Public Transit is a grassroots union of transit riders, transit workers and neighbors.