12 arrested in transit protest

A boisterous but orderly march through Downtown on Friday afternoon to oppose cuts to public transportation ended with the arrest of a dozen protesters who sat down in the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street.

More than 100 people, including people wearing orange T-shirts emblazoned with the words Occupy Transit, began their protest at Stanwix Street and First Avenue shortly after 3 p.m.

A contingent of Pittsburgh police cruisers assisted the hourlong march by halting traffic at intersections as protesters made their way along Stanwix to Liberty Avenue, over to the U.S. Steel Plaza on Grant Street and down to Fifth and Wood near the Pittsburgh office of Gov. Tom Corbett.

When some of the protesters blocked the intersection -- and refused police orders to move -- officers moved in and arrested them.

Seven men and five women were charged with disorderly conduct and blocking traffic.

One of the women was handcuffed and dragged away by officers when she tried to prevent an ambulance from passing through the intersection. She faces an additional charge of failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, police said.

The crowd of protesters who remained on the sidewalk left when a police sergeant issued warnings over a loudspeaker for them to disperse or be arrested.

Paul O'Hanlon, 58, of Squirrel Hill, who was arrested for parking his motorized wheelchair in the intersection, said he hopes his act of civil disobedience will "help amplify the message."

"It's time for people to really stand up for their rights," he said. "If people don't do anything about these cuts, then it's going to happen."

The cash-strapped Port Authority of Allegheny County is proposing the largest service cuts in its 48-year history to address a $64 million budget deficit next fiscal year.

Protesters contend that the governor is to blame for the transit agency's financial crisis because he has not created a dedicated funding source for public transit.

Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the governor, said Corbett will not consider creating a dedicated source of funding for mass transit until he is satisfied that sufficient cost controls are part of the new contract with the Port Authority union, which expires June 30.

Joni Rabinowitz, 68, who was part of the protest but did not participate in the sit-in, said she supported the civil disobedience.

"We're getting to the point where we have to use more extreme measures because I don't think they're listening to us in Harrisburg," said Rabinowitz, a former co-director of the anti-hunger organization Just Harvest.

Noreen Harris, 55, of the Hill District, who witnessed the arrests, said that though she regularly uses public transportation and supports efforts to raise awareness of the proposed transit cuts, she did not agree with blocking the intersection.

"Sitting down in the middle of the street like that just doesn't make any sense to me," she said.