WHY POLITICAL ACTIVISTS AND OCCUPY MOVEMENTS SHOULD TARGET PUBLIC TRANSIT FOR CHANGE

I named this blog "Occupy" because I thought Occupy Wall Street was a good idea, even if its' time hasn't come yet.

But I don't think that starting at the top, at a national level, is the best way to get things done.

In less than two weeks since I started this blog and began investigating Metro, I have learned how powerful public transit agencies are.

Public transportation is a microcosm for how government and business work hand in hand to make sure wealth flows into the hands of only a small percentage of the population.

They are a funnel for receiving government funds.

They contract local police departments.

They own A LOT of real estate.

They supply a necessary service for low-income people, but, at least in Metro's case (and the Los Angeles Metro) that is not what they are really about, or their primary function.

"Incarceration by lack of decent public transit" is used to keep poor people in poor neighborhoods.  People that will work for any wage and in any conditions, and be willing to travel 4 hours a day to get to those substandard jobs.

Moreover, anyone interested in making their city more "green" and eco-friendly does not need to be told that decent public transportation will help save the environment.

If you are political activist, please consider working with OPTINSTL to investigate and change public transportation.

Especially if you are lawyer or accountant.  To change things might require legal action- against Metro and the agencies that fund them.

And Metro definitely needs to be audited by the public.  They get audited to make sure they are spending federal funds as directed, but there is no one investigating if their budgets could be changed to better serve the public (instead of business owners).

Consider requesting all the information available through the Sunshine Act. I am going to:
From an email from Metro: These are the answers I can provide for you without requiring that you file a Sunshine request for research and compilation of documentation.  If you need such documentation, please contact Shirley Bryant in the agency’s Legal Department at sbryant@metrostlouis.org.

  (From this post: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/metro-responds-to-my-first-round-of.html)

If you are a social worker or philanthropist, investigate setting up programs to fund low-income and unemployed people with discounted or free transit passes.

I will be adding more as I learn more, but I hope I have convinced you that taking on Public Transit is as effective as going after Wall Street.  The "Local 1%" is much easier to reach.

OCCUPY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FOR CHANGE!