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At the final meeting for the Mon Oakland Connector, residents made it clear: investment needs to go to transit, sidewalks, and affordable housing – not the profits of investors.

On October 20th, During the city’s first attempt at a “Final Public Meeting” on the Mon Oakland Connector, the room was full to its 100-person capacity before the meeting even started. The City doubled the capacity and started the meeting late, but capacity was reached again. The city then organized a second meeting on October 29th. This added even more frustration to a project that residents have been organizing against for over 5 years.

See coverage from these meetings here:

• “Nearly 200 voice concerns at hearing for Mon-Oakland Mobility Project” from the Post Gazette
• “Residents Speak Out Against Proposed Free Shuttle Between Hazelwood Green And Oakland” from WESA
• “Shuttle Road Slammed at Packed Meeting” from the Junction Coalition blog
• “10/21/20: Little love for planned Hazelwood-to-Oakland shuttle” from Public Source

You can watch recordings of the meeting and give your feedback on the Mon Oakland Connector plan until Thursday, November 5th:

Instead of the Mon Oakland Connector shuttle roadway – which primarily benefits CMU & the foundations that own the Hazelwood Green development site – residents want to see investment in the Our Money. Our Solutions. alternative community-driven transportation plan.

The City is proposing to spend well over $20-million of public money to build The Mon Oakland Connector shuttle road that is estimated to move 180 people/day. This would make the MOC the City’s single most expensive “transportation” project. More costly even than the City’s share of the Oakland-Downtown BRT which is proposed to move 37,000-50,000 passenger trips a day!

When you look even closer at the project budgets and travel times you see that the primary beneficiaries of this public investment are Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, and ALMONO Partners LLC (a foundation investor partnership of the Heinz Endowments, the Benedum Foundation, and the RK Mellon Foundation) – not the residents of Hazelwood who need true transportation improvements. You also see that the same travel times between these locations are possible by utilizing Port Authority public transit and/or combining the university shuttle systems.

Instead of sinking millions of public dollars into the Mon Oakland Connector shuttle road, more than 1000 residents and 23 community groups in Hazelwood have endorsed the “Our Money. Our Solutions” transportation plan which calls on the city to direct public funds to:

• Extension of the 75 across the Hot Metal Bridge into Hazelwood
• Irvine/Second Avenue sidewalk audit and replacement/install
• Building sidewalks and pedestrian connections along Second Ave.
• Improve street lighting on Irvine.
• Expand electric buses
• Build safe bicycle connections
• and more – read the full Our Money. Our Solutions. community transportation plan and sign in support here.

For more ways that you can learn about the Our Money. Our Solutions. transportation plan, the Mon Oakland Connector, and the resident-led fight for transit equity to connect Hazelwood & Oakland:

• Read the People’s Audit of the Mon Oakland Connector published by Tech4Society & Pittsburghers for Public Transit
• Get up to speed with this WESA article,‘A Moving Target’: Getting To The Heart Of Pittsburgh’s Mon-Oakland Connector Plan and this City Paper article, Report says traditional buses would serve Hazelwood corridor better than autonomous shuttles
• Watch Dean Bog video on The Run in his Neighborhoods series
• Scan through Junction Coalition’s website to read right-to-know requests and an in-depth history of the project and its proponents.

They’re back at it again: trying to use public dollars to build luxury transportation for wealthy developers.

After a disastrous first attempt at a final public meeting for the Mon Oakland Connector project, the City’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, the Universities and the foundations that own Hazelwood Green are holding a second meeting on Thursday, October 29th, 6-8pm.

Residents who live in Hazelwood, Greenfield, the Run, Oakland, and Squirrel Hill, and any taxpayers in the City of Pittsburgh who understand the importance of equity and efficiency in public investments needs to join.

We are asking stakeholders (City residents, organizational representatives, Mon-Oakland corridor neighborhood residents, transit riders, CMU and Pitt students, renters and homeowners) to speak up during the public meeting Q&A portion or in the zoom chat. We ask that you introduce yourself and share why you are a stakeholder, then lay out your concerns or the needs that you see should be uplifted instead of the MOC shuttle roadway.

Instead of investing millions in the Mon Oakland Connector roadway, the City, Universities, and Foundation Partners should invest in a true community-generated transportation plan.

The project will cost about $25 million that that the city will pay to build the road through the park, then the foundation and university partners will pay an additional $16+ million to operate a short-term shuttle.

Instead of sinking millions of dollars into this ineffective project, these entities should fund the community’s Our Money, Our Solutions proposal to extend the 75 bus service into Hazelwood.

Why is the Mon Oakland Connector so bad exactly?

1. The MOC shuttle fails as a transportation project.

The Mon-Oakland Shuttle is projected to carry 180 passengers a day, primarily to two destinations– Carnegie Mellon University and Hazelwood Green, at an extraordinary cost per trip. The Mon-Oakland Connector will also be obsolete almost at its start: The shuttle’s full daily ridership capacity of 180 riders will hardly mitigate the proposed travel demand to Hazelwood Green, which is anticipated to be 20,413 trips by 2028, and 61,000 trips by 2060. That means no relief for Hazelwood, Greenfield and Oakland residents on the increased congestion and air quality issues that will only worsen as Hazelwood Green builds out.

And City residents don’t just need to travel between Hazelwood Green and CMU! By contrast, extending the 75 bus service would create new, direct connections from Hazelwood to the Southside (read: food, jobs), to the whole of Oakland (read: healthcare, jobs), Shadyside, East Liberty, Bakery Square, Morningside and Aspinwall.

The travel time on the 75 between Hazelwood and Oakland would be just as fast as the proposed shuttle. It could be implemented tomorrow. It would serve thousands of residents rather than a few hundred. And because the service would be run by Port Authority, it would be sustainable, affordable, publicly-run and fully accessible. Almono Partners could even pay for the 75 buses to be electric buses, and it would STILL be cheaper than funding the Mon-Oakland shuttle “pilot” phase.

2. Projects like this cause gentrification and displacement.

Yesterday, The City’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI)’s Director Karina Ricks compared the Mon-Oakland Connector to the Atlanta Beltline and Bloomingdale Trail in Chicago. These projects and similar trigger gentrification and displacement in low-income neighborhoods and in neighborhoods with a majority of people of color.

3. The MOC is the single-most expensive transportation corridor investment that the City is making, while the City is experiencing a record $100 million dollar budget shortfall.

The City does not have the resources to address critical resident needs during a on-going public health and economic emergency, let alone fund a luxury microtransit pilot project.

4. The City’s public process for the Mon-Oakland Connector has been abysmal.

The “final” virtual public meeting on the Mon-Oakland Connector shuttle roadway and the shuttle service will also be the first time that the public has seen the shuttle proposal. And this Monday, DOMI’s Director Ricks said in the Post Gazette that “most of the ‘hard engineering’ for the city work has been completed. The public still can have a say on the landscaping, lights and elements that will be included in park recreation areas.

‘There is certainly much on the table for input,’ [Ricks] said. ‘This is the opportunity the neighborhood has to weigh in.’”

Weighing in on “landscaping and lighting” is not what public engagement looks like. For the last five years, residents in Four Mile Run and Hazelwood have raised concerns and questions about the need, the harm and the benefits about running an autonomous shuttle, building a $23 million dollar bike trail, then building a roadway for a manned CMU to Hazelwood Green shuttle through Schenley Park. For more about the City’s evolving project descriptions, and community opposition, check out this WESA piece from March.

5. Building the shuttle roadway through Schenley Park and Sylvan Avenue will diminish our limited City green space and recreational areas, and will likely reduce the efficacy of the Four Mile Run flood remediation effort.

The project calls for the clear cutting of 900 trees, mostly in the Panther Hollow portion of Schenley Park. There has been no published analysis of how adding the non-permeable surface of the shuttle roadway would affect the desperately needed floodwater relief in the corridor. The Mon-Oakland Connector roadway will also substantially diminish the size of the soccer field in Junction Hollow.

6. Running shuttles along the Junction Hollow commuter bike path and next to the playing field puts users at risk.

Many cyclists consider the Mon-Oakland Connector a degradation of the existing connection between Downtown, Oakland and Southside because the MOC will require cyclists to share the commuter path with motorized vehicles.

There are, however, important pedestrian and trail improvements that residents have fought for and won over the course of the last five years, including the pedestrian tunnel to Panther Hollow Lake, and addressing the dangerous “Chute” connection (the Eliza Furnace trail along Second Ave from Swinburne St. to Saline St). These improvements should not be held hostage to the shuttle roadway. Finally, we need to ensure that members of the Hazelwood/Four Mile Run/Panther Hollow/Greenfield community get to stay to enjoy these improvements, and that they are not pushed out to make way for them.

We are Calling You to Action!

We are asking stakeholders (City residents, organizational representatives, Mon-Oakland corridor neighborhood residents, transit riders, CMU and Pitt students, renters and homeowners) to speak up during the public meeting Q&A portion or in the zoom chat. We ask that you introduce yourself and share why you are a stakeholder, then lay out your concerns or the needs that you see should be uplifted instead of the MOC shuttle roadway.

The LAST VIRTUAL PUBLIC MEETING for the Mon Oakland Connector shuttle roadway project is scheduled for Thursday, 10/29, 6-8pm

Transit equity means that public transportation investments must benefit people, not corporate interests.

For more than two years, Pittsburghers for Public Transit has been advocating alongside residents for investment in a community-driven plan –Our Money, Our Solutions – instead of the City’s Mon Oakland Connector (MOC) shuttle roadway to connect Hazelwood and Oakland.

The MOC is a City-led project costing $20+ million of your tax dollars to build a shuttle road through Schenley Park – along what is now a car-free bike path and an expansive playing field used by youth sports groups and others from around the city.

The privately-operated shuttles proposed for the roadway would cost an additional $16+ million of foundation funding for a trial period, and would principally serve to connect CMU & Pitt in Oakland with the new Hazelwood Green development site.

Instead, Our Money, Our Solutions asks that those funds be reallocated to expand existing bus service, sidewalks, and bike paths between Hazelwood, Greenfield, and Oakland. This community-driven plan connects more people to more jobs, grocery stores, healthcare, and amenities than the MOC – all for significantly less money.

1,000+ residents and 25 community organizations from within the project corridor have signed as supporters of the Our Money. Our Solutions. alternative transportation plan. You think that would be enough to move the Mayor and City Council to rethink the MOC…. but sadly, that is not the case.

The City’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI), CMU/Pitt, and the Foundation partners that own Hazelwood Green are plowing ahead with this project – despite the fact that:

• Pittsburgh is facing a$100 million dollar budget shortfall due to the pandemic, meaning the City is lacking resources to address critical resident needs to manage the ongoing pandemic and economic crisis.
• At $20-23 million dollars, this is the single biggest transportation corridor investment that the City of Pittsburgh is contributing to, and the shuttle service is projected to provide 180 passenger trips a day. Contrast that with the Downtown to Oakland Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor construction, which will provide between 37,000-50,000 passenger trips a day. 
• Expanded bus service will provide faster, more effective, and more affordable connections to and from Oakland and elsewhere for our most vulnerable residents.
• This project will be obsolete almost as soon as it is built. By 2028, Hazelwood Green is anticipating 20,413 total projected trips to that specific site. By contrast, the maximum daily capacity of the shuttle service is less than 1,000 riders. By 2060, Hazelwood Green is anticipating 61,000 total trips to the site.  
• There is no guarantee that the cost of riding these privately-operated shuttles will be affordable to low-income residents for the long term.
• There is no plan to protect renters in Hazelwood and Greenfield from the increased housing costs that large-scale development projects like the MOC inevitably bring.
• People are relying more than ever on our public parks for health and recreation.
• Running shuttles along our commuter bike path and next to our playing field puts users at risk.

We demand that our money be spent on affordable, effective, and equitable public transportation solutions for the residents of Pittsburgh today.

We will not let the Mayor and City Council hand our money and our parks over to developers. Please join us for the next meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 21 from 6 pm to 8 pm, where DOMI will present the latest design plans for the MOC, demand equitable investments.

More ways that you can learn about the Our Money. Our Solutions. transportation plan, the Mon Oakland Connector, and the resident-led fight for transit equity to connect Hazelwood & Oakland:

• RSVP to join the final virtual public meeting for the Mon Oakland Connector project.
• Give feedback now on the MOC via the public input website
• Sign the petition and read the community-generated Our Money. Our Solutions. transportation plan.
• Read the People’s Audit of the Mon Oakland Connector published by Tech4Society & Pittsburghers for Public Transit
• Get up to speed with this WESA article,‘A Moving Target’: Getting To The Heart Of Pittsburgh’s Mon-Oakland Connector Plan and this City Paper article, Report says traditional buses would serve Hazelwood corridor better than autonomous shuttles
• Watch Dean Bog video on The Run in his Neighborhoods series
• Scan through Junction Coalition’s website to read right-to-know requests and an in-depth history of the project and its proponents.

All public utilities and essential services have started assistance programs to support low-income residents survive the pandemic and economic depression.

The Port Authority must follow their lead and implement an emergency low-income fare program now.

Allegheny County residents have been hit hard by COVID-19 and the ensuing economic depression.

The data included in the recently released report, “No Greater Need, No Greater Opportunity: The Time for COVID-19 Fare Relief for Low-Income Pittsburghers is Now”  shows that the majority of people riding transit during COVID-19 are riding to access essential needs like food, jobs, and healthcare. And that the people riding transit are disproportionately Black and Low-income.

Moreover, the data shows that full-fares during an economic depression are harming Black and Low-income Pittsburghers and keeping them stranded from accessing life’s essentials.

Sign the petition now to support a COVID Fare Relief program to support access to food, healthcare, housing and jobs.

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Volunteer to help connect with transit riders and collect support for this initiative

Allegheny County residents have been hit hard by COVID-19 and the ensuing economic depression. Nearly every other public utility and essential service has programs to ensure all people can access their life-sustaining resources.

Transit is no different.

Port Authority must start an emergency fare relief program now.

Click here to sign the petition for emergency COVID fare relief. And add your name below to help circulate the petition at transit stops. PPE will be provided, and signatures will be collected verbally so there will be no contact or sharing pens. Make sure to come with a full charge on your cellphone and an extra battery if you have it. We will also have paper petitions if you need to use them. Please contact us with any other access needs or questions – info@ppt-test.jimkeener.com

PPT releases a new report that calls on Port Authority to implement a COVID-19 Fare Relief program, for the lives of low-income riders and the health of the transit system.

On a sunny Tuesday, PPT members rallied under the colorful MLK mural near the Wilkinsburg Busway Station to release our new report, “No Greater Need, No Greater Opportunity: The Time for COVID-19 Fare Relief for Low-Income Riders is Now.” This report calls for Port Authority to implement an emergency policy. Noting that the fastest, cheapest way to do so would be to allow SNAP-eligible riders to show their EBT-ACCESS cards in place of fare payment. It analyzes months of pandemic ridership data, and was a collective research effort by more than a dozen PPT volunteers.

This report shows that the majority of people riding transit right now are Black, low-income, and traveling to access essential needs like food, healthcare, and jobs. It also shows that bus lines that run through predominantly Black & low-income neighborhoods saw the largest decreases in ridership when Port Authority re-implemented full-fare payment in June. Fares are keeping low-income riders from taking transit to access essential needs during a global pandemic and economic depression.

But along with the great need for this program, the report demonstrates why a fare relief measure is an important opportunity for the Port Authority. Ridership is at a historic low, between 30-35% of pre-pandemic levels. A COVID Fare Relief program could help stabilize and restore 9% of its ridership immediately. Moreover, because there is excess capacity on buses and a number of unique COVID-related funding sources, there is no more affordable time for this policy to be implemented. The Port Authority’s commitment to redistribute transit service to high-ridership lines during November’s service changes is an important step towards equity, and to help ensure that this policy would not require Port Authority to incur increased operating costs.

For the lives of low-income riders and the health of the transit system, Port Authority must implement an emergency low-income fare now.

Key Findings from Pittsburghers For Public Transit’s new report, “No Greater Need, No Greater Opportunity: The Time for COVID-19 Fare Relief for Low-Income Riders is Now.”

• Black residents and low-income residents represent a disproportionately high percentage of transit ridership during COVID-19.
• Transit routes serving Black neighborhoods have seen steep ridership losses from the reinstatement of full fares.
• Port Authority Transit ridership is at an all-time low (down 65-70%), and an emergency low-income fare program could allow PAAC to quickly regain 9% of its ridership.
• Port Authority can implement the program with little to no increase in operating costs by reallocating service to high-ridership routes (which Port Authority announced it would begin doing in November).
• Unique revenue sources that could cover the estimated annual fare revenue loss of $4M-$8M include: The $141M in CARES Act Funding received by the Port Authority, Cares Act Funding received by the County and/or State, philanthropic partner support for emergency COVID relief efforts.

Roundup of Coverage from Rally & Report Release

• See PPT’s Facebook Live broadcast of the rally and report release.
• “Advocates call for emergency, low-income fare program for Allegheny Co.’s public transit riders“, by Tom Lisi at the Pennsylvania Capital Star
• “Report from transit advocates says reduced fares can increase ridership during pandemic“, by Ryan Deto at the Pittsburgh City Paper
• “Report: Route changes, free fares for low-income bus riders would help Port Authority system“, by Kate Giammarise at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
• “Advocates Call On Port Authority To Create Low-Income Fare Program“, by Kiley Koscinski at WESA
• DISK Institute Pittsburgh News Line on KDKA Radio 1020

Photos From The Rally!

Pittsburgh PA – On Tuesday, September 22, Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) published a new report detailing why the Port Authority should immediately implement a transit fare relief program for low-income riders titled “No Greater Need, No Greater Opportunity: The Time for COVID-19 Fare Relief for Low-Income Riders is Now.”

This new report lays out how collecting full fares during the pandemic is disproportionately harming Allegheny County’s low-income and Black residents, and preventing these residents from accessing basic needs including groceries, healthcare and jobs. Emergency fare relief is in line with measures being taken by other public utility providers, to ensure that connections to critical services are not cut off in the midst of an unprecedented economic and public health crisis. 

Port Authority has stated that they are interested in a long-term low-income fare program. There is no better time to pilot its implementation. Transit agencies are facing an existential ridership crisis, with no clear pathway to recovering the 65-70% of pre-COVID-19 ridership that has stopped taking transit. Allowing SNAP-eligible riders to show their EBT/ACCESS cards to board could provide an immediate ridership boost without incurring increased operating costs. 

In May, PPT mobilized 31 riders and organizational speakers to call for this COVID-related intervention at Port Authority’s board meeting, when it became clear that the agency was planning to reinstate full fare collection after a 2-month hiatus. 

19 local and state political leaders followed suit with a letter to Port Authority calling for fare relief for low-income riders, and Allegheny County Council passed a Will of Council advocating for the measure.

Key Findings from Pittsburghers For Public Transit’s new report, “No Greater Need, No Greater Opportunity: The Time for COVID-19 Fare Relief for Low-Income Riders is Now.”

• Black residents and low-income residents represent a disproportionately high percentage of transit ridership during COVID-19.
• Transit routes serving Black neighborhoods have seen steep ridership losses from the reinstatement of full fares.
• Port Authority Transit ridership is at an all-time low (down 65-70%), and an emergency low-income fare program could allow PAAC to quickly regain 9% of its ridership.
• Port Authority can implement the program with little to no increase in operating costs by reallocating service to high-ridership routes (which Port Authority announced it would begin doing in November).
• Unique revenue sources that could cover the estimated annual fare revenue loss of $4M-$8M include: The $141M in CARES Act Funding received by the Port Authority, Cares Act Funding received by the County and/or State, philanthropic partner support for emergency COVID relief efforts.

Listening to feedback and moving resources to support core riders, this is what transit equity is all about.

In a massive win that riders have been fighting for since the start of COVID-19, the Port Authority announced on Thursday that it would redistribute service from low ridership lines to better serve riders in high-ridership communities!

This is a huge victory that riders in heavily transit-reliant communities have been calling for since the start of the new COVID capacity limits on buses (10 riders per 35-foot bus, 15 riders per 45-foot bus, and 25 passengers per 60-foot articulated bus or a light rail car). These capacity limits are important safety measures, but without increasing service frequency they leave riders in the most transit-reliant communities at the curb – while buses in low-ridership communities run empty.

The Port Authority’s decision also lays the groundwork for Port Authority to pilot an emergency low-income fare program, which riders have also been calling for since the start of the pandemic. High ridership transit routes during COVID-19 are serving predominantly low-income communities, in many cases without access to alternative means of transportation.

The people who are riding transit during this pandemic are the Port Authority’s core riders. Pittsburghers for Public Transit applauds the Port Authority for supporting these core riders and building greater transit equity.

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News Roundup:

• KDKA TV: Port Authority Plans To Redistribute Service To Meet Demand
• Post Gazette: Port Authority lays out plans to improve bus service as COVID-19 caused missed trips

COVID has threatened transit riders and our transit system like never before. To get both back on their feet, Port Authority must implement an emergency low-income fare now!

Join PPT to release a new report authored by our members that lays out the case for why Port Authority can’t afford to wait on piloting a low-income fare program. This is exactly the action that riders need during this economic depression, and what Port Authority needs as its ridership hits historic lows. COVID Fare Relief Now!

Rally & Release of New Report
Tuesday, 9/22, 11:15-12:15
Wilkinsburg Busway Station, at South Ave & Hay St.

Masks & Social Distance Required. Event will also be live-streamed with Closed Captioning via this Google Hangout Link: meet.google.com/zzh-fbnz-qwnFor a ride or for any access needs, call PPT at 412-626-7353

#TrustRidersFundTransit is on October 6th is organized by Transit Riders of the US Together (TRUST), an emerging coalition of Transit Rider Unions from across the country

On October 6th, transit riders across the country will call on Congress and their local agencies to #TrustRidersFundTransit! This day to action will pressure elected officials to pass $32B in relief for public transit agencies and give riders a real say in determining how these dollars are used.

Local advocates in 10 cities across the country will tie these national demands to local campaigns to decriminalize public transit, improve rider engagement, and increase service. Check this blog to find out how to get involved with #TrustRidersFundTransit on October 6th

Take local action with Pittsburghers for Public Transit, 4pm 10/6, downtown at Sixth and Smithfield

Help PPT launch a petition for low-income fares on October 6th for the #TrustRidersFundTransit national transit rider day-of-action!

And tweet with the following hashtags to tell your elected officials and local agency to trust riders and fund transit!
#TrustRidersFundTransit
#RideWithUs
#TransitIsEssential