Bus Riders Union (Los Angeles)
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| Abbreviation | BRU |
|---|---|
| Motto | 1,000 more buses, 1,000 less police |
| Formation | 1992 |
| Type | Grassroots Civil Rights Organization |
| Purpose | "The Bus Riders Union seeks to promote environmentally sustainable public transportation for the entire population of Los Angeles, on the premise that affordable, efficient, and environmentally sound mass transit is a human right." |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
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Region served
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Los Angeles, California |
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Membership
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3,000 |
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Chairperson
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Barbara Lott-Holland |
|
Chairperson
|
Eric Mann |
| Website | thestrategycenter.org/project/bus-riders-union |
The Bus Riders Union (BRU) (also called Sindicato de Pasajeros (SDP) and 버스 승객 조합 (버승조)) is a United States civil rights social movement organization established in Los Angeles, California in 1994. Led by a planning committee, its multilingual membership is drawn from the predominantly low-income, African-American, Latino and Asian mass transit ridership of Los Angeles County. The BRU's central focus has been policies of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) that it identifies as racial discrimination. The BRU attracted international attention when it successfully sued LACMTA under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in 1994 and its example has inspired similar efforts to organize mass transit passengers.
The Bus Rider's Union is a project of the Labor/Community Strategy Center (LCSC) that began as an outgrowth of the LCSC's Labor/Community Watchdog environmental justice campaign against air pollution in the L.A. Port area. The BRU was founded by the LSCS's director, Eric Mann who is also co-chair of the union along with Barbara Lott-Holland. The LCSC began organizing bus riders in 1992 and, as it expanded its tactics from grassroots organizing to include legal action, it built "across geographic and ethnic lines" to bring together "a multiethnic, progressive coalition." In 1996, it filed a civil rights lawsuit in association with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates against the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, alleging that the LACMTA was using federal funds for public transit in a discriminatory manner.
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