Back to the Future: How the Transit Struggle Has Come Full Circle

1. Back to the Future: How the Transit Struggle Has Come Full Circle Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 2014

2. Transit Started as Private • In the early days of explosive urban growth, private companies saw a market for mass transit in our cities • Built trolley, streetcar, and subway lines that eased congestion and moved the masses in dense cities • Sometimes, the public helped subsidize these projects and used government power to make way for these urban rail lines and overhead wires

3. Private Operators Grew Greedy • But, as in most industries, private operators increasingly sought to maximize profit • Because regulation was virtually nonexistent, they increased profit by squeezing in more passengers, trying to pay workers less, and cutting corners on safety • Let’s look at the District of Columbia as an example

4. Washington DC • 1950s: Louis Wolfson’s Capital Transit mismanaged and bankrupted the DC transit system • Increased fares 4 times, delayed maintenance, ignored workers, diverted surplus to big salaries and dividends • Exposed for his “profits first, public be damned” policy • “There are no bounds to the ambitions of these quick-profit boys”

5. Louie the Milker

6. Washington DC • Local 689 responded with a seven week strike that paralyzed city yet won wide public support • Wolfson was so obviously evil that newspapers, Congress members, turned against him • Capital Transit lost its franchise, forced to sell • 689 won a wage increase, vacation time, quadrupled sick leave

7. Transit Expands & Changes • After WWII, economy boomed, Cold War competition ratcheted up, and Americans focused on decay of cities • The government responded with huge investment in transportation and infrastructure • Private contractors, of course, stood to benefit immensely from these investments in infrastructure

8. Transit Expands & Changes • 1956- Congress creates Interstate Highway system • 1959- new highways and a rail system proposed for DC • 1960- Congress creates the National Capital Transportation Agency (NCTA)

9. Transit Expands & Changes • In 1964, Congress passed the Urban Mass Transportation Act, which promised a flood of federal funding • With federal money available, the NCTA proposes the creation of a multi-state authority to operate the system and match federal funding with state resources • In 1965, Congress passed an updated National Capital Transportation Act, approving a 25 mile rail system

10. DC Regionalizes • Roy Chalk forced to turn all streetcars into bus routes • Amid wreckage of private transit, Chalk had difficulty keeping system afloat • Virginia, Maryland, DC create WMATA • WMATA replaced DC Transit in 1973

11. Strong Unions, Rising Wages • Era of expansion, public control of transit • Also era of strong unions, rising wages • But with billions in federal funds at stake, private companies wanted in. • They saw an opportunity to make a lot of money.

12. Money in Politics • They began to fund candidates who agreed that private corporations could solve all of our problems. • Poured money into campaigns, electing people who believed the services operated for a profit would be cheaper or more efficient. • In recent years, this trend has reached a tipping point. • Now, majority of elected officials are funded by corporations and promoting privatization

13. Money in Politics • As corporate money dominated politics, elected officials passed laws that weakened unions, worsen income inequality, and diminished democracy • Trend coincides with a decline in American cities and urban institutions • Unlike the 50s, 60s, and 70s, urban renewal today now wholly owned by private companies receiving contracts paid for by taxpayers

14. We Are Not Alone • You see it in transit and everywhere else: • Charter schools • Water privatization • Pension elimination • Hospital sell-offs • Post Office privatization • Battles in Wisconsin, Ohio, and beyond • Right to work in Michigan • Federal contracting frenzy

15. Today, We’re Racing Backward • Public transit authorities were akin to Social Security for transportation, made to do big things, expand access to cities for millions • Now, with the help of elected officials, they are nothing more than fronts for developers • At the behest of their corporate campaign contributors, pols are twisting these agencies to promote private development, not public interest

16. Today, We’re Racing Backward • Privatization-obsessed pols are going so far as to appoint private transit operators to public transit authorities. • We see this acutely in DC. • WMATA Chair is Tom Downs. • Downs also happens to be the Chairman of the Board of Advisors of Veolia!

17. In Washington DC, Back Where We Started • Downs sits idly by as DC politicians funded by private contractors privatized bus and streetcar service • Think about that – pols pay private contractor to rebuild a streetcar system that private contractors convinced pols to rip out! • They cut funds from WMATA to divert to these projects. • Meanwhile, Downs raises fares instead of fighting for public transit funding.

18. In Washington DC, Back Where We Started • The industry Downs makes his money from– private transit operations – is getting rich at taxpayer expense. • DC now has a private bus system competing with the public one. Its city buses are up for bid, too. • It will soon have a private streetcar. • Soon, a new Purple Line will be private – the first leg of the Metro system that will not be publicly-operated by WMATA/Metro.

19. In Washington DC, Back Where We Started • Tom Downs is the modern, subtle version of Louie Wolfson. He is a “Wolfson in Downs Clothing!” • Politicians and bureaucrats like him are dismantling transit systems or contracting them out entirely, all in the interests of their contributors or companies • That is why this training – and getting the story straight for the public – is so important.