While transportation advocates struggle in Washington to derail the priorities that have shaped transit spending for the last 50 years, it is also important to understand how federal funding is only the first part of the transit pie.

Tri-State Transportation Campaign is a non-profit policy and advocacy organization that works for a more balanced and sustainable transportation network in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut metro region. 

Over the last 15 years, our advocacy has resulted in greater investment for transit, cycling and walking projects in the region. In that time we have learned many lessons about this work, but none comes up time and time again like the importance of tackling state transportation reform.  

In Detroit Michigan from June 22nd-June 26th, TRPT gathered with more than 15, 000 people for the U.S. Social Forum. Described not as a conference, but a political process to align and strengthen our communities, the Social Forum embarked with the motto: Another World is Possible, another U.S. is Necessary, another Detroit is happening.

Operations Service Cuts are crippling Mass Transit in Atlanta

In January, the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) of Chicago was proud to take part in the TRPT's National Advocacy Day for Civil Rights. We met with the staff of Senator Durbin and Senator Burris, as well as the staff of Representatives Davis, Gutierrez, Jackson, Jr, Lipinski, and Quigley. Because senators’ number one priority right now is jobs, we stressed...

It has been both a tough and exciting first year for our civil rights and environmental justice campaign to influence the second largest federal bill: the $500 billion federal surface transportation act. Over the past two weeks, I had the opportunity to step back and reflect on my eventful year as lead coordinator of Transit Riders for Public Transportation.

Lead Organizer and National Coordinator of the Transit Riders for Public Transportation (TRPT), Francisca Porchas discusses the battle for climate justice in the re-authorization of the $500 billion Federal Surface Transportation Act in this winter's issue of Race, Poverty, & the Environment themed "Climate Change: Catalyst or Catastrophe?"

On Thursday November 19th, the Transit Riders for Public Transportation Campaign and the Bus Riders Union hosted a transportation briefing event, "Re-Envision Urban Transit: Los Angeles and Beyond." 

Important Victory for Transit Riders! On June 30th, the California Court of Appeal, Third District, held that $1 billion in "spillover" gas tax revenues dedicated to public transportation by Proposition 116 may not be diverted by the California Legislature to the General Fund. That decision became final when the California Supreme Court refused to review it on September 29.

MTA approved to support H.R. 2746 (Carnahan Bill) at the September MTA board meeting. This bill will allow local transit agencies to use anywhere from 30-50% of the transit funding they receive from the federal government to operate their public transportation system.

With the recent news of the extension of the Federal Surface Transportation Act, Rosa Miranda, organizer, mother, and member of the Bus Riders Union reports back about her visit to Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard's office on September 8, 2009. In our third delegation visit of the summer, Rosa speaks extensively on the ways public transportation and specifically, buses affect her daily life and the role of Congressional representatives in the debate around public transportation.

In the second part of our series of delegation visit reportbacks for the Transit Rider's for Public Transportation National Campaign, Bus Rider's Union members, John Bell and Maria Paz Jaen, visited the office of their congressmember, Xavier Becerra on Thursday September 3, 2009.  They urged Congressman Becerra to co-sponsor and support H.R. 2746 and the TRPT campaign platform for better low fare bus service for low income communities of color.

With the reauthorization of the Federal Surface Transportation Act (FSTA) still pending in Congress, the first delegation of Bus Riders Union members visited House Representative Watson's office to meet with her district transportation staffer, Ken Bell, last Thursday August, 20th, 2009.

The good news is that as a result of the calls and emails sent by members of the TRPT campaign over the past month, the number of congressmembers co-sponsoring H.R. 2746 (Carnahan-MO) has grown. As you may recall H.R. 2746 is a marker bill that will allow more federal transit dollars to be used for the cost of operating buses and trains in the upcoming $500 billion federal surface transportation act (FSTA).

Transit advocates, environmental justice and civil rights groups come together in Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, New York City and Portland to call their congressmembers to support H.R.2746 to combat the adverse impact the govenment's auto-centric policies have on communities around the US.

BRU members equipped with cell phones jumped on the buses to encourage bus riders to make phone calls to their congressmembers to co-sponsor H.R. 2746, a bill in the House introduced by Congressmember Carnahan (MO), that will allow 30-50% of federal transit dollars to be invested into transit operations.

See pics of BRU members fighting for more operations funds from the federal transportion bill.

Join us July 22nd in Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, New York City and Portland! We're calling on the Obama Administration and Congress to break with the last two decades of favoring toxic highway expansion.

We are featured in this piece in a Slate publication called "Big Money".  It does a good job at showing how the stimulus transportaion funds follow
the status quo of federal transit funds that virtually fund exclusively
the expansion of highways over public transportation.  It's titled,
"Potholes in the Stimulus Plan - Why isn’t mass transit part of the
package?" by Amy Tennery. 

The first draft of the reauthorization bill has been released by Oberstar's committee. We will be putting out a full analysis in a few weeks but a picture is coming into focus...

On Tuesday, June 9th, ten different organizations from across the country, including our allies from Transportation Equity Network (TEN) joined Transit Riders for Public Transportation (TRPT) for their first national Advocacy Day on the Hill.  The first half of the day organizers from across the country met with at least 30 meetings with the staff of congressional leaders. The Advocacy Day culminated with a Congressional Briefing hosted by TRPT and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member, Congresswoman Grace Napolitano on the importance of greatly expanding permanent transit operating assistance funding in the next federal surface transportation act...