Image description: Black text highlighted in yellow reads “Transit for All Organizing Spring Training 2026”, interspersed with blue-filtered images of transit advocates at rallies, holding signs, and boarding the bus. Smaller text below reads “March 20-21, 2026, Pittsburgh, PA”, with the Pittsburghers for Public Transit and Transit for All PA logos.
You’re invited: Join transit riders, workers, and supporters from across PA and the country for the 2026 Transit for All Organizing Spring Training!
Transit can transform our communities – but it is up to you and our community to organize and build the grassroots movement to make it happen!
This March, you are invited to join Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Transit for All PA!, and advocates from across the country at the third annual Transit for All Organizing Spring Training.
It’s going to be bigger and better than ever before. This organizing training day will have workshops led by local advocates and advocates outside of Pittsburgh, and will have topics relevant to transit organizers at all levels and all regions.
Join peers and leaders from Pennsylvania and across the country for a Transit Tour through Pittsburgh, a Happy Hour, and a full day jam-packed with an inspiring plenary, engaging workshops, field visits, and lots of community building with comrades from near and far. Learn more about our workshops below!
For transit riders, workers, and advocates, there’s no other event like this. Space is limited and pre-registration is required for all events, so reserve your spot now!
Pre-registration is required for all events. The last day to register for Spring Training is Friday, March 13th, 2026.
Table of Contents
Schedule at a Glance
Click the link in each event title to learn more!
More information on each workshop and event can be found below.
Friday, March 20th
| 3:30 PM | Transit Tour |
| 5:00-7:00 PM | Happy Hour |
Saturday, March 21st: Training Day
| 8:00-9:00 AM | Continental breakfast and networking |
| 9:00-9:45 AM | Opening Plenary |
| 10:00-11:30 AM | BLOCK 1: Narrative Change: Our Stories Build the World We Want OR #VoteTransit: Bus Mayors and Beyond |
| 11:45-12:50 PM | Lunch |
| 1:00-2:30 PM | BLOCK 2: Mobile workshop! Field Communications: Storytelling from the Street (pre-registration required) OR Bargaining for the Common Good: Worker/Community Solidarity OR Organizing with Disability Justice at the Center |
| 2:45-4:15 PM | BLOCK 3: Big Tech in Transit: Automation, Microtransit, Surveillance, and Data OR Transit Isn’t Just Urban: Organizing in Small Systems and Everywhere |
| 4:30-5:00 PM | Closing Statements |
Tickets are going fast—Reserve your spot today!
Pre-registration is required for all events. The last day to register for Spring Training is Friday, March 13th, 2026.
Logistics
Location Information
The Courtyard Pittsburgh University Center is located at 100 Lytton Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15213, in the amenity-rich Oakland neighborhood.
The hotel is very easily accessible from the airport via public transit. It is about a four-minute walk or roll from the Fifth Ave and Tennyson Ave PRT stop, which is serviced by the following routes:
- 54 Northside-Oakland-Southside
- 58 Greenfield
- 61A North Braddock
- 61B Braddock-Swissvale
- 61C McKeesport-Homestead
- 61D Murray
- 67 Monroeville
- 69 Trafford
- 71A Negley
- 71B Highland Park
- 71C Point Breeze
- 71D Hamilton
- 75 Ellsworth
- 81 Oak Hill
- 83 Bedford Hill
- 93 Lawrenceville-Hazelwood
- P3 East Busway-Oakland
Discounted Room Block for Overnight Stays
We have secured a discounted hotel room block at the venue, so that those joining from outside Pittsburgh can stay overnight.
Discounted rooms are available for $189 per night, only for those who book before Friday, February 27, 2026.
If you’d like to reserve a hotel room in our block, please use this link.
Accessibility
The Courtyard Pittsburgh University Center has accessible onsite parking and an accessible main entrance. All meeting areas are accessible, and there are elevators throughout the building. More information about the hotel’s accessibility features can be found on their web page.
ASL interpretation will be provided at all events.
Food and Drink
At happy hour on Friday, let PPT buy your first round! Drink tickets will be provided to all those who pre-register. Snacks will be available from 5:15-5:45, first-come-first-serve.
On Saturday, PPT will provide a continental breakfast for participants in the morning, lunch, and mid-day snacks—as well as coffee and tea, all day.
PPT will label provided food with common allergens.
COVID-19 Procedures
Masks are encouraged indoors at our events and will be available on-site at check-in. We also encourage everyone to take an at-home COVID-19 rapid test before arriving. Please stay home if you are feeling sick or have come into contact with someone who has COVID-19.
More Information
If you have any questions, please email info@pittsburghforpublictransit.org, and a member of the team will get back to you!
Workshops
Friday, March 20
3:30 PM: Transit Tour
Starting point: 4836 Ellsworth Ave, Pittsburgh PA, 15213
Come on a transit tour of Pittsburgh, tailored to you! Local transit advocates and members will lead this tour, beginning at the Pittsburghers for Public Transit office, and ending near our final destination: our attendee Happy Hour in the Strip District. Guides will lead us through local landmarks, service issues, our geography’s impact on the transit system, and new visions for the system’s potential.
5:00-7:00 PM: Happy Hour
Aslin Beer Company, 1801 Smallman St.
You’re invited to mingle with the crew before the big day of workshops! Join up for chit-chat, cocktails, snacks, and activities in Pittsburgh’s historic Strip District.
Food will be served between 5:15 and 5:45 PM, first-come, first-served. Pre-registration is required, and comes with one drink ticket! RSVP at the form above.
Saturday, March 21
Courtyard Pittsburgh University Center
100 Lytton Ave., Pittsburgh PA, 15213
Narrative Change: Our Stories Build the World We Want
Block 1 (10:00-11:30 AM)
Presenters:
Nadia Awad, Content Director, Narrative Initiative
Our stories are like stars spread across the night sky: bright, but too numerous to make sense of each one. When our stories share values and themes, we start to create constellations of shared narratives. These narratives have the power to drive public opinion shifts and real policy improvements. Join this workshop to learn how our movement can use Narrative Change Theory to transform our stories into victories.
#VoteTransit: Bus Mayor Elections and Beyond
Block 1 (10:00-11:30 AM)
Presenters:
Betsy Plum, Executive Director of Riders Alliance (New York City)
Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Barb Warwick
In New York City, Seattle, Boston and here in Pittsburgh, City leaders have shown that faster, more affordable public transit is a winning electoral issue. In this workshop, Riders Alliance Executive Director Betsy Plum will share how transit riders supported now-NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani to center transit justice in his campaign and how that helped propel him to a historic victory. Betsy Plum and Pittsburgh Councilwoman Barb Warwick will also lay out both the challenges and opportunities for transit riders to collaborate with—and hold accountable—municipal elected officials to make our transit dreams a reality.
Mobile Workshop!
Field Communications: Storytelling from the Street
Block 2 (1:00-2:30 PM)
Presenters:
Joe Conniff, Video Editor, Educator, and Producer
Remote support from Marcelese Cooper, Teaching Assistant Professor in the Film and Media Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh
Our stories are our power, and organizing with stories can help the movement win big. Join this workshop to learn how to make in-the-field videos that develop our transit justice narrative and help us build power for this movement. We strongly suggest that participants take the Narrative Change workshop earlier that day, or have prior experience in our volunteer Communications Committee. Pre-registration is required; reserve your spot at the form above!
Bargaining for the Common Good: Worker/Community Solidarity
Block 2 (1:00-2:30 PM)
Presenters:
Connor Chapman, University of Pittsburgh Graduate Workers Union and Pittsburghers for Public Transit
Learn how unions and community organizations can join together to win demands far beyond traditional union labor contracts, advancing the public good! Explore case studies from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, unions whose members not only challenged the boss, but took on inequitable systems within their professions. Participants will learn strategies for developing demands that benefit workers and the wider community—as well as ideas for using these principles to boost labor’s demands before the next contract fight.
Organizing with Disability Justice at the Center
Block 2 (1:00-2:30 PM)
Presenters:
Anna Zivarts, a leading author, transit rider organizer and founder of the Nondriver Alliance out of Washington state
Dr. Josie Badger, director of the national RSA-Parent Training, Information, technical assistance center (RAISE), and founder of several orgs including the Pennsylvania Youth Leadership Network (PYLN), the Children’s Hospital Advocacy Network for Guidance and Empowerment (CHANGE), and J.Badger Consulting
Moderator:
Alisa Grishman, founder of Access Mob Pittsburgh and PPT Board member
Disability justice is a core part of transit justice. In this workshop, organizers Anna Zivarts from Washington State and Dr. Josie Badger from New Castle, Pennsylvania will share practical ways to organize for better transit in both rural and urban communities—led by disabled riders themselves. They will discuss how to build strong coalitions and support disabled transit riders to move into leadership and decision-making roles, putting the principle “nothing about us, without us” into action.
Big Tech in Transit: Automation, Microtransit, Surveillance, and Data
Block 3 (2:45-4:15 PM)
Presenters:
Dr. Sarah Fox, Assistant Professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, where she directs the Tech Solidarity Lab. Other participants will include a transit worker and a community member organizing around community solutions over transit tech.
Across the United States, AI and private tech firms are playing an increasing role in our transportation systems- with serious consequences for transit workers and riders. In this workshop, CMU Professor Dr. Sarah Fox will share insights from her work alongside unionized transit workers to identify emerging tech challenges to transit jobs, and share strategies to ensure these technologies support worker rights, safety, and autonomy. A Pittsburgh transit worker and rider will also highlight lessons learned from the successful campaign – entitled “Our Money, Our Solutions” against the autonomous vehicle microtransit project “The Mon-Oakland Connector.”
Transit Isn’t Just Urban: Organizing in Small Systems & Everywhere
Block 3 (2:45-4:15 PM)
Presenters:
Connor Descheemaker (they/them), Statewide Campaign Manager, Transit for All PA
Six transit organizing fellows from Lancaster and the Lehigh Valley, PA
We always say transit exists in all 67 counties across Pennsylvania, but what does that really mean, and who does it represent? Data shows us that there are just as high a percentage of non-drivers in our most rural communities as our most urban, and those in power need to serve those riders with reliable, accessible service for work, healthcare and communities. Right now, Transit For All PA is base-building in small cities to identify what service looks like, and what it should look like. Learn from six local organizers about what transit is like in their communities, and how they are reaching workers and peers to identify how to make it better.e power we have to change narratives around public transit!
