A group of about a dozen transit riders, workers, and organizers founded the riders union in the beginning of 2020. We’d been on SEPTA for many lifetimes, saw the problems and knew many other riders did too. We were inspired by groups like Pittsburghers for Public Transit, who knew how to organize and win. Our first public meeting was in a packed meeting room at the Free Library in January 2020 and then COVID hit. We canceled the next scheduled meetings but handed out face masks and organized against pandemic overcrowding, focusing on the 23 bus. 

In 2022 and 2023, we talked to riders who would see their routes eliminated or reduced as part of SEPTA’s “Bus Revolution”– a cost neutral, shuffling-of-the-deck-chairs redesign of the bus network here in Philly– and shared a vision of what would make this process more inclusive and less painful. We spoke to the media, shared organizing tactics and advised communities who did not want their service eliminated, informed Philadelphia City Council members what these changes would mean for their constituents, and testified at hearings.  

We scored some wins on this campaign: We pushed back early on the "microtransit" idea, which really helped inform residents and local governments, who reached out to us for guidance on how to not lose their fixed route service. The key to that particular win was simply identifying issues early on, linking with riders and electeds to prepare them to hit SEPTA with tough questions in their very first meetings.

We continued our work as part of the Transit for All PA coalition and did another lobby day in Harrisburg. We also brought attention to the conditions at our disappearing-reappearing intercity bus terminal.

In 2023, we also accomplished a big organizational goal: find a fiscal sponsor so we can fund the union collectively. In Open Collective we found a fiscal sponsor that provides a platform to keep our finances legal, transparent and organized. And if you have any rich friends who know that public transit is important, please ask them to contribute generously.

We’ve realized that this work can not be sustained by volunteers alone. Organizing is highly skilled, difficult work and organizers should be paid well. We think the best way to build an organization that truly represents transit riders is to pool the money of small dollar donors who give regularly, paired with some contributions from well-aligned foundations. In 2024, we’re aiming to raise enough money to hire one full time organizer, continue to follow our strategic plan, and continue building this organization.

We can’t thank you enough for being some of the very first, legit, sustaining TRU members. Thank you for holding it down, with us and with your community. It’s hard out there and we got to stick together. Thank you.