Advocates Call for Transportation Equity at Ohio Meeting

June 3, 2011 - Posted by Ron Bigler

Civil rights, labor, disability, low-income, and other advocates held a public meeting at the Statehouse Atrium in Columbus, Ohio, on June 1 to draw attention to the transportation needs of millions of Americans as Congress begins negotiations on a major transportation bill.

Participants at the meeting, which included SenatorSherrod Brown, D–Ohio, via video, told stories about how transportation affects their lives and the challenges that many Americans – elderly, young, poor, rural – face in gaining access to jobs, education, health care and other basic necessities.

Researchers and advocates pointed to the fact that only 1 percent of Ohio’s state transportation spending budget goes to public transit – a disparity that creates a severe hardship for those who cannot afford or drive a car.

The Leadership Conference helped host the event along with All Aboard Ohio, Amalgamated Transit Union, The Amos Project, The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, Ohio BlueGreen Alliance, The Ohio Commission on African-American Males, Ohio Environmental Council, Ohio Higher Education Rail Network Institute, Ohio Olmstead Taskforce, Ohio Statewide Independent Living Council, PolicyLink, Policy Matters Ohio, ProgressOhio, and Transport Worker Union of America, AFL-CIO.

Learn more about the issue of transportation equity and read The Leadership Conference’s latest reports “Where We Need to Go: A Civil Rights Roadmap for Transportation Equity” and “The Road to Health Care Parity: Transportation Policy and Access to Health Care.”