When the plague hit the US in March 2020, government officials told people to stay home. But many did not. Key workers — shopkeepers, health workers, cooks, drivers, and cooks — kept punching every day. Some go shopping, see doctors, or take children to school. As a result, throughout the US, in addition to Pittsburgh, Americans boarded buses.
Yes, public transportation rider he fell like a stone after many places had established rules for staying at home. The American population rose 186 million times in the last week of February 2020, according to data generated and the American Public Transit Association; a month later, the figure dropped by 72 percent, to 52.4 million. At the Allegheny County Port Authority, which operates in the Pittsburgh area, riders dropped by 68 percent.
Who kept climbing? In a world where race is linked to economic and social status, commuters have become very low-income and diverse. Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising, but it was the riders who just kept going around. An analysis from the APTA found that white men were the ones who had stopped walking during the epidemic; people of all races, Spanish-speaking, and women did not speak.
“The epidemic made the unseen invisible,” Stephanie Wiggins, chief executive of the Los Angeles’ Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said in November. His friends across the country realized that: They must serve the people they want.
By November 2020, the Pittsburgh transportation organization had undergone a major overhaul. In the more than 20 major bus reforms, government officials have shifted resources from the “high-rise” movement – which serves traditional office workers, who now live at home – and to low-income, high-income areas. people of all races and families without cars. He also added weekend activities as well as fewer, because most of the people who boarded buses and trains can work outside for “high hours” or travel just to get around.
Pittsburgh spokesman Adam Brandolph said: “Public travel is a way of life, a way for people to be free from discrimination.” The epidemic changed the way we view, and, most importantly, the way we view riders. “
Researchers from the Urban Institute, a think tank, also found similar ideas in four other institutions asked the leaders and staff. “It was clear that the Black Lives Matter moment and the insecurity of the epidemic also affected the leadership’s perception of the role the movement plays,” said Jorge Morales-Burnett, research assistant at the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center. who were interviewed. Across the country, one voice is heard from community meetings, media, government speeches: justice.
Equity, in his opinion, has been at the center of the social movement. Organizations have a responsibility to provide appropriate support to everyone in their community. Even before the plague, some corporations had begun their campaigns for justice.
But U.S. public transportation often focuses on travelers, especially those with traditional customs ranging from 9 to 5, who travel between cities and rural businesses – riders who are less meager and cleaner. This is despite the fact that, even in large cities, where transportation is quite common, only half of the trips before the plague were going to and from work. In smaller systems, the section is much smaller. Port Authority of Allegheny County as well. “Our system is stable in the city, and history has relied heavily on travelers,” said Brandolph, a spokesman. As a result, jobs in cities, which help people who do not work full-time or who travel for other reasons, were disrupted.