Riders push back again against bus cuts in Oakland

A month ago, a group of Pittsburgh Regional Transit riders told the agency that cutting off four routes in Oakland rather than continuing to Downtown Pittsburgh would cause problems.

On Friday, more than a dozen returned with firsthand stories about the difficulties they say the changes have caused for them.

“I’ve lost count of how many appointments I’ve missed,” Alisha Grishman, an Uptown resident who uses a wheelchair, told the authority board at its monthly meeting.

Because of the changes, Grishman said, she recently had to use four buses to make a trip to the grocery store. “When I got home, I cried,” she said.

Teaira Collins, 49, of Crawford Square said she relies on bus service for medical appointments and to pick up her son with Down syndrome from school. In the past few weeks, she has missed five medical appointments and been late picking up her son several times because the trip she used to make in 30 minutes or less now takes a transfer and last up to 1½ hours.

“Relying on you guys has been my biggest disappointment,” she said.

Other riders talked about some buses being severely overcrowded when they got on and others so full already that they drove past rather than stopping so they could get on.

At the beginning of October, PRT decided to have the 61D and 71A, C and D routes end in Oakland rather than continue to the Downtown area. Officials said riders have plenty of options within 5 minutes of those routes that could provide the same service, and the agency could use the work hours to shift drivers and avoid cuts on other routes.

The changes are part of the agency’s start of construction for the $291 million Bus Rapid Transit system between Downtown and Oakland. That system is designed to provide more reliable service by putting buses in exclusive lanes with priority traffic signals, so they don’t get bunched together in rush-hour traffic.

The group rallied outside the boardroom on Sixth Avenue, Downtown, for a news conference before the meeting where riders displayed a bus cutout with 591 signatures complaining about the changes. By policy, the board listened to their comments, but didn’t respond.

The group carried signs with slogans such as “Turn this bus around” and “Transit moves us.” Many of them stressed that they use public transit because they have no other source or because it should be more convenient than driving, but the recent changes have increased their travel time by 50% to 100%.

After the meeting, CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman said it is too early to have reliable statistics, but she believes most riders in the corridor continue to get good service.

“It’s been three weeks since the schedule changes,” she said. “That’s the worst time for problems.

“I don’t want to negate what these people are saying because their stories are real. But we haven’t had an overwhelming number of complaints.”

Ross Nicotero, president and business agent for Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union that represents more than 2,300 workers at the agency, encouraged PRT to hire more drivers. He said the union has ideas such as additional hiring incentives and retention bonuses but “they don’t want to hear that.”

“We will keep pushing back [against service cuts],” Nicotero said. “Unless thing change, we’re going to be stranding the people of Allegheny County.”

Nicotero said the agency already is talking at maintenance garages with workers about more service cuts that could come in February, the next time union members can pick their routes.

Kelleman said that the agency continues to struggle to hire additional operators despite starting salaries of about $22 an hour and a strong benefits package for union employees.

“We’re in one of the slowest job markets in the country to recover from the pandemic,” she said, noting PRT has offered incentives, paid training and first-year sick leave to encourage new employees. “These are difficult jobs where people have split shifts and can’t get two days off in a row for several years. There aren’t a lot of people lining up for these jobs.”