Celebrate her vision & carry on her legacy. image description: An illustrated portrait of Rosa Parks is at the center of the image with the event name, date (2/4/22, 11:30-12:30) , a Transit Equity Day logo, and a facebook live logo. In the background of the image is Taking Back Our Seat On the Bus: Join PPT to Celebrate Transit Equity Day & Rosa Parks' Organizing Legacy 110 years after Rosa Parks’ birth we are continuing her organizing legacy and still fighting to take back our seat on the bus. Join PPT on February 4th, Transit Equity Day, to celebrate Rosa’s birth and learn how the organizing legacy of the Montgomery Boycott is a backbone of our work today. While we face different challenges than those who came before us, we are still fighting the same root problem, and we need to organize together to combat the long legacy of racism in transit. RSVP to Friday's Virtual Event image description: collage of three photos, left is a photo of the bus being lifted by a crane from the collapsed Fern Hollow Bridge. Upper right is a map from WESA that shows the detour for the 61B outbound (Forbes > S. Dallas > Penn > Peebles > Savannah > W. Hutchinson > S. Braddock. Lower right is a photo of red bus lanes on a city street. Make the Bus Fly! After the Bridge Collapse Severed Communities from a Critical Corridor, Dedicated Bus Lanes & Green Lights for Buses Can Speed Up Recovery It is through sheer luck that no one was killed in the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge. It is through community care that everyone was rescued. But community safety should not be left to random chance and volunteerism. The bridge collapse was the result of decades of policy that shifted funding away from community needs and towards projects that benefit the wealthy and powerful. This is true at all levels: local, state, and federal. We need to shift the paradigm of how and for whom we spend our tax dollars. Infrastructure investment needs to pull people out of poverty. It needs to save us from this climate crisis. It needs to create opportunities that are accessible to all. We can start this shift as we deal with the immediate aftermath of this bridge collapse. Read More image description: photo from Jared Wickerham at the City Paper of a blue bus heading downtown from East Liberty Station A HUGE WIN for transit riders in the Mon Valley: Port Authority gets federal money to look at extending East Busway The Port Authority was just selected for a $565,000 Federal Transit Administration grant to begin studying the benefits of an expansion of the East Busway into the Mon Valley! This is a tremendous win for transit riders in the Mon Valley that only comes after years of organizing. From Jordana Rosenfeld's article for the Pittsburgh City Paper: “Five of the municipalities with the highest transit usage in all of Pennsylvania are within [the Swissvale-Rankin-Braddock-North Braddock] corridor,” reads PPT’s Beyond the East Busway Policy Brief, which discusses the organization’s recommendations for on-street bus rapid transit extension of the East Busway. Read the City Paper article image description: photo from Margaret J Krauss' article on WESA', How widening Bates Street in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood could impact development projects, is of traffic backed-up on Bates St., with someone walking their bike up the sidewalk. How Widening Bates Street Could Narrow Future Options Record-high funding for highway expansion in the new infrastructure bill has politicians eyeing the possibility of adding more lanes to Bates Street in Oakland. But any new lanes built need to improve access for public transit. PPT's Director, Laura Chu Wiens, was recently interviewed by WESA's Margarette Krauss on what more car lanes would do to neighborhood air quality and the call for future bus-only lanes: “There’s this phenomenon of induced demand which is that by adding lanes for single occupancy vehicles, that traffic actually increases to fill new capacity, which means that there’s only an increase in emissions, and the same slow connection problem in the corridor.” Read the story on WESA Image Description: PPT Members gather to release the Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform in December 2021. Member Bill McDowell reads his speech as others hold signs behind him that say "Transit M<3ves Us". The Pittsburgh 100 Day Transit Platform can guide Mayor Gainey towards building a more affordable, equitable, accessible city. In December of last year, PPT members launched the 100 Days Transit Platform to lay out a vision for how a focus on public transit can improve livability for everyone in our city. The platform focuses on building affordable housing near transit, developing infrastructure that supports transit, passing zoning policy to encourage transit, and elevating transit over inaccessible micromobility schemes. More than 30 organizations are standing behind this platform as we work with the Gainey administration to pass them in the first 100 days of his administration. We need you to sign on to support this platform and share it with your friends. Watch the 59-second platform summary Read & sign-on to support Image Description: photo at night time of the inside of a new Port Authority bus with blue interior lights. White text overlaid reads "Monthly Virtual Meeting" next to a PPT logo. February Monthly Meeting Will Discuss How We Turn a Bridge Collapse Into a Community Win All are welcome to join us for our Monthly General Meeting. We'll be holding it over Zoom, so attendees can join via computer or phone. Spanish translation will be provided. If you have any accessibility needs or if you have some questions about using Zoom to join the meeting, please don't hesitate to call or send an email: 412-626-7353 or [email protected] See less Draft agenda (a more detailed version will be sent before the meeting) - Recap Transit Equity Day event & the Montgomery Bus Boycott organizing legacy - What the bridge collapse teaches us about human infrastructure, and winning improvements from failure - 100 Days Transit Platform Update RSVP 🖱️ ✊ Click-tivist Corner🖱️ ✊️️️ Push for change from behind your keyboard and join us in the streets. Take PennDOT's survey about the effects of the pandemic on your transit use & transportation access Image description: a transit worker cleans the inside of a Port Authority bus Give your feedback about public transit & mobility in the Greater Hill District Master Plan Image description: map of the Hill District from the Greater Hill Dist. Master Plan EngagePGH page. Are you age 18-29 and do you want to get paid to work with PPT? Apply to Repair The World's Service Corps Image description: three young people, one with a "Repair the World" shirt on. Image description: profile shot of red articulated Port Authority bus traveling down a busway. Text above reads "Events" PPT Organizing Meetings Taking Back Our Seat On the Bus: Celebrate Transit Equity & Rosa Parks' Organizing Legacy with PPT // Fri, 2/4, 11:30-12:15 // Broadcast on FB LIVE // RSVP HERE PPT Accessibility Committee Meeting // open to anyone who wants to help PPT develop the accessibility of our organizing // Fri, 2/4, 5:15-6:15 // RSVP HERE PPT Monthly Meeting // Wed, Feb 9 // 7-8:30PM (optional social hour starts at 6:30) // RSVP HERE Other Community Events Candlelight Vigil for Peter Spencer hosted by Peoples Justice for Jim Rogers // Sun, Feb 6 @ 5pm // More Info Here Food Justice: Growing a Healthier Community through Art, exibit hosted by Contemporary Craft // Open until March 19, 2022 // 5645 Butler Street // More Info Here ‌ ‌ Pittsburghers for Public Transit | 5119 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!