[bru-info] PSA: We Won't Ride with Fear: Bus Riders Get Organized to Fight for Dignity & Justice!

[bru-info at lists.resist.ca]

**Please Distribute Widely**

We Won't Ride with Fear: Bus Riders Get Organized to Fight for Dignity and Justice!

Public Meeting Sunday, April 30th at the Vancouver Public Library from 1-3pm

 
The Bus Riders Union will be holding a public meeting on Sunday, April 30th 2006 to launch two new campaigns: Ride with Dignity: No Overcrowding, No Long Waits, More Buses Now! and Justice for Riders: We Won't Ride with Fear!  No Guns, No Racial Profiling. Please join us at the Vancouver Public Library (350 W. Georgia) at 1pm to get involved!  

The Bus Riders Union is an anti-racist, anti-sexist grassroots organization in the Lower Mainland fighting to put the needs of transit-dependent people at the centre of public policy.  We organize because public transit is a fundamental human right, and bus riders, who are majority working class people, women, people of colour and Aboriginal people, deserve the right to an affordable and reliable transit system.  
TransLink continues to ignore the safety and needs of bus riders.  Even though nearly 80% of transit-dependent people rely on buses, TransLink is unwilling to prioritize buying new and more buses.  Fares have gone up three times in five years, but service has been cut, and bus riders have to put up with run-down, overcrowded buses and lengthy waits.  So where is our money going?  In partnering up with big businesses like SNC Lavalin to build the "Canada Line", TransLink is funnelling $1.9 billion of public money towards a company that is profiting from war and occupation in Iraq, Haiti and Afghanistan.  While TransLink is supporting the war abroad on people of colour under the "War on Terror" ideology, Translink is also allocating $10 million towards hiring, training and arming the Skytrain police who have a track record of assaulting and racially profiling transit users, particularly people of colour and youth.  

TransLink's misplaced priorities are seriously hurting the health of our communities by making it harder for us to access transit because of high fares, an unreliable bus system, and intimidation from the Skytrain police.  These polices are a huge injustice to bus riders, and we are getting organized to fight for our rights and dignity.     

At the public meeting we will hear from BRU organizers and guest speakers talking about the struggle for social justice.  This event is free and open to the public.  There will be snacks, refreshments and childcare.  



For more information, call the Bus Riders Union at 604-215-2775 or email us bru at resist.ca



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