On Tuesday, September 20th the Bus Riders Union and Transit Riders for Public Transportation, joined with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) to send a call to local allies and advocates in 13 cities around the country. Together we sent a message to President Obama and Congress, that protecting the funding for public transportation should be a national priority.

In Los Angeles

LA Streetsblog quoted TRPT organizer Crystal McMillan saying "The buses are our legs. Where can we go without them? Now is the time for our government to be investing in public transportation and our infrastructure, not cutting." Emphasizing that Los Angeles is already feeling the impact of nearly one million hours of bus service cuts and that federal cutting of transit funding would only exacerbate the crisis.

The Los Angeles Times focused on the concerns for jobs that will be impacted by the prospective cuts. "Gridlock and congestion kill jobs, they kill us," said Ryan Wiggins of the national advocacy group Transportation for America. "If cities like L.A. are going to prosper, we're going to need robust systems."
To read more about the Los Angeles street action: KABC, KPCC, Radio Seoul and Korea times.
As the BRU and allies gathered in Los Angeles in the Bay Area they used the fight for student bus passes as the focus for their fight for transit funding.

San Francisco Streetblog emphasized the growing plight of the low-income youth in the Bay Area. "We believe that transportation is a human right," said Alicia Garza of People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER). "What we're seeing is that over the last few years the cost of (public) transportation has increased, and service and access is decreasing."

The Huffington Post highlighted Supervisor David Campos' fight for pilot program that will give free bus passes to children 5-17. "The cost of a monthly Muni pass has more than doubled in recent years in response to the transit agency's budgetary woes, and it's stretching thin the checkbooks of many San Francisco families with school-aged children."

The fight for transit funding was carried on to the national stage in cities like Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Minneapolis and Washington DC.