PA Governor taking anti-business stance by ignoring #publictransit

Controller Wagner Comments On Corbett Transit ‘Plan’: "“Allegheny County has weathered the economic storm better than much of the state and nation, but crippling cuts to transit would be a major blow to our region’s well-being. A majority of commuters to Downtown and a quarter of those to Oakland use the Port Authority, and those who don’t will find increased traffic congestion, travel times and gridlock on all routes. To be a vital urban region we must solve the Port Authority’s funding gap. It is imperative that this issue become one of high priority for all our region’s leaders, including the Governor.”

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Rally Against Port Authority Service Cuts

Rally Against Port Authority Service Cuts: "Stand with our transit workers to oppose the proposed cuts to our public transit system! On Friday morning, the Port Authority Board will be officially voting to sanction a 35% cut in our transit service, which will include the elimination of dozens of routes, another fare hike, 500 layoffs, and a drastic reduction in after-hours transit service.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 is organizing this action, and as transit riders we need to stand together with the people that make our city run to fight against the cuts! Be there!"

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Essential transit - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Essential transit - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Our buses and trolleys do more than shuttle people to work. They keep tens of thousands of cars off our roads and bridges. (You think traffic, potholes and construction are bad now? Just wait.) They bring people to schools, shopping, hospitals, bars and restaurants. Quite often, they keep drunken drivers off the road.

Moreover, transit helps keep our communities and businesses humming. It is the only source of transportation for many students, senior citizens and working poor. Without it, businesses, and jobs, would suffer."

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Urbanites subsidize cars more than rural people subsidize #publictransit

@nataliarudiak

A sorry story of transit and taxes: State legislators support the wealthy over the many who need mass transit - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Transportation funding is often portrayed as an urban vs. rural issue, with rural legislators complaining that they do not want to subsidize mass transit systems in cities. This dichotomy is false -- and not only because there are, in fact, public transit systems in rural areas and small towns, but also because urban taxpayers heavily subsidize road and bridge construction in rural areas with the taxes our large populations pay. We need to reinvigorate a sense of reciprocity and realize that we cannot achieve success in our state without investing in every corner of the commonwealth."

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Group seeks to lure newcomers to live in city, not suburbs - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Group seeks to lure newcomers to live in city, not suburbs - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "An estimated 100,000 people are expected to move to the Pittsburgh area in the next 25 years, and national patterns indicate 70 percent will settle in the suburbs.

An effort is under way to reverse that proportion and, as part of the city's first master-planning process, local planners, consultants and the public are hashing out a transportation framework to do that."

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Protesters Demand More Public Transit Funding | Essential Public Radio

(Noah Brode/Essential Public Radio)

Protesters Demand More Public Transit Funding | Essential Public Radio: "Occupy Pittsburgh and the local Amalgamated Transit Union teamed up to demand that the state provide more funding to the Port Authority of Allegheny County. PAT is facing a $64 million budget deficit, and plans for a 35% service cut to take effect this September."

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Public #transit is the blood of civilization. Are we civilized?

Transit ripple effects: "If cuts are enacted, estimates cite that 20,000 residents will lose transit. How many others will lose out due to schedule adjustments is incalculable. What ripple effects will that have for our communities where more than one in 10 lives below the poverty line, more than one in eight has below basic literacy skills, and more than one in seven is insecure about where a future meal will come from? How will those numbers rise if we continue to ignore these basic needs of our neighbors? Do we want to find out?"

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