TRANSPORTATION RIDERS UNITED INC
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Mission Statement
Our mission is restore urban vitality, ensure transportation equity, and improve quality of life by fighting to improve and promote public transit throughout greater Detroit. TRU believes the Detroit region needs a balanced transportation network because transportation investments shape our future.
About This Cause
Transportation Riders United (TRU) is a Detroit non-profit organization that has been dedicated since 1999 to improving our region’s public transportation through public education, civic engagement, and direct advocacy. Need: Inadequate Transit Has Left Detroiters Without Access to Jobs and Other Necessities The Detroit area’s inadequate public transportation system has long been a barrier for low income households and for the region’s economy. The story of “the Walking Man” captured national attention because our regional left James Robertson walking 21 miles a day for years just to keep his job. Thousands like him continue to struggle since only 22% of our region’s jobs are available within a 90 minute bus ride. Limited transit is also an enormous drain on family budgets. The average Detroit area family spends 24% of their income on transportation, while transit-rich communities spend just 15%. That means billions poured into gas tanks instead of spent on quality education, safe housing, and local businesses. The most disadvantaged people in our community often spend 40% or even 50% of their household budget just to maintain a car to get around, if they can get around at all. Many others are left behind because their age or physical ability prevents their driving. This lack of quality transit also leaves Detroit behind in economic development and job creation. The American Public Transit Association has found that every dollar invested in rapid transit returns on average six dollars into the local economy. Most new rapid transit projects create over 10,000 jobs and boost local business sales and property values by 25% or more. Detroit has largely missed out on this enormously important economic development tool. Transportation impacts every corner of our community, from whether a child can get to school safely to whether a senior can stay in her home independently. We want to ensure the greater Detroit region can move from auto-dependency to transit opportunity. One Priority Project: Peer-to-Peer Civic Engagement to Broaden the Transit Conversation Southeast Michigan is making vital decisions about the future of public transportation. Yet as the Motor City has lacked robust transit for sixty years, many people are unaware of the impacts transit has, especially on disadvantaged people throughout our community. Newspaper articles and endorsements are vitally important but not sufficient for people to understand how transit can impact not only their commute but also their neighbor’s ability to get a job at all. We have developed a network of civic ambassadors, armed them with engaging stories and relevant data about public transit in our region, and are arranging for them to engage in community conversations throughout the region. We reach out to civic groups, local chambers of commerce, faith groups, neighborhood associations and other places where people regularly come together, especially communities that have not been engaged in transit in the past. An ambassador who serve as a peer for that community come talk with them about what transit is available, why it matters to them and their neighbors, and how they can get involved in the transit decision-making shaping our region’s future. Sustainability: Building on 17 Years of Experience in Transit Education and Engagement TRU has worked with volunteers to educate and engage communities in transit decision-making since 1999. TRU staff have made hundreds of presentations to audiences large and small over the past 17 years, from Southwest Detroit neighborhood associations to University classes to the Detroit Chamber Policy Conference. We have trained volunteers to effectively engage with community members in festival outreach settings. Impact: Improved Access to Opportunity to Increased Engagement in Transit Decisions By broadening who is aware of and involved in the region’s transit discussion and decision-making, we improve public understanding of the impact of transit on our neighbors, our communities and our region as a whole. We also improve transit decision-making to better serve the needs of the community, which should in turn improve the transit funding and service that tens of thousands of people are relying on every day. Improved transit can mean improved access to jobs, job training, healthy foods, recreational opportunities and more for the most disadvantaged people in our community. Improved transit also means increased economic development and sustainable growth for our entire region.