Ongoing Advocacy
Ongoing Advocacy
What’s at Stake? Transportation finance and policies at all levels - local, regional, state and national - are being significantly impacted by the on-going national and state economic crises. As sales and other tax revenues continue to collapse, increasing pressure has been placed on the budgets of transit operators.
Reduced bus services and increased fares have left many families with few transit options as they seek employment, training, or social services, which can move them out of poverty. Without a well organized and strategic series of campaigns, led by Transportation Justice advocates, low income communities, communities of color and the transit dependent, these groups will continue to bear a disproportionate burden of any service reductions, fare increases or investment decisions.
With evidence mounting daily about the need to address climate change and shore up the economy, a clear and obvious objective for local, regional, state and federal governments is to improve the reliability, affordability, and reach of public transit. However, if transportation planning and funding decisions continue to get made ‘as usual,’ then transit serving the most environmentally and socially vulnerable neighborhoods will continue to be undermined at the expense of higher-cost projects that primarily serve commuters.
Our Strategy
To address these significant challenges, UH is working to link transportation justice efforts at the local, regional, state, and national levels. Without a coordinated strategy, local and regional victories are often erased by budget crises at the state and federal level—such as when the state of California moved to eliminate STA transit operation support, negating most of the gains we had secured at the ballot box in our 2008 victory on the Measure V V campaign. We use three broad approaches to push for equitable distribution of transportation benefits:
• Reframing the Debate
We bring a race and class analysis to forefront of the debate over transportation investments, and make sure that equity considerations are at the heart of the transportation movement.
• Equalizing Investments
We analyze transportation investments and projects and work to win a greater share of funding for the basic transit service that low-income people and people of color rely on every day.
• Building the Base
By increasing the capacity of communities that have historically lacked political and economic power, we build a transportation movement that centers the experience of those that depend on transit.
