Your Action is Needed to Ensure PRT’s Bus Line Redesign Serves Our Communties
Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) has released the first draft of the Bus Line Redesign (BLR). This new design contains the most substantial service changes proposed in our lifetime. Tens of thousands of people who use the system every day will be affected.
The redesign proposes a completely redrawn map of where transit routes will run. It includes new schedules for how frequently and how late at night buses and trains operate, and even proposes renaming all the routes in the system. Such sweeping changes have the potential for significant disruption and harm especially to predominantly marginalized communities.
It is critical to get the Bus Line Redesign right. We are committed to advocating and collaborating for an outcome that benefits all, so that we can celebrate progress together when an equitable Bus Line Redesign is implemented
Here’s how you can help us organize for the best possible outcome.
- Sign on to the letter & share your story
- Read our new advocacy report on Draft 1.0 of the Bus Line Redesign
- Check out our tools
- Spread the word
- Enter your public comments with Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT)
1. Sign on to the letter
Riders and workers are organizing to demand these three things:
- Don’t rush the implementation
- Simplify the proposal to improve community engagement and gather meaningful feedback
- The Bus Line Redesign should prioritize service to low-income communities, older adults and people with disabilities, youth, and Black and Brown riders.
Please sign on to this letter urging PRT to meet these requirements
2. Read our new advocacy report on Draft 1.0 of the Bus Line Redesign
PPT’s crack research team has taken a deep and thorough look at the redesign and produced a detailed report laying out its analysis. More importantly, it maps out a way forward to have the best outcomes for the people who depend on public transit the most.
After a tremendous effort, the research team developed seven key recommendations to help assure we end up with the best redesign. You can read it all in the Roadmap to a Bus Line Redesign for All report.
A heartfelt shout-out to Garrison Chan, Emily Howe, Tayveon K. Smith, Bobbie Fan, Andrew Hussein, Christina Mendoza, Thomas Quinn, Bill McDowell, Abhishek Viswanathan, James Larson, CMU Tech4Society, Patrick Xue, Cody Berger and Ziggy Edwards for their hard work and diligence.
3. Check Out Our Tools
The research team has also gone the extra mile and developed a number of online tools to help you learn what this massive redesign means for you as a rider. Use them to understand what the redesign’s changes will do to your neighborhood and your commute.
With this tool you can compare the specific commute time you have now with what it will be after the redesign. The research team has laid out a step-by-step procedure that works for your unique situation.
A Summary of Neighborhood impacts.
Here the team took a deep dive into what the changes in the redesign will mean for a range of specific neighborhoods. Check this list to see if your neighborhood is on it and, if so, what the impacts of the upcoming changes will be in detail for you and your neighbors.
4. Spread the Word
You can help spread the word to your neighbors that we are organizing for a Bus Line Redesign that benefits all.
Last month a dozen PPT Members posted hundreds of flyers in all corners of Allegheny County asking riders to speak up for a Redesign For All. Please join us in this organizing effort by sharing these resources as widely as you can:
Use these two versions of a flyer that you can print and hand out to your friends, neighbors, and community.
You can also share the URL of this page to your social media!
5. Enter Your Public Comments with PRT
Pittsburgh Regional Transit is gathering public input on their Bus Line Redesign online. You can add your views and suggestions or find a PRT public engagement event by using the link below. Be sure to let them know – in detail – how this redesign affects you.
PRT’s Bus Line Redesign Public Input Page
Thank you for all you do.
Remember, you are the public in Public Transit. Together we can organize for an expanded, affordable and accessible public transit system that meets all needs, with no communities left behind.