As I mark five years at Riders Alliance, here are two more reflections of my five — today about politics, people & organizing.
2. ??? Politics is about who speaks up
Policy doesn’t happen in a vacuum — it’s shaped by power, and power comes from people. Politicians usually don’t just wake up one day and decide to do the right thing. They respond to pressure. They respond to power. They respond to *people*.
That’s why Riders Alliance exists, to turn transit riders into a political force that can’t be sidelined. The single mom waiting on a bus that never comes, the night shift worker stranded at 4AM, the student who can’t afford another fare hike. When their voices are amplified, ignoring riders isn’t an option. Transit stops being a budget line item associated with the punching bag the MTA too often represents and starts being a crisis leaders have to address.
Right now, among many of us, faith in government is at an all-time low. The only way to fix that is to prove that democracy can deliver. That starts with putting power in the hands of the people who rely on these systems every day. When riders speak up, when we organize, when we demand better — that’s when change happens. We won’t ever be beneficiaries of a better system if we aren’t first active participants in demanding the transit system we need and deserve.
3. ? Organizing is hard — and it’s everything
AI and software are reshaping entire industries — medicine, law, accounting. Whole fields will be turned upside down in ways we can’t even predict yet. But one thing AI won’t replace? The need for community and human connection. The need to bring people together, to build power, to fight for change.
And that’s what organizing is.
Organizing has always been what changes the world, but boy is it hard. It’s standing outside in the freezing cold, talking to strangers. It’s late nights at meetings far from home. It’s writing the playbook as you go, listening deeply, showing up again and again, even when people are exhausted, angry, and disillusioned.
Organizing means absorbing all of that — people’s frustration, distrust, pain — and handing it back as power. It means feeling, every day, the weight of a system that isn’t working and knowing that if we want to fix it, we have to do it together.
It’s a privilege to do this work. And yet, organizing is too often undervalued. If you see someone who was an organizer, don’t ask why they weren’t a director or VP. Ask what they know about moving people to act. Because that’s what actually makes the world work.
?? IMG: Riders Alliance in action organzing riders into an undeniable political constituency to deliver a more reliable, frequent, accessible, and affordable transit system.
