image description: Flyer for #VoteTransit Mayoral Candidate Forum, 4/9, 7-8:30p, 4836 Ellsworth Ave as photos of each of the 4 candidates & the PPT logo
Pittsburghers for Public Transit’s #VoteTransit Mayoral Candidate Forum and “Transit 25/25/25 Goal” for all candidates running to be our municipal leaders.
There is a lot that the city can do to improve access to public transit – from sidewalks, to bus stops, to housing policy – and this year, 4 candidates are running to be our next Mayor. Join transit advocates from across the city to learn these candidates’ plans for transit if they are elected to office. Pittsburghers for Public Transit has issued the Transit 25/25/25 Goal for candidates in this year’s city race. Now it’s time to learn whether candidates adopt it and seriously consider their role in improving our transit access.
Join PPT’s #VoteTransit Pittsburgh Mayoral Candidate Forum April 9, 7-8:30pm 4836 Ellsworth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) Calls on Pittsburgh Mayoral and City Council Candidates to Adopt PPT’s 25/25/25 Goals and Develop a Plan for Implementation
Pittsburghers for Public Transit’s Transit 25/25/25 Goals:
Mayoral and City Council candidates must pledge to:
Close 25% of the City’s Sidewalk Network Gaps
Install 25 New Bus Shelters Per Year
Ensure 25% of the New Housing Units Built Near Our Best Transit Assets are Deeply Affordable
The Transit 25/25/25 Goals around sidewalks, bus shelters, and affordable, higher-density housing by our best transit assets are continuations of the equitable infrastructure campaign work that members of Pittsburghers for Public Transit have been leading for the last several years.
Pittsburgh’s lack of connected, accessible and maintained sidewalks often creates access and safety barriers to transit for disabled riders and families. Improving the conditions of our sidewalks was named as one of the top priorities for residents during the transition planning process for Mayor Gainey’s administration in 2021.
Pittsburgh is also nationally notable for how few bus shelters are installed at bus stops, which forces riders to be exposed to the elements and make them less visible and less safe while waiting for the bus. The responsibility for bus shelters falls exclusively on the City of Pittsburgh within its jurisdiction, not on Pittsburgh Regional Transit, and there is a backlog of over 230 stops within the City that have ridership high enough to justify a shelter that are currently unprotected.
Finally, the Pittsburgh affordable housing crisis has displaced thousands of residents far from the City into County municipalities with low access to jobs, critical amenities, and transit. This affordable housing crisis has particularly affected Black and brown families and transit riders; it is imperative that our City has a holistic policy and funding solution to ensure that more low-income riders can live by the transportation assets that they rely on.
La ciudad puede hacer mucho para mejorar el acceso al transporte público, desde aceras y paradas de autobús hasta políticas de vivienda. Este año, cuatro candidatos se postulan para ser nuestro próximo alcalde. Únase a los defensores del transporte público de toda la ciudad para conocer los planes de estos candidatos si son elegidos.
Todos están invitados a unirse a PPT para este Foro de la Alcaldía, que organizamos durante nuestra Asamblea General Mensual. Aprovechamos nuestras reuniones mensuales para informar sobre las campañas actuales, debatir estrategias y tácticas, capacitar en nuevas habilidades y construir comunidad. La reunión de este mes será híbrida. Únase a nosotros en persona en 4836 Ellsworth Ave o en línea a través de Zoom.
6pm-7pm Hora para socializar // 7pm-8:3pm Foro de candidates.
[Image Description: Black text reads “Breaking: PRT proposes devastating transit service cuts. Our coalition has a better idea.” on a white background with a red star. Below, many hands hold up colorful signs that read “Transit for All PA!”, “Transit Moves Us”, and “Dignity for Intercity Bus Riders”.]
Devestating cuts to transit service have been proposed in Allegheny County. The time is now to learn more and take action!
Our entire region needs a good transit system in order to function–whether you’re taking ACCESS to your doctor’s office from McKeesport, or taking the T to work from the South Hills. The state government has proposed a budget $100 million short of what Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) needs to maintain current service levels–which are already 20% less than what they were five years ago.
On March 20th, PRT announced the cuts they would have to make in order to operate under the proposed budget, and we’re not gonna lie–they’re bleak. If enacted, the cuts would gut paratransit, shrink or eliminate 95 lines, and bring fare hikes across the board. These cuts would hit hardest for our disabled community, elders, and folks with no other transportation options.
But transit riders and workers are ready with a response that meets the scale of the crisis.
Our statewide coalition, Transit For All PA!, is organizing thousands of riders across the state to push for a new, dedicated funding source for public transit in the state budget. From Pittsburgh to Pottstown, Erie to Philly, we all need abundant, protected public transportation. And we can win it, together!
Then, keep reading under the cut for our guide to the biggest impacts these proposed cuts would have on our region. Remember, better transit–not worse–is possible, necessary, and transformative. We’re ready to bring this challenge to our state elected leaders: are you ready to meet this moment with us?
Now that you’ve taken action, let’s get into the nitty gritty. What exactly did PRT propose at their board meeting on March 20th? You can watch a recording of the meeting here, or you can keep reading for our guide to the biggest impacts:
General & Infrastructural Impacts
Let’s start at a high level. PRT has already lost 36% of its service and 50% of its riders in the last two decades, and these proposed cuts would remove even more from our already service-starved region.
In PRT’s own estimation, the proposed cuts would have a devastating effect on our region as a whole, with disabled riders and night shift workers particularly impacted:
All service after 11 PM will be eliminated, leaving night shift workers with no way to get home
Half of PRT’s bus garages, Collier and Ross garages, would have to close–a major blow to operator jobs across the system
180,000 residents and 50,000 jobs would lose access to public transit
St. Clair Hospital, CCAC West campus, and many K-12 schools would lose service completely
Downtown Pittsburgh would lose 30% of service, and the Pittsburgh airport will lose 63%
These cuts would hit hardest for those who have no other way to get around
The Bus Line Redesign project that we have been working so hard on would be eliminated
Three bridges, ten park and ride lots, and the Wabash tunnel would close entirely
On top of all this, such drastic service cuts would also create a traffic crush on our streets, and more crowding on buses and trains–as well as worsening impacts to climate change and air pollution by forcing more people into personal vehicles.
Service Cuts & Fare Hikes
PRT also proposed major cuts and fare increases to both fixed-route and paratransit services across the region.
Paratransit Impacts
[Image Description: a map of Allegheny County showing communities that would lose paratransit service guarantees under the proposed cuts. There is a blue shape overlaid on the center of the county that shows areas that would retain service, which extends out to small pieces of several communities in all directions.]
The above map shows the devastating changes to Allegheny County’s paratransit service under the proposed cuts. The blue zone shows areas that are within the minimum-standard ADA service zone; in these areas, service frequency and reliability would remain the same, but it would be 62% smaller than it currently is today.
In the pink zones of the map, paratransit riders would lose service protection–in other words, there would be no guarantee that paratransit could pick them up at the time or day that they need to make a trip. They could be told that their ride wouldn’t be available until three hours later than needed, or they could be told that they couldn’t get a ride at all. This is an unacceptably bad proposal for our disabled community. Riders could be left stranded on their way to doctor’s offices, jobs, grocery stores, and more–or forced to pay up for a car or an accessible taxi/rideshare. Paratransit is a lifeline, and to shrink it by the proposed 62% would be a massive blow.
On top of these massive service cuts, paratransit fares would increase between 14% and 24%, depending on the length of the ride–bringing the cost of a ride between $3.90 and $6.00 for most riders.
Impacts on Fixed Route Transit (Bus, T, and Incline)
When it comes to fixed-route bus, T, and incline service, fixed-route fares would increase 9%, bringing a regular fare from $2.75 to $3.00.
PRT proposed a 40% decrease in service across the board. The map below shows affected areas, with pink areas losing transit altogether.
[Image Description: a map of Allegheny County showing communities that would lose all service under the proposed cuts in pink.]
Below is a chart with proposed changes to weekly service:
Routes eliminated entirely (41)
2
4
7
14
18
20
26
29
36
38
39
40
41
43
58
65
71
19L
51L
52L
53L (service will increase on the 53 to replace cuts)
G3
G31
O1
O5
O12
P7
P10
P12
P13
P16
P17
P67
P69
P71
P76
Y1
Y45
Y47
Y49
Silver line (service will increase on Blue line to replace cuts)
Routes with major service reductions (34)
1
6
8
11
12
13
15
16
17
21
22
24
27
31
44
54
56
64
69
74
75
77
79
81
82
87
88
91
28X
G2
P68
P78
Y46
Red line
Routes with minor service reductions (20)
48
51
55
57
59
83
86
89
93
61A
61B
61C
61D
71A
71B
71C
71D
P1
P3
Mon Incline
Fixed-route service would be cut entirely from 19 municipalities and 3 Pittsburgh neighborhoods:
Municipalities with no service
Ambridge
Ben Avon
Brackenridge
East McKeesport
Edgeworth
Emsworth
Glen Osborne
Glenfield
Hampton
Harrison
Haysville
Leetsdale
North Fayette
Pitcairn
Reserve
Shaler
South Park
Trafford
Upper St. Clair
Neighborhoods with no service
Banksville
Ridgemont
Swisshelm Park
This is overwhelming! What should I do?
These cuts don’t have to happen–we can still act now to save our system! If you haven’t already, use our tool to contact your elected officials. Then, sign up for our statewide organizing call where we’ll start to put the pressure on the state government to champion transit funding for big cities and small towns alike.
Stay tuned to our newsletter, blog, and social media for more updates as they develop!
Image description: big red keystone shape with the text “Take Action! Stop Transit Cuts Now! in bold”
BREAKING: In reaction to the budget shortfall proposed by Governor Shapiro earlier this Spring, PRT has detailed sweeping service cuts and fare increases that could devastate Pittsburgh’s public transit system starting as early as 2026. Send your letter now to stop these cuts
Under these proposals, the entire system would see a 40% decrease in service and a 9% increase in fares. Paratransit service would be cut a staggering 62%, and fares increased 20%.
We know that transit is a public necessity, connecting people across our region–no matter their neighborhood, income level, or ability–to jobs, healthcare, food, and community. The state government’s budget proposal will revoke access to these lifelines for thousands.
Alongside our partner coalition Transit For All PA!, we’re calling on our elected officials to find a stable, alternative funding source for public transit–one that restores transit funding and service to pre-2019 levels across the state, from Pittsburgh to Erie to Philly and everywhere in between.
Will you take action with us by sending a letter to your state representatives?
In the last 5 years, PRT has already quietly cut 20% of its service, and with it, communities as diverse as McKeesport, Greentree, and Monroeville are already struggling to reach jobs, healthcare, food, and community. If we further reduce service and increase fares to the proposed extent, the system will become effectively unusable for riders in our area. Riders are already seeing wait times of up to an hour for their daily commutes, and many riders are simply not able to afford that level of uncertainty. PRT generates over $700 million each year, supporting over 5,000 jobs. We cannot afford to cut that generator down by 40 or 60 percent.
Transit riders are ready with a response that meets the scale of the crisis. The crisis is statewide: the state budget doesn’t just affect Pittsburghers, but also people riding SEPTA to work in Philadelphia, elders moving around their communities safely in Erie, and disabled community members using paratransit in Harrisburg. It’s all the same state budget, so the solution needs to be statewide.
Our statewide, rider-led coalition, Transit for All PA!, is organizing for new, dedicated funding sources at the state level to fund the service riders need in order to use the system. We’re calling on state legislators to find a new, stable source of funding for public transit, which would restore transit service across the state to 2019 levels–and even improve transit access in communities outside Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
A new funding structure is possible, and we’re ready to bring this challenge to legislators. Are you ready to meet this moment with us? Join the next Transit for All PA! call to organize with riders across the state!
image description: text reads “National Transit Advocacy Spring Training, April 25-25, 2025 Pittsburgh, PA” with emojies of a raised fit, PPT’s icon, and a red heart. Photos of PPT members at rallies, parties, and canvass days.
Get your tickets today! Join riders and workers from across the US at the National Transit Advocacy Spring Training, April 25th and 26th in Pittsburgh, PA!
What to expect:
Get ready for the 2025 Organizing Conference for Transit Advocates and Grassroots Members in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania all day Sat, April 26th! We will have workshops on telling a compelling transit story to elected leaders and using it to win your demands; transit worker organizing and building common cause with riders; taking transit service demands into a state funding fight; galvanizing municipal elected officials to support transit riders with land use and infrastructure demands… and more! This organizing conference will have workshops led by local advocates and advocates outside of Pittsburgh, and will have topics relevant to transit organizers at all levels and all regions.
We will host a pre-conference Transit Tour and happy hour on Fri, April 25th, and then have a morning plenary, workshops and a mobile tour throughout the day Saturday April 26th. Space is limited and pre registration is required for Friday evening’s Transit Tour. A bus pass will be provided for your adventure with us! You do NOT need to attend the Transit Tour to join us at happy hour, where you’ll enjoy a complimentary beverage and hors d’oeuvres. On Saturday you can expect continental breakfast, hot lunches and afternoon snacks.
Last day to register for Spring Training is Friday 4/18/25.
Schedule & Location:
Friday, April 25th: Transit Tour and Welcome Happy Hour
3:30-5 PM: Transit Tour beginning at Friends Meeting House 4836 Ellsworth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
5-7 PM: Welcome Happy Hour at Aslin Beer Company 1801 Smallman St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Saturday, April 26th Courtyard Pittsburgh University Center 100 Lytton Ave., Pittsburgh PA, 15213
8:00-9:00 AM Check-in
8:30-9:00 AM Continental breakfast and Networking
9:00-10:00 AM Opening Plenary
10:15 AM – 11:45 AM Choose from:
Developing Strong Transit Worker-Rider Alliances
Sharing Your Transit Story: Effectively Using Your Story to Mobilize
12:00-1:00 PM Lunch (provided with RSVP)
1:00-2:30 PM Choose from:
Identifying Power in Your Personal Networks: Spidermapping
The Fight for Statewide Transit Funding Based on Local Service Demands
Let’s go for a walk! (Mobile Workshop – space limited, pre-registration required)
2:45 – 4:15 PM Choose from:
Facilitating Effective Meetings and Navigating Conflict
Starting a Campaign 101: Identifying and Implementing Elements for Success
The hotel is very easily accessible from the airport via public transit. It is about a four-minute walk or roll from the Fifth Ave and Tennyson Ave PRT stop, which is serviced by the following routes:
54 Northside-Oakland-Southside
58 Greenfield
61A North Braddock
61B Braddock-Swissvale
61C McKeesport-Homestead
61D Murray
67 Monroeville
69 Trafford
71A Negley
71B Highland Park
71C Point Breeze
71D Hamilton
75 Ellsworth
81 Oak Hill
83 Bedford Hill
93 Lawrenceville-Hazelwood
P3 East Busway-Oakland
If any of these transportation modes are cost-prohibitive for you, contact PPT to discuss options, at 551-206-3320 or info@ppt-test.jimkeener.com by April 23, 2025.
Accessibility Information
The Courtyard Pittsburgh University Center has accessible onsite parking and an accessible main entrance. All meeting areas are accessible, and there are elevators throughout the building. More information about their accessibility features can be found on their web page.
COVID-19 Procedures:
Masks are encouraged indoors at our events and will be available on-site at check-in. We also encourage everyone to take an at-home COVID-19 rapid test before arriving. Please stay home if you are feeling sick or have come into contact with someone who has COVID-19. The Courtyard Pittsburgh University Center has on-site parking, elevators, and accessible public entrances.
Food and Drink:
At happy hour on Friday let PPT buy your first round! There will be hors d’oeuvres too! Food will be brought out before 6pm (if you arrive on the later side there is no guarantee there will be food left). If you are curious about Aslin Beer Company’s menu you can take a look at it here.
On Saturday, PPT will provide a continental breakfast for participants in the morning, lunch, and snacks towards the end of the day.
PPT will label provided food with common allergens.
This Transit Worker Appreciation Day, we’re showing the love and showing up for transit funding!
Whether you ride the T in the South Hills, drive the bus out of the West Mifflin Garage, cruise down the Martin Luther King Jr. Busway, or work on power and signal out of South Hills Junction, workers and riders of public transit across Allegheny County and all of Pennsylvania are facing a funding crisis that stands to cut our service down to unprecedented levels.
On Tuesday, March 18th, PPT is meeting the challenge with a day of organizing–and, most importantly, celebrating the transit workers who keep our communities moving! By celebrating Transit Worker Appreciation Day with us, you’ll have the chance to give your favorite bus, T, or busway drivers some love, while also standing up to protect their jobs and transit service across the state.
Want to share the love? Here’s how:
1. Sign our petition to tell the state government: protect and expand our transit funding!
2. Sign up to canvass with us! Educate riders and show transit workers some love!
We will be out in full force talking to riders about who PPT is, the current PA state funding crisis threatening to impact public transportation, and asking them to share goodie bags of tasty treats and PPT swag with their operator when they board the bus.
Participants can choose from two different canvassing shifts: 7am-9am or 4pm-6pm (or join us for both!). We will meet to review the plan, and during the shift we will work in teams at a handful of busy bus stops. We’ll end with a debrief at the same location we began at.
Bring warm layers, good shoes and a big smile. There will be plenty of waving and exclamations of “Happy Transit Worker Appreciation Day!” when the bus door slides open!
The fight for statewide transit funding goes way beyond Transit Worker Appreciation Day–we’re organizing for it all day, every day! Check out our statewide campaign and sign on to our platform by visiting the Transit for All PA! website.
image description: graphic has text that reads “Mon Valley Transit Organizing Fellowship” wth a photo of a PPT Member. Background has a gameboy-like illustration of people waiting at a bus stop.
Apply Today! PPT’s New Organizing Fellowship Will Train More Transit Advocates in the Mon Valley
No matter what place you call home, everyone in Allegheny County deserves safe, accessible, affordable, and reliable public transportation. However, a lack of investment in our public transit, environmental crises, increases in the costs of housing, and social inequity have led to many of our friends, families, and neighbors struggling to get to the places they want to go and disconnecting our communities rather than bringing them together.
But we can take action to reverse it. That is why Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) will launch a paid fellowship program for transit riders who live in communities located in the Mon Valley during Spring 2024. Participants will explore public transit access, infrastructure, financial barriers, and equitable development. Examples of these topics include; the opportunities and need for more bus shelters and safe, accessible sidewalks to transit, improved service through Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT’s) Bus Line redesign process, winning and enrolling Mon Valley residents into Allegheny Go, and the zoning/land use relationship connecting access to housing and quality transit.
Fellows will receive compensation for participating in the program for three hours per week for ten weeks until completion in June 2025, with a special invitation to Pittsburghers for Public Transit’s Spring Training event on April 26, 2025.
The fellowship will consist of weekly modules based on current PPT transit justice campaigns, within classroom learning and field work. The fellowship will begin in late March 2025 and end in early June 2025.
Timeline Overview of the Mon Valley Organizing Fellowship
June 3th – June 22nd – Meetings with elected officials
June 23rd – Graduation Party : )
Do you live in the Mon Valley and want to improve public transit for your community? Apply today by sending your resume and answers to the following questions to cheryl@ppt-test.jimkeener.com
To apply to the Mon Valley Transit Organizing fellowship, send answers to the following questions to cheryl@ppt-test.jimkeener.com. You can include a resume if you have one!
Phone number
Email
Address
Why is organizing for public transit important to you?
How do you understand the connection between public transit and racial, economic, disability, and environmental justice?
Can you tell us about any past experiences, jobs, volunteer work, or leadership opportunities that have prepared you for this opportunity?
What are you looking to accomplish through your participation with PPT’s Mon Valley Organizing Fellowship?
Whether you’re from State College or Scranton, Philly or Erie, every Pennsylvanian deserves transportation access to opportunity.On Feb 4th, National Transit Equity Day, Governor Shapiro didn’t deliver a public transit budget proposal that meets the needs of our Commonwealth. We need you to join thousands of transit riders and workers across the state for two statewide calls to build the vision and organizing plan for the service we deserve!
Last week, 80+ transit riders and transit workers across Pennsylvania joined Transit for All PA’s All Eyes on Governor Shapiro Budget Watch Party to see if he would heed our call to elevate transit as a top priority in his annual budget address. Over the previous three weeks, over 3,000 letters were sent to the Governor to that effect. Although Governor Shapiro made cursory mention of the “essential” nature of transit in his remarks, his actual 2026 budget proposal falls far short of our public transit needs in both urban and rural communities.
Instead, the budget that Governor Shapiro laid out on Rosa Parks’ Birthday keeps transit without a dedicated source of funding, pulling from sales tax revenue in the general fund. That leaves transit funding vulnerable to the whims of our divided and contentious state legislature, and draws from a source of funding that is competitive with other basic needs including education and healthcare. Moreover, Shapiro’s budget proposal requires that our transit agencies draw down their reserves to zero in the five years, and only manages to maintain our existing austerity levels of service. This is not the expanded and dedicated state transit funding solution- long overdue- that residents of the Commonwealth need and deserve.
In just the last five years, transit systems across Pennsylvania have been cut dramatically, leaving our state’s older adults, disabled residents, youth, and no car households without the bus lines they rely on to access jobs, healthcare, food and community. Funding austerity coupled with transit worker shortages have devastated rural intercity transit in Pennsylvania, severed municipal access to transit in mid-sized urban areas like Centre County, and resulted in overall transit service cuts of 20% with Pittsburgh Regional Transit. The Governor’s 2026 budget proposal does not provide the resources necessary to prevent the imminent funding cliffs of agencies like SEPTA and PRT without requiring that these agencies use up their limited reserves; it certainly does nothing to reverse the cuts we’ve seen in communities across the state.
We deserve better. That is why over 8,000 Pennsylvania transit riders and operators have taken action over the past year, and that is why we’re organized to fight now for the service we deserve.
On Thursday, February 27th, Transit for All PA will host the first of two statewide transit funding calls to develop our demands and our action plan for winning Visionary Transit across Pennsylvania. We need transit riders and operators across the commonwealth to help us define the priorities they see in their communities to ensure transit moves more of us.
Join Us for our Transit for All PA Planning Calls with Transit Riders and Workers all Across the Commonwealth! Register Here for our first call on February 27th from 5:30-7:00 pm.
The time is now: we know that we get one opportunity to focus the PA legislature and pass a funding package that meets ALL our transit needs. That’s why we’re going big, and organizing towards three visionary goals:
Funding that restores our transit service to 2019 levels for communities across the Commonwealth, and matched to the travel patterns of post-pandemic ridership.
Local enabling legislation to raise the local capital dollars needed to attract major federal investment, which Pennsylvania is currently losing out on to places like Ohio, Colorado, Arizona, and Washington.
A project prioritization rubric like Virginia has that ensures that PennDOT’s billions of dollars of transportation funding are moving the most people, benefiting our economies, reducing congestion and improving air quality.
Governor Shapiro is right to recognize that transit is essential. But we need him, and all our state elected officials, to invest in our transit systems at the levels we deserve. Along with hundreds of other riders and transit workers, we’ll see you on the 27th; we’re done with decline and we’re ready to organize for a budget that moves us!
**This post was published in an altered form on the Transit For All PA website.
PPT welcomes Connor Descheemaker to our team as the Statewide Campaign Manager for Transit For All PA.
For over a decade, PPT has been a democratic member-led organization that fights for change in our community. We have won campaigns for improved bus service, fare accessibility, affordable housing, and transit equity. These successes are fueled by our local members and volunteers across Allegheny County.
Over the last several years, recognizing the impact of state policy on the Pittsburgh area’s transit service, we began organizing at the state government. This ramped up in 2021 with the founding of Transit For All PA, a statewide coalition of riders, workers, and organizations who collectively built a platform to advocate to win dedicated, sustainable, progressively-funded money for public transportation across Pennsylvania.
Joining together with riders from Pittsburgh to Philly, Scranton to Harrisburg, and everywhere in-between, we staved off COVID catastrophe, created a vision for funding transit operations and capital after Act 89 (the last dedicated transportation funding bill, expired in 2022), and pushed Governor Shapiro to take executive action and stop imminent cuts for SEPTA in the Fall of 2024.
Until now, that work has all been done on borrowed time and staff from several organizations across the commonwealth. At the end of 2024 we had the immediate opportunity to hire a statewide staffer to lead our organizing to win critical state funding before the fiscal cliff hits transit agencies across the state starting July 1.
So, we brought in Connor Descheemaker, formerly the Coalition Manager of Transit Forward Philadelphia, for the next year to lead these efforts connecting riders, workers, and organizations in rural and urban communities to win needed funding for our public transportation. Let’s win the funding we deserve and end austerity for transit in 2025!
Learn a little more about Connor by reading their bio and some interview answers below.
Connor Descheemaker arrives with over a decade of experience building and facilitating diverse coalitions to achieve policy change, support local communities, and provide professional education and development. Born in Phoenix, they came of age just as that famously-sprawling metro opened its first light rail line in 2008, and their exploration of a changing downtown ignited their interest in mobility and community in urban areas. There, they ran multiple all-ages art and performance spaces, and founded a business coalition to support walkable, sustainable, and affordable urban development. After four intermediary years in Seattle supporting architects in their professional development, and housing and transportation advocacy, they arrived in Philadelphia in 2022 to manage the Transit Forward Philadelphia coalition. There, they grew the group to 35 community-based organizations covering environmental justice, immigrant and refugee support, community development, political advocacy, and elder and disability rights.
Their organizing and political ideals are rooted in punk and DIY culture, building community with marginalized people in places left behind by capital. Now when not organizing, you’ll find them picking around a record store or at an underground show, hoping you’ll join them at a dive bar or on a bike ride soon.
The PPT team is excited to have you on board! What drew you to the work PPT is doing?
I have admired the work of PPT since right after I moved to PA! It’s been a huge privilege to learn from PPT’s organizing model of rider- and worker-led advocacy, and support one another at the state capitol in Harrisburg. When the opportunity arose to focus my work exclusively on knitting together the struggles of riders and workers in communities all across the commonwealth, I jumped at it.
What’s your experience with transit? What routes have you ridden during different parts of your life? How has the experience varied between cities where you’ve lived and visited?
I started a bit late with transit – like I mentioned above, I’m from Phoenix which is one of the physically-largest metros in the country, which only grew because of the invention of air conditioning, the federal highway system, and tract home development across “virgin” desert. To have light rail finally arrive felt game-changing, and I rode it at every opportunity because it felt so different from the deadening, polluted wastelands along our ten-lane highways connecting every suburb.
What started as novelty became necessity as my car was totaled at my first job out of college, and I chose to pocket the dismal insurance payout to have a way out rather than invest in a crummy car I’d spend even more money insuring and repairing. I’ve since ridden Amtrak across the country twice, and ridden buses and trains in Chicago, LA, New York, the Bay Area, Philly, Boston, DC, Baltimore, Atlanta, Orlando, Portland, Seattle, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, New Orleans, Austin, Vancouver, and throughout England and France. While riding a bus or train is mostly pleasant and the easiest way to get around in cities like Seattle and New York, it’s a brazen marker of segregation and disinvestment, or gentrification and displacement in cities like Atlanta, Detroit, and New Orleans. There, transit is either explicitly designed for tourists, or barely held together for the working class, depending on whether it’s a bus, or a cutesy streetcar or light rail going between attractions. Riding the system has taught me more about how transit works and doesn’t work for riders than any video or study I’ve ever read. It has radicalized me to mobility and transportation being perhaps the most intersectional issue – touching environment, housing, healthcare, community safety, and disability, all held together by its role as one of our last “public spaces,” where all are (supposed to be) welcomed, regardless of background or means.
What work are you excited to do? What victories do you think you’ll help us win in the coming months?
I am extremely excited to ride transit in the boroughs, cities, and townships across PA, and learn directly from riders and operators about what works and doesn’t work in their communities. I’m ready to use that knowledge to connect our rural-to-urban communities’ struggles, and show legislators who say “our voters don’t care about transit” that their constituents depend on it, whether they realize it or not. I’m ready to break us out of the managed decline of transit, and into restoration and expansion of service, starting with sustainable, dedicated funding for operations across the commonwealth.
What inspires you? What gives you energy that you want to share with others?
I am inspired by meeting anyone and everyone through organizing. It’s the people and information sharing that makes me most immediately excited. But most notably, I find myself invigorated by those who have been in the struggle for their whole lives. It is their resilience and clarity of purpose that keeps me going every day, regardless of how good or bad one particular fight might be going.
What is your favorite pump-up song?
I’m so bad at choosing favorites! I choose for a mood; all of ‘em are uh….very political haha.
-ANGRY – Paint It Black “Safe” -INSPIRED – Latterman “My Bedroom Is Like For Artists” -COMMUNAL – Lee Bains III & Glory Fires “Breaking It Down”
Check out our Coordinating Committee and Staff page to see the core team of organizers who make up PPT, and join us at our next meeting to get involved – 2nd Tuesday of every month, 7-8:30pm! – or send us an email.
**This post was published in an adapted version on the Transit For All PA website.
We’re Ready for a Budget that Moves Us! On February 4th, Rosa Parks’ birth date, we’re calling on Governor Shapiro to lay out a funding plan for the transit we deserve.
Thank you Governor Shapiro for hearing our call to flex funding and save SEPTA. Now it’s time for you to put transit first, and negotiate a dedicated, sustainable transit funding solution for all Pennsylvanians in 2025.
Whether you’re from State College or Scranton, Philly or Erie, every Pennsylvanian deserves transportation access to opportunity. Organize with us on Rosa Parks’ birth date and Transit Equity Day to win public transit in every corner of our state.
This February 4th, 2025 is the annual Transit Equity Day, which is celebrated on civil rights leader Rosa Parks’ birth date. Transit Equity Day recognizes transit as a human right, central to the movements for racial justice, economic justice, disability justice and climate justice. This year, it falls on the same date as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s budget address, in which he will lay out his funding priorities for the FY 2026 Budget.
We’re ready for a state budget that moves us. On Rosa Parks’ birth date and Transit Equity Day, transit riders and workers across Pennsylvania are calling on Governor Josh Shapiro to announce his plan to win dedicated, expanded funding for public transit in his annual budget address.
There are THREE things you can do to organize with us for transit that moves all Pennsylvanians:
First, send a letter to Governor Shapiro,to show him how important transit is to constituents all across the Commonwealth, and that there we’re ready to support him in winning funding for the service we deserve! >>Send your letter here & share it with your community
Finally, register to join our TRANSIT M♥VES US WATCH PARTY of Gov. Shapiro’s Budget AddressWe’ll have in-person coffee and donuts in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and have a livestream up for folks to join from home! Let’s show the state legislature that we’re paying attention and are ready for the transit funding fight this Spring!>>RSVP today and invite your folks!
How to take part in the TRANSIT M♥VES ME photo campaign to tell Gov. Shapiro transit must be a top priority!
Guidance for taking photos:
Write the sign in Sharpie or print from a digital doc
Sign should be horizontal
Font should be large and cover the entire page
Message is: I am a ____________ [insert job title] and transit moves me <3
Hold it high: under your face
Photo should be taken in portrait orientation/vertically
Don’t take a back lit photo: Make sure the light source in the room is shining on you and the sign
If possible, have someone else take the photo so that nothing is left out of the frame
Take a couple photos so you can decide which one you like best and don’t forget to smile! 🙂
Once you have your photo:
Send your photo to Connor at connor@transitforallpa.orgwith a sentence or two about why you’re taking action!
Post it to social media with the following message: I am an essential worker and transit moves me! Hey @governorshapiro! Please include transit as a top priority in your budget address on Feb 4th. ? Take action with me and the @TransitPA campaign here: https://www.transitforallpa.org/tell-gov-shapiro-transit-moves-us/ #transitequityday
RSVP to the watch party! All Eyes on Governor Shapiro to include transit as top priority in his 2025-26 Budget Address!
Join us as we call on Governor Shapiro to put transit at the top of his agenda for this Spring’s budget negotiations and hear his plans for funding the service we deserve on Transit Equity Day.
We will hold a watch party with coffee and donuts in Pittsburgh and in Philadelphia during this budget, with locations TBD. Register here to join the in-person fun, or get the link to join the watch party from the warmth of your own home!
image description: red background with white text that reads “New Advocate Tools! Commute Calculator” next to a logo for Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s Bus Line Redesign
New Commute Calculator tool From Our Research Committee Helps Riders See How Trips Will Be Impacted by Draft 1.0 of the Bus Line Redesign
Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) is proposing a significant Bus Line Redesign that could dramatically change how transit riders travel across the County. We think it’s very important that transit riders have the ability to assess how the Bus Line Redesign (BLR) will impact our commute times. PRT does not provide a way to compare travel times under the current bus network to the proposed BLR Draft 1.0, although we at PPT believe that this is invaluable information for riders to consider.
PPT’s Research Committee used our tool to model 21 example transit trips in Allegheny County to and from important neighborhoods and destinations to compare travel times: 19 of those 21 trips would take longer under the BLR Draft 1.0 than they do today under our current network, which is very concerning. Many of these trips are longer because they would require more transfers under the new proposal. You can see the math behind these example commute calculations here.
USE OUR ADVOCATE COMMUTE TOOL: Compare how your current commute is impacted by Draft 1.0 of the Bus Line Redesign Proposal
People care how long their trip will take. It’s unfortunate that Pittsburgh Regional Transit doesn’t provide a way to measure how your commute time will change under their bus network proposal. Luckily, our Research Committee created a tool to let people do just that.
To make a commute time comparison between an existing PRT transit trip and the proposed Bus Line Redesign transit trip, follow these instructions:
Identify Your Route: Choose the starting point (e.g., your neighborhood intersection) and destination (e.g., an intersection, a key location like a workplace, hospital, grocery store, or transit hub).
Enter it in Google Maps: Input the starting point and destination in Google Maps and adjust the route’s path according to the actual route and turns that the current bus takes. It is IMPORTANT to map your current route using the “driving” function of Google Maps (NOT the “transit” function!), in order to have an apples to apples comparison of the current route(s) against the proposed Bus Line Redesign route(s). This is suggested because travel times for the proposed routes are not yet available. It should be noted that actual transit travel times will likely be longer.
Record Travel Details using Current Routes: Note the total travel time, number of transfers, and any walking required.
Walking times from your origin to the bus stop, from the bus stop to your destination, or between buses related to a transfer can be assessed using the Google Maps “walking” function.
For all transfers you need to add a transfer time “penalty” that is equal to half of the frequency of the second or connecting route. So for instance, if you must make a transfer and the bus you are transferring onto comes once every 30 minutes, you should add a 15 minute transfer penalty to your total commute time. This penalty represents the average wait time related to the transfer.
Adjust your Google Maps input to reflect the new proposed route and again use the car or driving option, not the transit option to calculate times for the proposed trip. Using the driving option for both the current and proposed trip will ensure a fair comparison.
Compare: Copy a table or create a table with columns for the current and proposed routes, listing travel time, transfers, and walking distance. Highlight any key differences.
Adding the two bus trips together gives a total bus travel time of 18 minutes. However,the new N63 will only have service every 60 minutes–so the transfer penalty will be 30 minutes. In total, the new travel time will be approximately 48 minutes.
Fill in the chart with the information for your current route (on the left) and your new route (on the right) under the BLR proposal:
In this way, you are able to calculate the impact of the proposed changes in the BLR Draft 1.0 for yourself. It is important to remember that this does not have to be perfect. And if you need any help in doing this at any time, feel free to reach out to PPT and we will be glad to figure it out with you!
PPT’s Research Committee modeled Draft 1.0 of the Bus Line Redesign impacts on 21 different trips. Here’s the results:
Hill District (Centre+Kirkpatrick) to Waterworks (Giant Eagle) – Travel Time Would be Shorter Under BLR Proposal
Current route: 48 minutes | Proposed route: 40 minutes (8-minute improvement) Current Route: (82, 1) | Proposed Route: (D81)
Good news! Traveling from Centre & Kirkpatrick to Waterworks Giant Eagle would be slightly faster. The new route eliminates one transfer at Liberty+7th (Downtown), making your journey more straightforward.
Children’s Hospital (Penn+44th) to Shadyside (Fifth Avenue+S Highland) – Travel Time Would be Longer Under the BLR Proposal
Current route: 12 minutes | Proposed routes: 25 or 38 minutes (potential increase of 13-26 minutes).
Current Route: (64) | Proposed Routes: (N94, D73)
Caution! This route becomes more complicated. You’ll now need to walk more (from the Hospital to Liberty+Bloomfield Bridge) and make a transfer at Fifth+Shady which could significantly extend your travel time. You could walk from Fifth+Shady to Fifth+ S Highland to save the transfer time.
Lower Lawrenceville (Penn+Butler) to South Side (S 18th+Sarah) – Travel Time Would be Longer Under the BLR Proposal
Current route: 23 minutes | Proposed routes: 30 or 52 minutes.
Current Route: (54) | Proposed Routes: (O99, O47) or (D88, D51)
Significant variations here! One proposed route will have a 7-minute increase, while another adds nearly 30 minutes to your journey. Expect more walking and transfers at Fifth+Atwood (Oakland) or Smithfield+Fifth (Downtown) in both proposed scenarios.
Trafford (5th+Brinton) to Monroeville (Forbes Hospital) – Travel Time Would be Much Longer Under the BLR Proposal
Major Concern! This route sees a dramatic change. The new route involves a walk from Trafford to Haymaker Village and a transfer at North Versailles Walmart. The required and significant walking (due to the removal of bus service in Trafford) will turn a quick trip into a lengthy journey.
Beltzhoover (Gearing+Chalfont) to Shadyside Hospital (Centre+Cypress) – Travel Time Would Be Similar Under the BLR Proposal with Additional Walking
Current route: 46 minutes | Proposed routes: 49 or 52 minutes.
Current Routes: (44, 82) | Proposed Routes: (N84, D82) or (RED, D82)
While only slightly longer overall, there is significant additional walking. You will still have one transfer.
Squirrel Hill (Forbes+Murray) to Robinson Town Center (IKEA) – Travel Time Would be Longer Under the BLR Proposal
Current route: 61 minutes | Proposed routes: 78 or 85 minutes (an increase of 17-24 minutes).
Current Routes: (61C, 28X) | Proposed Routes: (X50, D29) or (X50, D25)
Longer journey ahead! The new routes involve a Downtown transfer and slightly longer walking distances, potentially making your commute longer and less convenient.
Homewood (N Homewood+Frankstown) to Squirrel Hill (Allderdice High School) – Travel Time Would be Much Longer Under the BLR Proposal
Significant time increase! The new route requires a transfer at Penn+Shady which will add more walking, and substantially more time to reach your destination.
Kennedy (Pleasant Ridge) to Lawrenceville (Butler+46th) – Travel Time Would be Longer Under the BLR Proposal
Current route: 47 minutes | Proposed routes: 57 or 66 minutes (10-19 minute increase).
Current Routes: (22, 91) | Proposed Routes: (N22, GREEN, D91) or (N22, D21, D91)
Longer journey ahead! The new routes involve more walking, an additional transfer and more complex navigation.
Natrona Heights (Freeport+Spring Hill) to Downtown (LIberty+Smithfield) – Travel Time Would be Significantly Longer Under the BLR Proposal
Current route: 54 minutes | Proposed routes: 89 or 104 minutes (an extraordinary 35-50 minute increase).
Current Route: (P10) | Proposed Routes: (N1, PURPLE) or (N1, D5)
Major Time Increase! Riders will now face a transfer either at East Liberty Station or Harmar Garage, significantly longer travel times, and more complicated routes.
Carnegie Mellon University (Forbes+Morewood) to CCAC Boyce Campus – Travel Time Would be Longer Under the BLR Proposal
Current Routes: (41, 51) | Proposed Route: (N33, GREEN, D51)
Significant commute time Increase! There will bean additional transfer, one at Carnegie Station and the second at Sixth+Wood complicating what was previously a more direct journey.
Marshall Shadeland District (Brighton+Marshall) to North Hills (Passavant Hospital) – Travel Time Would be Slightly Longer under BLR Proposal
Current Route: (56) | Proposed Route: (D52, X50, N56)
Significant Time Increase! This would be a substantially longer trip with two transfers, one at E 8th+Ann (Homestead) and the other at Lysle+Evans (McKeesport).
Glen Hazel (Broadview+Johnston) to Greenfield (Giant Eagle) – Travel Time Would be Longer under BLR Proposal
Current route: 10 minutes | Proposed routes: 13 or 36 minutes (slight to significant increase).
Current Route: (93) | Proposed Routes: (O53, D44) or (O53, X50)
Mixed Results: One proposed route requires a transfer at Browns Hill+Imogene (with the need to cross busy Browns Hill Road), while the other adds substantial time requiring a transfer at Hazelwood+Osprey.
Edgewood Town Center (Giant Eagle) to Wilkinsburg (Montier+Laketon) – Travel Time Would Be Similar Under the BLR Proposal
Current and Proposed route: 41 minutes.
Current Routes: (71, 79) | Proposed Route: (X61, X60, N79)
No additional time, but an additional transfer. Despite additional walking and two transfers, one at Forbes+S Braddock (Frick Park) and the other at Penn+Center (Wilkinsburg), the overall travel time remains the same.
Morningside (Jancey+Greenwood) to North Side (Allegheny General Hospital) – Travel Time Would be Longer under BLR Proposal
Current route: 40 minutes | Proposed routes: 49 or 53 minutes (9-13 minute increase).
Current Routes: (87, 54) | Proposed Routes: (D96, D5) or (D96, D12)
Longer Trip Ahead! This commute becomes more complex and longer with additional walking and new transfer locations depending on the chosen option, one at Freeport+Western (Aspinwall) or the other at Liberty+7th (Downtown).
Brookline (Chelton+Freedom) to Propel Braddock Hills High School – Travel Time Would be Shorter Under BLR Proposal
Current Routes: (39, P68) | Proposed Route: (D39, D64)
Slight commute time improvement. An instance of travel time becoming shorter, but there would be increased walking time.
Stanton Heights (Stanton+Hawthorne) to Bloomfield (West Penn Hospital) – Travel Time Would be Longer under BLR Proposal
Current route: 12 minutes | Proposed routes: 29 or 32 minutes (17-20 minute increase).
Current Route: (87) | Proposed Routes: (D87, D88) or (D87, N79)
Significant Time Increase! A transfer would be required either at Penn+Negley or at N Negley+East Liberty Boulevard and additional walking will increase travel time.
Our conclusion? Riders have reason to be concerned.
In the 21 examples the proposed Bus Line Redesign Draft 1.0 predominantly increases travel times, introduces more transfers, and requires additional walking. Under Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s Bus Line Redesign (BLR) Draft 1.0, many riders could expect to have longer, more complicated commutes. We recommend reviewing specific changes to the routes you ride to understand how your daily travel might be impacted. We highly encourage leaving a comment on the Bus Line Design website Bus Line Redesign | Engage PRT or by calling PRT’s Customer Service Line at (412) 442-2000 or by sending an email at BusLineRedesign@RidePRT.org to ensure that your feedback is heard by PRT.
