Advocates Call for Transportation Equity at Ohio Meeting

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.”