Who are we
PITTSBURGHERS FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT (PPT) is a grassroots organization of transit riders, transit workers, and residents, mobilizing for equitable, affordable, and sustainable public transit.
What we do
In 2018 PPT launched our Riders Vision for Public Transit. The ‘Riders Vision’ was created by dozens of transit riders and operators from across Allegheny County, to identify key opportunities for growing ridership and equity within our public transit system through fare policy changes, linking affordable housing and transit planning, funding free transit days through the Clean Air Fund, and extending the East Busway with on-street transit improvements to Monroeville and McKeesport.
What is the organizing fellowship?
This fellowship will focus on the Riders’ Vision plank to extend the East Busway to the Mon Valley and Eastern Suburbs with on-street transit improvements, entitled “A Roadmap for Economic Opportunity.” The East Busway is the most efficient way to travel within Port Authority’s transit system, but the benefits of its fast, frequent and reliable transit service don’t extend to these outlying communities. With some relatively inexpensive on- street improvements, residents and workers in the Mon Valley and Eastern Suburbs could get fast and reliable access into the transit network.
Most importantly, we believe that with the right tools, transit riders themselves could design a transit corridor that best serves their needs. To do that, PPT has created a rider-led planning tool that residents and transit riders can use to plan the transit corridors through the Mon Valley or Eastern Suburbs, and identify key community locations that are underserved by transit. The organizing fellows will be helping facilitate hundreds of residents from those communities to use this tool, and to understand why this transit corridor could be transformative for residents, workers, and businesses in the region.
Fellowship Timelines
First Cohort
June 14 // Deadline for 1st Cohort Applications
June 22, 10am-1pm // 1st Cohort Training + Lunch
June 23 – July 14 // 1st Cohort Outreach
Week of July 14 // 1st Cohort debrief + celebration
Second Cohort
July 19 // 2nd Cohort Application Deadline
July 27, 10am-1pm // 2nd Cohort Training + Lunch
July 28 – August 18 // 2nd Cohort Outreach
Week of August 18 // 2nd Cohort debrief + celebration
The organizing skills that the organizing fellows will learn
The fellows will learn how to collectively run a successful outreach campaign, and set and meet attainable goals around community engagement. They will learn how to map the Mon Valley or Eastern Suburb region, identify and follow up with contacts for outreach, and facilitate both one-on-one and group usage of the East Busway extension transit planning tool. They will be able to talk with confidence about the importance of transit for household economic opportunity and community development, the difference between rider-led and agency-led planning efforts, and what a “bus rapid transit” transit corridor could look like.
The time commitment
The total anticipated time commitment is ~20 hours over 3 weeks. The work hours will be flexible, and could happen during evenings or weekends. All of the scheduling will be done in collaboration with the fellows to accommodate other commitments or work schedules.
There will be 1 Beyond the East Busway Organizing Fellowship introductory meeting, 3 outreach opportunities, 1 PPT-led community meeting, and a concluding organizing fellowship meeting at the end of the month. There will additionally be weekly phone check-ins and logistics calls with the PPT community organizer.
The compensation
All fellows would receive an honorarium of $500 for the three-week program. PPT will additionally provide fellows with a monthly bus pass and reimbursement for Lyft/Uber to do outreach as-needed, or a $100 stipend for using their personal vehicle.
Requirements to apply
- Applicants must already be active within the Mon Valley or Eastern Suburbs regions of Allegheny County, with some demonstrated leadership or volunteering efforts in the community.
- Applicants should be regular transit riders, or should have been regular transit riders in the past, with some familiarity with the regional transit routes.
- Applicants must commit to the three-week timeline and fulfill the outreach and meeting attendance detailed above.
PPT is strongly encouraging women, POC, LGBTQIA and other marginalized folks to apply for the fellowship. In addition, we welcome applicants who are working full-time hours or have other regular commitments. It’s not just enough for Community Organizations like ours to do outreach in these groups, we must also, when we can, pay for their labor, their stories and their experiences. PPT hopes that through this Fellowship folks in these marginalized groups can use skills gained through this work to continue organizing in their respective communities.
People can fill out the google form application here, email the application to josh@pittsburghforpublictransit.org, or mail the application to PPT at
5119 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15224.
If you or your organization is able to help spread the word about this fellowship, we’d greatly appreciate it! Check out this Promo Kit for sample posts and images for your facebook, twitter, blog, and newsletter – there’s also a poster that you could print and share!
Reach out if there are any questions: info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org