Transportation
T Riders' Union: A Tale of Two Campaigns in Boston
At the end of 2000, transit riders in
Boston had launched the T Riders’ Union (TRU) and were celebrating
their first victory—free system-wide bus transfers. Three years later,
community advocates walked away from a three-year initiative to reform
the Boston Metropolitan Transportation Organization (MPO), with little
to show for their effort. These two campaigns have taught Alternatives
for Community & Environment (ACE) and our community partners a lot
about the opportunities and pitfalls in transit justice organizing and
advocacy.
Launch of T Riders’ Union
Our
story began with community concerns about asthma and air quality. In
1997, through ACE’s youth program, students at three schools targeted
dirty diesel buses and trucks as an environmental injustice linked to
the high rates of asthma in the community. Seventy-five youth marched
in an Anti-Idling Day and handed out “tickets” to educate drivers about
the state law limiting idling of engines. That same day, these youth
joined with six other community and environmental groups to launch the
Clean Buses for Boston coalition.
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Transportation for Health
By Lili Farhang and Rajiv Bhatia
Our transportation system has direct and unequivocal effects on morbidity and mortality. Motor vehicle emissions are the largest and fastest growing source of air pollution and greenhouse gases. Exposure to air pollution causes respiratory illness and cardiovascular disease, and motor vehicles are also the most important source of environmental noise, interfering with sleep, work performance, and childhood brain development. Pedestrian injuries result from street designs that favor cars rather than people.
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Port of Oakland: Private Industry or Public Agency
In the United States, there are 361 public ports. The Port of Oakland, the fourth largest, processes about $30 billion of exports and imports annually. Oakland’s enormous cranes, unloading gigantic ships, mean a lot of money is changing hands. But critics say local communities are being short-changed on benefits and plagued with negative impacts. “It’s not a private business, it’s a public agency and its revenue is not profit. It belongs to the people.” So says Rob Smith of Urban Strategies in Oakland.
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Power and Accountability in Transit Governance
Democracy is not a spectator sport.” But what happens when you
get into the game and participate, only to find that the rules have
been rigged against you?
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RP&E Issue areas
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