TRANSIT EQUITY LETTER TO CONGRESS

About This Campaign

The Labor Network for Sustainability and Institute for Policy Studies have organized more than 70 unions, civil rights groups, transit organizations, and coalitions in the labor and environmental justice movements to urge Congress to provide more funding for transit agencies.

Join the action.
#TransitEquity #United4Workers

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Background: Key Points from the Letter

  • Public transit provides a lifeline to communities in crisis. Much as water, electricity, sanitation, and food distribution services are essential to maintain during the pandemic, we must keep buses, subways, and other forms of transit running safely. Essential workers such as doctors, nurses, and sanitation workers must get to their life saving work.
  • Transit systems nationwide are under severe financial stress because of the pandemic. They are incurring additional expenditures for frequent sanitization of handrails, benches, seats, and other surfaces that employees and passengers touch frequently.
  • In many transit systems, service has been cut back, leading to overcrowding on buses and at bus stops. This is a dangerous situation during the pandemic. Transit systems must be able to run at whatever frequency is needed to allow all workers and passengers to maintain the medically recommended safe distance. Lack of funding shouldn’t be an excuse to endanger public health, and the federal government must step in to provide the entirety of the additional funding transit agencies need to maintain free service at the required frequency to avoid overcrowding and allow all system operators and users to maintain social distancing.
  • We commend the inclusion of $25 billion in emergency funding for transit in the CARES Act, but that is insufficient to deal with the scale of the crisis. We strongly urge you to reach out to transit agencies across the country to determine their revenue shortfalls and additional funding needs for safe operation of essential transit service (including paratransit), and provide the needed funding on an emergency basis to keep transit systems running as an essential lifeline during the coronavirus emergency.

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What You Can Do Right Now

Signers of the Letter

  1. 350.org
  2. 350 Eugene
  3. 350 Maine
  4. 350 New Orleans
  5. 350PDX
  6. 350 Philadelphia
  7. 350 Seattle
  8. 350 Spokane
  9. A Better City, Greater Boston, MA
  10. Agricultural Missions
  11. Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU)
  12. Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 697
  13. Active Transportation Alliance
  14. Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
  15. Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit, Inc., South Carolina
  16. Better Bus Coalition, Cincinnati
  17. Black Emergency Managers Association International
  18. Black Workers for Justice
  19. Bronx Climate Justice North
  20. Build A Movement 2020
  21. Call to Action Colorado
  22. CASA
  23. Catholic Network US
  24. Center for Biological Diversity
  25. Clean Water Action
  26. Clevelanders for Public Transit
  27. Climate Hawks Vote
  28. Climate Jobs PDX
  29. Climate Justice Alliance
  30. Coalition for Smarter Growth
  31. Columbus Association for Transit 
  32. Connecticut Roundtable for Climate and Jobs
  33. CTLCVEF Climate Action Team
  34. Democratic Socialists of America
  35. Democratic Socialists of America East Bay Chapter
  36. Demos
  37. Earth Ethics Inc.
  38. Earthworks
  39. Elders Climate Action 
  40. Food & Water Action
  41. Friends of the Earth U.S.
  42. Georgia Stand-Up
  43. Green Latinos
  44. Greenpeace USA
  45. Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Program
  46. Jobs to Move America
  47. Jobs With Justice
  48. Labor Network for Sustainability
  49. League of Conservation Voters
  50. MARTA Army
  51. NAACP 
  52. Nicaragua Center for Community Action
  53. Northridge Coop Homes Community Garden
  54. Nuclear Information and Resource Service
  55. OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
  56. Oil Change International
  57. OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon
  58. Our Children’s Trust Colorado
  59. Philly Transit Riders Union
  60. Pittsburghers for Public Transit
  61. Power Shift Network
  62. Progressive Democrats of America
  63. Public Citizen
  64. Rainforest Action Network
  65. RapidShift.net
  66. Sierra Club
  67. Southern Oregon Climate Action Now
  68. Sunrise Movement 
  69. Sustaining Way
  70. Taproot Sanctuary
  71. The Democracy Collaborative
  72. The Rusty Anvil
  73. The Wilderness Society
  74. TransFormation Alliance
  75. Transport Hartford Academy at the Center for Latino Progress
  76. Transport Workers Union (TWU)
  77. Transportation for America
  78. Tri-State Transportation Campaign
  79. United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE)
  80. WRTA Zero Fare Coalition (Worcester, MA)

Contact Info

Organizing:

Basav Sen, Institute of Policy Studies; Michael Leon Guerrero, Labor Network for Sustainability

Social Media:

Leo Blain, Labor Network for Sustainability; Taylor Mayes, Connecticut Roundtable for Climate and Jobs; Crystal Greer, NAACP Georgia; Akshai Singh; Sunrise Movement, Cleveland; Eboni Preston, NAACP Georgia; Sarah Gertler, Institute for Policy Studies

Website Communications:

Judy Asman Labor Network for Sustainability

Media Outreach:

Crystal Greer, NAACP Georgia; Olivia Alperstein, Institute for Policy Studies