Pittsburgh Regional Transit pushes for coalition to help press for more state transit funds

Thirteen riders and transit advocates spoke at Friday’s first meeting of Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s board of directors since the agency proposed 35% service cuts and a 25-cent fare hike last week to deal with a lack of a state funding increase to support agencies across Pennsylvania.

The board moved public comments to the start of the meeting, allowing speakers to tell personal stories about how the cuts would impact their lives and the damage they could do to workers, businesses and the quality of life in the Pittsburgh area. Without more funding, some riders with disabilities said the cuts scheduled for February would limit their independence.

CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman and board members listened and lamented the need for the cuts, then the board voted unanimously to open a public comment period for the service cuts and fare increase. But they also urged riders and other business and community leaders to form a coalition to carry the need for dedicated transit funding to the state Legislature, where Senate Republicans have been reluctant to provide it.

“We are an economic driver in Pennsylvania. This is not the future we want,” Kelleman said. “We should be expanding service, not cutting.

“It is our responsibility as a transit agency to make sure our voices are heard.”

The agency claims it is facing a $100 million deficit this year that would increase to $300 million in 10 years without more state funding. The state’s most recent transportation funding bill, Act 89, was approved in 2013 and designed to last for 10 years, but emergency federal funding during the pandemic has allowed agencies across the state to get by, but now they say they are facing a funding “crisis” as that money runs out.

Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed an increase that would provide PRT with just over $40 million in extra money, about a third of the $117 million it is asking for. Senate Republicans have been reluctant to provide more money because 87% of transit funds go to PRT and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority around Philadelphia.

State Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-West View, who was named to the board Thursday as the replacement for retiring state Sen. Jim Brewster, said she has received hundreds of calls and comments from constituents concerned about the proposed cuts. She sits on the Senate Transportation Committee and is familiar with the issues.

“I am committed to finding a sustainable funding stream in Harrisburg,” Williams told commenters. “We do need to hear from you. We know the governor’s proposal is not enough.”

After the meeting, Williams said the portion of state sales tax used to fund transit isn’t a good source for dedicated transit funding. She suggested the Legislature take another look at recommendations from a special committee appointed near the end of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s second term that would charge fees for package deliveries from services like Amazon and trips by ride-hailing companies like Lyft and Uber, which she said came too late to get proper review before Wolf left office.

Williams also encouraged hospitals, the hospitality industry and pro sports teams to get involved in the effort. PRT said its cuts would cause service to end at 11 p.m., which would hurt businesses with workers who rely on late service, and it would eliminate extra service for sports events and concerts.

“We can’t do this alone,” Williams said. “They have to be involved. It has to be a joint effort.”

Andrew Hussein, vice president of the Allegheny County Transit Council, made a similar pitch in his comments to the board when he called on riders to “fight like hell and get involved.” He said this is the third time he has been involved in the push for a new transit funding bill, which he called “a horror-film trilogy.”

Laura Wiens, executive director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit and part of a statewide coalition known as Transit for All PA, said the statewide group is trying to build that kind of public support. It has generated 33,000 letters from across the state pushing for more than $500 million under the Wolf plan to restore service to pre-pandemic levels across the state, she said.

The proposed cuts for the Pittsburgh area would be “catastrophic” and “make for a city that is not livable,” she said.

Chris Sandvig, executive director of advocacy group Mobilify Southwestern Pennsylvania, said the proposed cuts would be “terrifying” and would lead to “a bus-swallowing sinkhole when we can least afford it.”

“Our most vulnerable neighbors rely on transit to get and keep a job, make it to a doctor or a grocery store, visit friends and family, and basically have a meaningful, dignified life,” he said.

Brian Hatgelakas, a blind rider from Mt. Lebanon, said cuts to the Route 41 bus he uses would be “very devastating.”

“I want to use the independence my parents taught me,” he said. “I think you’re telling me as a disabled person that my life doesn’t matter.”

The board approved a public comment period on the proposed service cuts and fare hike from Monday through June 18. It will hold three hearings on those issues:

• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. April 29 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown.
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. May 6 at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum, Oakland.
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. June 12 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.