Thoughts for the Patrick-Murray Administration Penn Loh, Executive Director ACE and Charles Lord, Executive Director UEI

Since 2001, the City cut $4.7 million to youth job programs. At current funding levels, only about 3500 of the 7,686 youth registered for summer jobs on the City's Hopeline will receive jobs. The $4.5 million additional funding youth and youth workers called for would allow the City to fund 6,000 summer jobs and 1,000 year-round jobs. "A lot of violence happens during the year," said Carlos Moreno. "It's not enough to give teens jobs during the summer; we need jobs to help us develop skills all year round."

ACE joined with a diverse group of environmental, planning, transportation, community, labor, business, industry and other advocacy organizations to form a Massachusetts Transportation Investment Coalition in response to the alarming findings recently released by the state’s Transportation Finance Commission.

Do MBTA bus improvements make their way on to the MBTA board of directors’ agenda? The T Riders Union (TRU) and the On the Move (OTM) Greater Boston Transportation Justice Coalition says not often enough. The group testified at today's MBTA board meeting to present five agenda items for board “approval”. Although only MBTA senior staff is supposedly able to propose agenda items for MBTA board meetings, TRU/OTM asked for more investment in bus service improvements.

March 6, 2008

ROXBURY, MA—In the face of the MBTA’s rapidly declining ridership, $8.2 billion debt, and recent revelations of lying to bus riders, 17-year old T Riders Union (TRU) member Stuart Spina has compiled a list of recommendations to make the bus system more efficient and effective.