Allegheny County public transit users decried a proposal to raise bus and light-rail fares and make major cuts to the region’s transit service Tuesday, calling the plan potentially “devastating” for the region’s residents and economy.
“While not quite on par with the collapse of steel, the collapse of transit would be disastrous for the region,” said Chris Sandvig, founder and executive director of transportation advocacy group Mobilify.
More than 60 people offered comments Tuesday at the first of three Pittsburgh Regional Transit public hearings.
PRT announced in March that unless the agency gets a significant funding boost from the state, officials expect to cut service by 35%. Without an influx of cash, the agency faces a $100 million budget deficit.
In such a case, the agency proposes eliminating 41 bus routes across Allegheny County entirely while implementing major service reductions on 34 others. Slight reductions would be made to another 20 routes. Transit fares would also increase from $2.75 to $3.00, making them “some of the highest transit fares in the country,” according to PRT deputy chief communications officer Adam Brandolph.
The agency would also slash service areas and increase fares for ACCESS, PRT’s contracted service for people with disabilities and mobility issues who cannot use traditional public transit.
If the plan goes into effect next February, 19 municipalities and three city neighborhoods would lose all their current access to public transportation, and there would be no public transit service anywhere in the region after 11 p.m.
Those changes would fall particularly hard on the regular users who depend on PRT to get to work and appointments and run errands, said West Mifflin resident Wyndell Williams.
Combined with cuts made during previous funding squeezes, he said, “You’re leaving complete bus deserts.”
PRT previously eliminated Saturday service for the bus Williams relies on to get to work. On weekends he walks two miles to Homestead to catch a bus to his job on McKnight Road; under the proposed route closures, he would have to do that on weekdays as well.
The bus route Sewickley resident Libby Powers uses to get downtown would cease to exist under PRT’s proposal. Powers said that would curtail her ability to spend time with family and friends and enjoy the city’s cultural offerings.
“To have that taken away is scary, because that would leave me and among others many others stranded and without a way to get around the community on our own schedules,” said Powers, who uses a wheelchair.
Disability-rights advocates warned that shrinking bus routes and ACCESS service would eliminate gains made under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Many speakers argued the plan would have a chilling effect on local businesses and the economy, right before the region is set to host two major events: the U.S. Open in Oakmont and next year’s NFL draft.
But the hearing didn’t just give residents a chance to tell officials how the cuts would impact them: It also served as a way for PRT to rally riders. Mobilify, Transit for All PA, and Pittsburghers for Public Transit jointly hosted a “save our service” rally shortly after the hearing.
Elected officials and transit advocates urged lawmakers in Harrisburg to fund PRT, which has asked Gov. Josh Shapiro for a $117 million increase in its state subsidy. (Shapiro proposed a plan that would give the agency roughly $40 million in additional state funding, which would spur additional matching funds from the county. Last year, he redirected $153 million in federal funds to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which also faced a funding shortfall.)
PRT’s current financial problems can be traced back to “decades of chronic underfunding from the state,” said County Executive Sara Innamorato.
PRT last received a funding boost from the state in 2013, when the legislature passed Act 89. That bill provided more money for public transit, roads, and bridges throughout the state for 10 years. Since that funding lapsed, PRT has used federal pandemic relief money to fill in the funding gaps: Once that source dried up, the transit agency has $58 million from its reserve funds to balance the agency’s budget.
Allegheny County state Sen. Lindsey Williams and Philadelphia-area state Sen. Nikil Saval have introduced legislation meant to close funding gaps at transit agencies across the state, including PRT.
“Pittsburgh has paid in. Allegheny County has paid in,” said PRT CEO Katherine Kelleman. “We have cut. All that is left is service, and we need every mile of that out on the streets.”
PRT will collect public comment on the proposed cuts in person and online through June 18. Two additional public hearings will be held: from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on May 6 at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum, and during the same hours June 12 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
