Whether we live in Harrisburg or Pittsburgh, Wilkes Barre or Erie, rural towns or Philadelphia, all Pennsylvanians deserve safe, reliable, dignified access to the places they need to go. Public transit services operate in every single PA county and keep seniors connected to healthcare, families connected to grocery stores, and neighbors connected to each other.
As we approach the end of budget season we are asking you to join us for one last push to get the $282 million dollar budget proposal passed this budget season, without raising taxes. This would be the first transit budget increase in ten years, and is vital to delivering reliable, safe transit across the Commonwealth. Without it, riders across PA will face fare increases and service cuts beginning as soon as July 1.
We ask you to write a Letter to the Editor in your local newspaper to show our legislators how important this step in creating more funding for transit in counties across Pennsylvania will be life-changing for their constituents.
Even if you have sent a letter with the Transit for All PA! campaign before, it’s important your legislators hear from you again today. Can you write a letter to the editor in your local newspaper? Once you’ve sent your letter, you can share your published letter to social media and encourage your friends and family to do the same and showcase the statewide need for transit.
To support you in this action we have created an outline to follow as you submit your letter to the editor.
How to write a letter to the editor:
How to Submit: Go online to your local paper’s website and look up their Letter to the Editor submission guidelines (here is an example). They’ll have an email address to send to, a word length limit (usually 150-250 words), and will typically require name, address and phone number for verification purposes. Note that your address won’t be published, just your hometown. Most published letters are very short. Some papers may require letters that are responding to recent articles or opinion columns; others may accept letters on any topic of your choice even if the paper hasn’t covered it yet.
A SIMPLE SALUTATION.
You can address your letter to: “To the Editor of [Publication Name]” or “To the Editor.” If your letter is responding to a recently published article, then put “Re: article headline / date” at the top of your letter.
START WITH A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
If your letter is responding to a recent article, your first line should reference it and offer your praise or critique. If you’re not responding to a recent story, then jump right in with a first sentence that grabs the reader’s attention while introducing your topic and sharing a personal perspective.
Start with something positive – why is accessible public transit in PA important to you? You can be a transit rider, a bus driver, a doctor who cares about air quality, or a caregiver who has seen how the lack of public transit accessibility inhibits the mobility of the people you work with. After sharing why public transit is so important, then go on to make the case for what the problems are – why it needs to be better. What’s frustrating about transit? Again, speak from your personal perspective and experience!
BRING IN SOME EDUCATIONAL POINTS – CONNECT YOUR EXPERIENCE TO OTHERS
You’ve made it personal; now it’s time to drop in some of the key talking points for Transit for All PA. Widen out the lens to note how the issues you’re raising are important for other folks in your community and in other communities as well. Use or adapt any of the following that resonates most with you and the flow of your letter:
- Transit operates in every single PA county – while subway systems move workers in Philly, there are shared ride services that move seniors in rural counties. Public transit moves people in communities big and small.
- Nearly 1 million Pennsylvanians use public transit every single day – from young people going to school to seniors going to their medical appointments or grocery shopping.
- On average it costs $10,000/year to own a car (even without a monthly car payment). It’s simply not an affordable or accessible option for many people in our state when they are forced to choose between paying rent and getting to work on time.
- Without action to provide funding for transit service, residents and transportation providers across the state are facing catastrophic service cuts, fare hikes, and layoffs.
- Operator shortages are causing trip cancellations, and we need stable funding to attract and retain these good, union jobs and give riders reliable service.
CLOSE WITH A CALL TO ACTION.
Clearly name your legislator and that you want them to support Governor Shapiro’s $282M funding increase to improve transit service in all 67 PA counties, and reiterate why it is important.