Photo: Taylor Mayes
By: Bakari Height, LNS Transit Organizer
For the past four years on February 4, Labor Network for Sustainability and a network of transit rider unions, community organizations, environmental groups and labor unions have organized Transit Equity Day (TED)–a national day of action to commemorate the birthday of Rosa Parks by declaring public transit a civil right. This year, TED made a big splash. Two states (Wisconsin and Minnesota) passed formal proclamations that declared February 4th Transit Equity Day—as did dozens of cities. Local transit activists organized more than 60 events across the country, LNS hosted a massive livestream, and we launched a transit equity workforce investment report with some of our partners!
This year, Transit Equity Day showcased many of the local transit organizers and their heroic efforts in making sure that Transit Equity remains a top priority in planning and maintaining our transit systems. Whether it was Fort Wayne, Indiana, Buffalo, New York, Atlanta, or Wisconsin, our network put Transit Equity front and center. And thanks for special guest appearances by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Department of Transportation Administrator Nuria Fernandez – see the Secretary interview the Administrator at https://twitter.com/SecretaryPete/status/1489634427630141444?s=20&t=EJ9WFljXJeUkxa35CtziSg
Let’s continue to make our voices louder and our presence stronger.
To see a replay of the livestream, please click this link: youtu.be/3nMdtD04z6M
A message from ATU International President John Costa on the importance of transit equity for riders and workers: twitter.com/ATUComm/status/1489604710172704770
TED events: labor4sustainability.org/transit-equity-2022/TED-2022-events/
TED sponsors: labor4sustainability.org/transit-equity-2022/sponsors/
See the new report: “Invest in Transit Equity, Invest in Transit Workers”: bit.ly/TransitEquityReport