The conference gathered scores of transit advocates, planners, organizers and community members from across the country to discuss the current state of transportation. The conference viewed transportation through the lens of pressing issues to low income people, specifically the upcoming federal surface reauthorization act.

The workshops held included:

• A history of transit operating funds
• The current campaign on transit flexibility,
• Civil rights enforcement in federal transportation
• The building blocks of organizing.

Timing with Sen. Sherrod Brown's new Transit Operations marker bill

It was the perfect time for the advocates to gather! On the last day of the conference, Senator Sherrod Brown introduced his Transit Operations Marker Bill that will give agencies new flexibility in operations spending. The bill would allow agencies to use 30-50% of their federal transit funds to operate their system and prevent fare increases and service cuts. This Senate Marker Bill is the equivalent to the bill sponsored by Congress member Russ Carnahan, H.R. 2746. Carnahan's Bill has won 102 signatories so far, due to a great deal of leadership from the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union, TEN, Transportation for America and the Transit Riders for Public Transportation. With Congressman Carnahan and Congresswoman Betty Sutton standing at his side, Senator Brown spoke of his hope for restoring jobs and service for the nation's transit systems.

From Conference to Action on the Hill: Legislative Visits

The conference was followed by a day of legislative visits where advocates met with the staff from the offices of Senators Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Charles Schumer, and Chair Peter DeFazio of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee and the offices of Representatives Heath Shuler, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Anthony Weiner, Harry Mitchell, John Geramandi, Yvette Clarke, Rick Larsen, Jose Serrano and Kirsten Gillibrand among many others. All with the immediate goal for gaining support for Congressman Russ Carnahan's Transit Bill, which will add flexibility to Federal Transit funds and open the way for mass transit systems across the country to use the funds to begin to address their operating deficits.