Transit Equity Day is a national day of action, every February 4th. Unions, transit rider organizations and environmental justice groups come together to commemorate Rosa Park's birthday, to take actions, and to declare access to transit as a civil right.

Join us this year in Buffalo, where we are coordinating a week of action, asking volunteers to shovel snow along the sidewalk of bus routes that commonly go untouched. We are Buffalo Transit Riders United (BTRU) and Buffalo Mutual Aid Network (BMAN). The week of action kicks off Saturday, January 29th, 2022 and runs through Friday, February 4th, 2022.

Why? Bus riders often spend as much time walking as they do riding a bus. In the winter, riders face the greatest level of safety hazards to navigate through or around. Unlike roadways, sidewalks are left to property owners to manage snow and ice. This setup increases inequity between rich neighborhoods and divested neighborhoods filled with abandoned buildings and vacant lots. BTRU and others have been calling for a municipal snow removal program for years, similar to other snowbelt cities like Syracuse, NY. Nothing has happened. The time for change is now! So, we're dedicating Transit Equity Week to volunteer service: "Shoveling Snow Our City Leaves Behind."

Participation is simple:

1) Register below as an Individual Winter Warrior, or form a team with one or more of your neighbors, friends or block club members and register your Team with a name.

2) Beginning Saturday, January 29th and ending at noon on Friday, February 4th, keep your eyes on the weather and forecast. Any snow event of 2 inches or more is game on!

Details:

- It is best to focus on a bus route/intersection/geography near your house(s), but there's no limit to where and how many sidewalk paths you can shovel and/or de-ice.

- We assign Points for every bus stop, sidewalk path and curb-cut you free of snow or ice. Shoot a before/after photo and please use our designated Web Form to upload photos and report locations.

- We know that not every winter warrior can shovel snow, and so we encourage forming teams so everyone can contribute something. For example, spreading de-icer around a bus stop or at a corner curb cut will receive points similar to shoveling.

- Our team of judges will assign points throughout the week. The point system will wrap up at noon on Transit Equity Day, when we will announce the top scores, including the winner who will receive a special trophy.

- If a team captain wants to add more members to an existing team, we ask the captain to please re-register the team with the updated roster.

- Every Winter Warrior who contributes to Transit Equity Week will be eligible to receive a special free "Transit Equity" swag for their participation. Details to come later on that.


Learn more about Transit Equity Day and about celebrations & actions across the nation at:
https://www.labor4sustainability.org/transit-equity-2022/TED-2022-events/


The week of action is organized by BTRU and BMAN, which are member organizations under Coalition for Economic Justice Buffalo. CEJ Buffalo is a permanent coalition that unites labor, faith, and the community for workers' rights and economic justice.