Representatives from 11 leading member organizations of Transit Riders for Public Transportation gathered for 2 retreat-like days to review the year's work and reaffirm our objectives of building a stronger transit justice movement that can bring environmental justice and civil rights priorities to impact public transportation policy at the local, regional and federal levels.

  Groups attending included:

• - Little Village for Environmental Justice
• - Pratt Center for Community Development
• - We ACT for Environmental Justice
• - ACE/ T-Riders Union
• - Urban Habitat
• - Public Advocates
• - Organizing People Activating Leaders
• - UPROSE
• - Chainbreaker Collective
• - Milwaukee Transit Riders Union

New energy for taking on the national transit crisis

One thing became clear from hearing each others' stories. The civil rights epidemic of severe transit cuts and fare hikes has touched all our communities. Now more than ever, we need to work together on the systemic transit funding problems that affect us all.

It was energizing to meet new TRPT member groups like Chainbreaker from New Mexico, Milwaukee T-Riders Union and to meet Julien Terrell from Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, and Ashwin Balakrishnan from Southern Bronx River Watershed Alliance. We've been seeing a surge of interest in organizing transit riders across the country trying to save or restore their public transit systems