1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

I am reaching out to thank you all for standing for public transportation. My spouse and I both work at non-profits - one in education, and one with human services. We graduated from here and went into the fields we did so we could make a difference and give back. We managed to buy a home - on one of the oldest existing bus lines, to be safe - and only own one car. We have been doing okay with transit for work, medical appointments, and everything else, including outings with our small child. The cuts suggested by PRT are devastating. My route is affected, but not eliminated - I have colleagues who will no longer have any access to work, who went into the same field as me and do not make large wages. My neighbors are elderly and I have friends who rely on access due to disabilities. I know with everything else going on right now, transit may not seem like a huge issue. Truthfully, if we want people to continue to live here and/or keep making a difference, I don't know if we could survive with these cuts. So many people left Pittsburgh during the 2007/8 and 2012 cuts, and not having this necessary service will do even more damage. I grew up in the center of the state - York/Lancaster - without any transit. I cannot stress the improvement that transit caused in my life when moving here. If I had access to transit when I had lived there, maybe my childhood would not have been as dark. It certainly is a light in our lives now. Please do everything you can to help secure funding for transit.