Pittsburgh Regional Transit shouldn’t have any trouble meeting budget obligations through 2027, staff told the agency’s finance committee Thursday.
But as they presented the proposed $534.3 million budget for the fiscal year that starts in July, officials warned that the agency could face serious financial problems in 2028, when federal stimulus money expires.
Controller Pete Schenk told the committee the agency would be in “fine position” through 2027 as a result of the stimulus money that Congress approved for transit agencies during the pandemic. That money reimbursed agencies for lost passenger revenue and additional costs such as increased cleaning as a result of the pandemic.
For the fiscal year that begins in July, PRT is projecting it could use $70 million in federal funds to balance the new budget, although the exact amount won’t be known until the budget is adopted next month. Additional federal funds will be available for the following three years as well, Schenk said, but after that the money will be used up.
After the meeting, CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman said the agency already has been talking to state and federal officials about the looming shortfall since they provide the bulk of the agency’s funding. Only about 21% of the agency’s money comes from passenger revenue in normal times, but that declined substantially since ridership dropped during the pandemic.
Weekday bus ridership is about 60% of what it was in 2019 and rail service is at 46%.
“The world of transit is different now,” Kelleman said. “Obviously, if there’s a funding gap, we will have to do what we can to make sure we can provide the service that people need.”
Other transit agencies across the country are facing the same situation, Kelleman said, but many of them already have gone through substantial cuts in service. PRT hasn’t made substantial cuts and has no plans to change that anytime soon.
Kelleman said the agency has done a good job of holding down costs, noting that the proposed budget would only be a 1.6% increase over the current year. It usually comes in millions of dollars under budget each year.
“We will have to continue doing that,” she said.
The new budget projects an increase of15% in ridership again next year. Additionally, PRT expects to get a ridership boost in 2025 when the Bus Rapid Transit system that will set up exclusive lanes between Downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland begins serevice.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.