Now, for a bit of background.

Four years ago, if you visited transitcentr.wpengine.com, it pointed you to a website asking if you were sure you were in the correct place, along with a disclaimer that if you were looking for TransitChek, we couldn’t help you with that.

As they say, we’ve come a long way, baby.

TransitCenter’s Website in 2013

TransitCenter is a foundation dedicated to urban mobility.

We are 14 people from myriad backgrounds, including departments of transportation, transit agencies, taxi drivers, advocacy, elected office, and international development. Though diverse in perspective, we’re united in the belief that the greatest challenges facing transit and better, more sustainable cities are not technological but rather, human. Through our annual grantmaking, reports, events and technical assistance, we are providing advocates and governments with a practical transportation agenda for the nation.

Over the past several years, we’ve had the pleasure of meeting and funding extraordinary people who are dedicating their time and energy to making transit better. In our Who’s on Board series, we surveyed over 16,000 Americans about their thoughts on transit. Their call for faster, more frequent, walkable transit helped shape the $2.6 million we’ve granted to transit advocates, universities, and public agencies.

Whether it’s an organization like Ride New Orleans or Active Transportation Alliance in Chicago, researchers at MIT, or progressive groups like the Council of Infill Builders in California, we are committed to investing strategically in transit supporters.

Most profoundly, we are not just a funder but advocates ourselves.

• We’ve trained transit agency board members from San Antonio to Seattle with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.
• We’re supporting agency staff to design better streets with NACTO’s Transit Street Design Guide.
• We matched funding for ioby’s community campaigns across the country, empowering people to “trick out their trip” in small but meaningful ways that build relationships with their transit agencies, some of which have led to greater impacts.
• We’ve also kept focus on our New York City home, researching and proposing improvements for the city’s ailing buses in our Turnaround report.
• We’ve established ourselves as an intellectual hub in New York, hosting workshops, debates, mixers, and providing a place for staff, advocates, media and the public to come together.

We won’t stop because we can’t stop.

There are too many cities that need to turnaround their bus system, too many transit agency staff who need champions for their good work, and far too many transit riders who deserve better. As such, we will continue to seek out and fund the people who are working in the public’s interest to improve transit. Perhaps that could be you!

We can’t help with your TransitChek, but we can help you with transit. We invite you to learn more about how we are setting the transportation agenda for the country and putting transit in the center of cities. Check out our past grantees, initiatives and publications, and follow our blog, The Connection as well as our staff on Twitter.

With deepest gratitude and enthusiasm for what lies ahead,

The TransitCenter staff