Mass transit can be transformational for Pennsylvania. Essential workers and the goods and services they provide like healthcare and groceries are reliant on fully-funded transit. PA’s economy is contingent on quality affordable and abundant transit. However, the clock is running out for PA’s transit riders, workers, and systems. The state’s major transit funding bill, Act 89, is set to expire in 2022. Without decisive action, PA will lose the transit systems that fuel our economy and connect us to life’s essentials. The clock is ticking for legislators to find a replacement-funding source to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in annual dedicated payments to public transit agencies across the state.

Spearheaded by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), over a Hundred PA transit riders and workers rallied in Harrisburg on June 29, 2021, to launch the “Transit for All PA!” platform. The ATU is calling for fully funded transit to meet the needs of workers and the economy. Without a replacement for Act 89, a fiscal cliff will result in service cuts, layoffs, fare hikes for millions of PA transit riders and workers, and an economic crisis across the entire state. As a solution, the new Transit for All PA! Campaign puts forward a $1.65 billion platform for transit that moves all Pennsylvanians and boosts the state’s economy. The expiration of Act 89 will also risk the livelihoods of thousands of good, union jobs for workers in transit service provision and transit parts manufacturing in all regions of the state.

In a show of solidarity with the ATU, and support for our Transit members at Rabbit Transit, Local 776 attended the rally. Local 776 was represented by BA’s Mark Cicak, Bill Olmeda, and Dave Vrona, along with Local 776 Trustee Patrick Hollingshead. Also attending were members Rick Smith and John Brownawell, a Steward from YRC.

L-R: Second from left: BA Bill Olmeda, Trustee Patrick Hollingshead, BA Dave Vrona, BA Mark Cicak. Directly behind Mark is YRC Steward John Brownell. Behind the camera: Rick Smith.