Pitt's Amanda Zeiders Works to"Save Out Transit"
May 1, 2005 Issue
By Leigh Ann Wojciechoski


Amanda ZeidersOn her first day of classes at Pitt, Amanda Zeiders stepped tentatively onto the Port Authority bus that had rumbled up to the curb near her Bloomfield apartment. The nervous young community college transfer student from Jamestown, N.Y., presumed that this bus would drop her off near Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning.
But, to Zeiders’ dismay, the bus headed away from the University.
It wouldn’t be the last time Zeiders would feel that public transit in Pennsylvania was moving in the wrong direction.
But today, as chair of the public transportation advocacy group Save Our Transit, Zeiders seeks to chart a secure course for the state’s public buses and light rail vehicles. She and about 200 other Save Our Transit members are pushing for a permanent, reliable source of funding for public transportation in Southwestern Pennsylvania and, by extension, throughout the Commonwealth.
Zeiders, 23, was elected Save Our Transit’s chair last December. She had joined the group three months before that to fulfill the field-placement requirement in the Bachelor of Arts degree program in social work and to satisfy her curiosity about the social justice/social action aspect of the social work profession. After talking with staff at the Thomas Merton Center, a resource and organizing center for more than 30 projects aimed at promoting peace and social justice, Zeiders was certain that the buzz over public transit would make an internship at Save Our Transit a learning experience that would keep her plenty busy.
And busy she has been, helping to organize rallies in Pittsburgh, including a student rally in front of Pitt’s William Pitt Union last fall; chartering buses to take Pittsburghers to Harrisburg Feb. 14 for a statewide public transportation rally; and spearheading letter writing campaigns to members of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC), targeted members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, members of the state House and Senate transportation committees, and state House and Senate leaders.
In March, SPC overwhelmingly approved Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell’s recommendation to reassign $25.3 million in federal highway funds to the Port Authority of Allegheny County and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. The vote held off planned fare hikes and service cuts for the state’s two largest public transit agencies at least through June 30, 2005, the end of the current fiscal year.
Zeiders and her fellow Save Our Transit members appreciate the stopgap funds and efforts of the governor and SPC, but she points out, “It’s so crucial that we convey the message to the Pennsylvania General Assembly that we need this [dedicated source of reliable] funding now; we need it by June 30, and it needs to be permanent.”
Helping to fuel her passion for permanent public transportation funding is her own dependence on buses to get around. As a student in Pitt’s School of Social Work, Zeiders commutes almost daily to campus from her Stanton Heights home. She also relies on buses to get her to and from the Thomas Merton Center (where she is required to work 24 hours per week, to fulfill her Pitt field-placement requirement) and her part-time catering job.
“There are so many of us, not only members of Save Our Transit, but people throughout the county and region who are completely dependent on the public transportation system,” Zeiders says. “[Mass transit] is so crucial to the lives of working people. If it’s taken away from them, their relationships with family, friends, and employers are going to be disrupted. Not having a public transportation system will affect the lives of many, many people.”
Throughout her internship, Zeiders has received support and inspiration from Save Our Transit colleagues as well as from her academic advisor, Aaron R. Mann, an associate professor in Pitt’s School of Social Work.
According to Zeiders, Mann encourages his students to work for social change. “He’s always telling us how we need to be agents for change, not just maintain the status quo.”
Mann returns the compliment: “Amanda has always had a commitment to policy and social change and those that are less fortunate,” he says. “She really illustrates, through competent practice, that you can make a difference in your community. I’m confident that you’re going to see Amanda Zeiders as a stand-out in the field of social work.”
Zeiders, who participated in yesterday’s School of Social Work recognition ceremony and is scheduled to graduate in August, sees grassroots organizing as an important, though often overlooked, aspect of the social work profession. “I think organizing is a great tool for empowerment. … It’s amazing what people can do when they care about something that affects them,” she says. Working through organizations such as Save Our Transit teaches people “to stand up for themselves not only in issues that are important to them throughout the community, but also in their home lives and in their relationships with their employers.”
Social workers should be encouraged to get more involved in public issues, Zeiders maintains, if only to better the lives of their clients. “You don’t have to be the organizer,” she says, “but you should get involved in writing letters to your legislators and changing the system and encouraging your clients to do that as well.”