Produced by Revo Raudjarv for Tallinna Television [2015]
Public transit lies at the intersection of several critical
social struggles today. Affordable (or free) public transit is an important
mechanism for redistribution, and particularly targets low income people.
A central component of public policies to address climate
change must be mass expenditures on public transit to reduce reliance on
private cars and fossil fuels. Mass transit also enables an increase in the
density and livability of cities.
And public transit that is free and available
as a social right is a core demand to de-commodify everyday life in opposition
to endless consumerism. Transit justice is, then, a crucial aspect of social
justice today, and should be a fundamental part of the political programme of
progressives and socialists. The struggle for the extension of free and
accessible public transit rubs directly against neoliberal policies, and raises
the vision of alternate production and provision essential to anti-capitalist
politics.
This video mostly focuses on Tallinn, Estonia, and includes
interviews with international activists: Roger Fowler (FareFree New Zealand),
Greg Albo (Toronto Free Transit), Erik van Hal (traffic planner, Eindhoven),
Michel van Hulten (scientist, Netherlands), Anna Ujma (advisor to the mayor of
Zory, Poland), Dan Diaconu (deputy mayor of Timisoara, Romania), Raymond Polus
(journalist Hasselt, Belgium), Mao Xiang (Chengdu Transport Department), Siim
Kallas (European Commissioner for Transport), Lars Isacsson (Mayor of Avesta,
Sweden), Allan Alakula (Head of Tallinn EU Office), Taavi Aas (Deputy Mayor of
Tallinn).
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