PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Save Our Transit Visits Harrisburg
by david Tuesday, Oct. 05, 2004 at 7:38 PM

Save Our Transit travels to Harrisburg to demand adequate funding for public transit.

Earlier today 56 Pittsburgh public transit users and activists packed into a bus and took their case to the state capital. Stressing the need to pass Senate Bill 1162 and its companion House Bill 2697 to increase state funding for public transit, they met with a number of representatives and forced legistlators to look public transit users in the eye.

Save Our Transit member and Thomas Merton Center Executive Director Tim Vining expressed concern about legislators' efforts to connect the issue of public transit's funding to PA highways' funding. Not only does the highway lobby have vastly more resources than the public transit lobby, but rebuilding highways will do little good for people dependent on public transit.

After those meetings, Save Our Transit held a rally in Harrisburg that they organized jointly with a statewide group called Penn Trans. About 100 people were in attendance. Save Our Transit co-founder Linda Warman spoke passionately at the rally about how service cuts would affect her personally as a transit dependent worker whose salary is barely above minimum wage.

Public Transit activists also paid a visit to Governor Rendell's office. He was not in, but the group made arrangements to meet with him next month.

While Pittsburgh's Save Our Transit was the only group present today consisting of public transit dependent people, a newly formed group from Philadelphia called Save Transit plans to to emulate Save Our Transit's model. Save Our Transit activists may pay a visit to Philadelphia to help them do so.

www.thomasmertoncenter.org/saveourtransit/

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