image description: event promotional image. Includes text "MOBILITY FOR WHO? REBUILDING BRIDGES TO TRANSPORTATION JUSTICE" FEB 2022 REPORT RELEASE" over a map of Pittsburgh and an image of a SPIN scooter laid across the sidewalk
đź’ĄNEW REPORT ALERTđź’Ą "Mobility for Who? Rebuilding Bridges to Transportation Justice". Join us next week for a panel discussion.on this new report.

Pittsburgh has poured taxpayer funds and time into private mobility techology, while failing to prioritize core infrastructure needs such as sidewalks, bus shelters - even roads and bridges. High tech investment has also driven gentrification and displacement to transit-poor areas, exacerbated by an acute lack of affordable housing.
Join Pittsburghers for Public Transit and Tech4Society for a panel discussion of the new report: "Mobility for Who? Rebuilding Bridges to Transportation Justice." The report examines these aspects of transit accessibility to understand the barriers of the current system and it offers a guide to help our city to envision and collectively work towards a more accessible and equitable city for all.
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image description: 2018 photo of a rally outside Port Authority's Board Meeting opposing cuts to transit service in the Mon Valley. People hold signs that read "No cuts to 61" and "BRT for Mon Valley". Ms Debra Green holds a microphone.
A new $565,500 grant to the Port Authority marks the next phase in residents’ successful campaign to extend the East Busway
Transit riders, residents, businesses, and elected officials in the Mon Valley have been working hard to extend the East Busway’s benefits into their communities. After years of organizing to uplift the demand for better transit, we are celebrating the recent Federal Transportation Administration’s $565,500 planning grant award to Port Authority, to evaluate the local development and transit ridership benefits of a busway extension into the communities of Braddock, North Braddock, and East Pittsburgh.Â
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image description: photo of Mayor Ed Gainey with a Bus Stop sign in the background.
COMPLETE MAYOR GAINEY'S TRANSITION TEAM SURVEYS! Help him prioritize equitable transit access and affordable housing as he enters office.
Mayor Gainey's transition team is running two surveys and a series of forums to collect community feedback on priorities for his new administration. Take two minutes and enter your feedback to uplift the importance of public transit and affordable housing to our city. Let the 100 Days Transit Platform spark your thinking for issues to advocate for.
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image description: photo from PPT's FB Live Broadcast, "Taking Back Our Seat On The Bus", shows PPT Community Organizer, Cheryl Stephens, PPT Board Chair, Ms. Verna Johnson, and ASL interpreter, April Jackson. Text is overlaid that says "Organize Like Rosa" with a silhouette of Rosa Parks.
In case you missed it! To celebrate Rosa Parks' Birthday on Feb 4th, National Transit Equity Day, PPT organized an event to uplift her legacy as a committed community organizer.
Through rider testimony around barriers to transit access and their desired solutions, and through a discussion of the history of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. We will recognize that Rosa Parks was a trained community organizer and that her refusal to give up her seat was one tactic within a larger strategy of organizing transit riders to participate in a 13-month mass boycott of the transit system until buses were desegregated.Â
Thanks to New Voices for Reproductive Justice and Casa San Jose for joining our broadcast to talk about the intersections of our work.
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Safe, reliable, and affordable transit is the fastest route to an equitable society
Also to celebrate Transit Equity Day, Transit for All PA! members, the PA AFL-CIO and Pittsburghers for Public Transit, wrote an op-ed for the Pennsylvania Capital Star about the critical importance of expanded public transit funding for our state:
"We are calling on our state lawmakers to find a dedicated, expanded source of funding to address deferred maintenance needs and to improve transit service in all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
Transit riders and workers from Erie to Scranton, Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, have been sounding the alarm, and it’s time to heed their call.
They are experts in the system, and should have a voice in deciding the future of public transit in our state. It is together with these riders and workers that we created the Transit for All PA! Platform, calling for expanded, dedicated funding for public transit and a suite of policies to ensure that those funds would be used effectively and equitably. To date, more than 75 organizations and 23 legislators have signed on in support. [...]"
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image description: map of temporary pedestrian detour for people to access Negley Station from S Negley Ave. (head from the S. Negley St Station entrance towards Ellsworth, turn left on Ellsworth, walk one block until Summerlea St, turn left and walk to the station.)
Upgrades to S. Negley Station begin. Port Authority also awarded 3 other grants to improve Wilkinsburg Station, build 4 miles of sidewalks, and improve 8 high-use bus stops throughout the system!
After a years-long planning process, Port Authority will begin construction on Phase 1 upgrades to S. Negley Station on the East Busway! This phase will include improvements to the accessible ramp from S Negley Ave to the station. Future phases will inclue new shelters at the inbound and outbound platforms, new lighting, and improved station access.
Also exciting: Port Authority just announced that they were awarded three grants and some County funding to begin upgrades to the Wilkinsburg Busway Station, build out 4 miles of sidewalks to connect to transit, and add upgrades to 8 high-use stops throughout the system!
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🖱️ ✊ Click-tivist Corner🖱️ ✊️️️
Push for change from behind your keyboard and join us in the streets.
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Image description: screenshot from APA's art contest poster |
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Image description: map of the Hill District from the Greater Hill Dist. Master Plan EngagePGH page. |
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Image description: photo with Mayor Gainey in the forground and a bus stop sign in the background |
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Image description: three young people, one with a "Repair the World" shirt on. |
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Image description: profile shot of red articulated Port Authority bus traveling down a busway. Text above reads "Events"
PPT Organizing Meetings
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PPT Accessibility Committee (on zoom) // Every 4th Thursday of the month at 5:15 // Email Toni with accessibility requests and to get the calendar invite.
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Communications Committee (on Google Meet) // Tuesday, March 1st, 7-8pm // RSVP here
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Transit for all PA! meeting (on zoom) // every Thursday, 2-3 pm // Click here to join, or email Laura to be added to the calendar invite
Other Community Events
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Give Feedback on Mayor Gainey's community priority surveys and forums (online and in-person) // various dates through March 15 // More info here
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Stay Tuned! Transit Worker Appreciation Day // March 18, 2022
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