Pittsburgh Regional Transit to propose fare hike, service cuts Thursday due to lack of state funding

With additional state funding not in the cards at the moment, Pittsburgh Regional Transit will begin the process for “devastating” service cuts and fare increases that could begin next February.

Chief Development Officer Amy Silbermann is scheduled Thursday to brief PRT board’s Planning & Stakeholder Relations Committee on the proposed service cuts and fare increase. She will lay out specific service cuts and the amount of the proposed fare increase so the agency can hold public meetings on the proposals, spokesman Adam Brandolph said Monday.

“These cuts will impact each and every rider in every community across Allegheny County,” Brandolph said. “We have to go with the funding we are likely to have.”

The public meetings, which are expected to be approved by the full board when it meets next week, are a federal requirement when a transit agency is making major service changes. Federal rules require agencies to show the changes would be implemented in a fair manner and aren’t discriminating against any particular group.

The agency has been warning state leaders and riders for more than a year that it is facing a deficit of $100 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and cuts would be forthcoming if the state doesn’t increase its subsidy for the first time in more than 10 years. It has asked the state for an increase of $117 million in the new state budget that also begins July 1.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, this year has proposed an increase for all transit agencies that would provide about $42 million to PRT, the same proposal he made last year that never came up for a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate. Although all counties have some form of public transit, the increase has been a hard sell to legislators in rural areas because about 87% of the money goes to PRT and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority around Philadelphia.

Transit agencies across the state — and the country — are in various stages of a financial crisis because they are running out of emergency federal funding that was awarded during the national pandemic to keep agencies running during extremely low ridership. SEPTA already has spent its emergency money, PRT’s runs out next year, and other agencies are close to spending down their allotment.

Brandolph said the agencies in Pennsylvania aren’t coordinating their efforts, but they are “all on the same river in different boats.” For example, SEPTA was ready to implement fare hikes and service cuts last fall, but Shapiro shifted $154.3 million earmarked for future road and bridge projects to put off those cuts until the new state budget is passed.

“I wouldn’t say we’re coordinating, but we’re all talking about it because we haven’t had an increase in 12 years,” he said. “Everything today is [more expensive] than it was 12 years ago.

“The response you are seeing is because we are facing a $100 million deficit. Last year, it was $50 million, and the following year it will be even higher.”

The state transportation funding plan known as Act 89 passed in 2013 to provide more funding for roads and bridges, public transit and other transportation projects. It was authorized for 10 years, but with the special federal pandemic funding, it was allowed to lapse and hasn’t been replaced.

Now, with ridership at PRT still holding at about 30% below pre-pandemic levels, the lack of new funding has reached a flash point.

With fixed costs such as wages and benefits, Brandolph said, the agency has few choices besides cutting service to produce big savings. Another way to generate revenue is a fare increase.

Brandolph noted that other aspects of the agency’s operation will be in jeopardy, too, without additional funding.

For more than a year, planners have been engaged in redesigning the route system for the agency’s buses. The goal is to provide service to new areas and provide more trips between local communities rather than making riders pass through Downtown Pittsburgh and transfer without increasing overall costs.

The agency is in the process of adjusting its first draft of the redesign, but the whole plan could be in jeopardy without additional funding.

“If nothing changes, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to make those changes,” Brandolph said. “We would be unlikely to be implementing those changes if we’re facing such a large deficit.”

To balance its current budget, the agency used $58 million of its reserve funds last year. It still has more than $400 million in reserves, but it is reluctant to spend substantially more of that money because it is used to pay for major projects up front while the agency waits for state or federal reimbursement.

“It’s not a great business practice for us to continue to pay down our reserves,” Brandolph said. “It’s for everybody’s benefit that we maintain a healthy fund balance. It’s there for emergencies.”

The third prong of addressing the financial challenge would be layoffs. Brandolph said PRT has been in touch with its unions about that, but the agency isn’t ready to go there yet.

“Right now, state funding is the priority. We are solely focused on making sure our legislators are fully aware of our situation and how we are asking them to help.”