Metro Transit bus.
Metro Transit staff have penned an open letter to Metropolitan Council leadership demanding action in response to the killing of George Floyd and the series of subsequent protests. The letter, which was signed by 198 current and former Metro Transit employees and sent on June 26, points out that both its riders and its operators are disproportionately affected by the events surrounding Floyd’s death. 25% of Metro Transit riders are Black, as are almost 50% of its operators. It outlines a number of specific actions and policies that the Metropolitan Council must enact to best serve its riders, create transparency, and prevent further police brutality.
A few of these include:
- Prioritizing the viewpoints of Metro Transit’s BIPOC riders in the planning and decision-making process, especially in matters involving the police
- Replacing armed police officers on transit with Transit Ambassadors to check fares
- Banning the use of vehicles owned by the Council to transport police, military, or arrested protestors
- Creating a public reporting platform that centralizes all complaints filed against police officers and subsequently elevates them to an investigations team
Read the full letter here.
Readers are encouraged to contact their Metropolitan Council representative with comments about the letter or to express their support and solidarity.