As an aide to former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, a former state representative who served on the Pittsburgh Regional Transit board of directors, and now lieutenant governor, Austin Davis has seen the importance of public transit from a variety of viewpoints.
But the McKeesport native got his best viewpoint as the son of a PRT bus driver, Ankarie Davis. Named for singer/songwriter Paul Anka, Ankarie works a split schedule where he carries passengers on the 55 Glassport route in the morning and the Y46 Elizabeth Flyer in the evening.
So when Austin Davis pushed for more funding for public transit at a news conference at Station Square on Pittsburgh’s South Side on Friday, he was speaking from his life’s experience with transit including riding his father’s route. After the news conference, he rode the Red Line on the light rail system to the South Hills Village stop.
“I’ve seen [the importance of public transit] as the son of a bus driver but also as a PRT board member ….” Davis said. “We’ve got to do better. We are now at the stage to build. This is a regional and state issue.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 includes a proposal to add $1.41 billion to transit funding over the next five years. That would be the first increase in state transit funds in more than a decade and would provide an additional $39 million a year for PRT.
Davis noted that transit suffered sharp ridership losses during the pandemic and needed millions of dollars in federal support to continue operations during that emergency. That money will run out as early as this year for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority around Philadelphia and within the next three years for PRT.
Without additional help to continue expanding transit, Davis said, “our regional economy could come to a screeching halt.” He said studies have shown that 64% of transit riders have no other source of transportation and use it for work, buying groceries and getting to medical appointments.
The money is distributed through a formula based on ridership, and Senate Republicans have complained that 87% of the funds go to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Immediately after the proposal, Republicans who hold the majority in that chamber said they would have trouble supporting that much money for Philadelphia.
“It’s time to take off our red and blue jerseys and put on our Pennsylvania jersey,” Davis said.
In a private interview, Davis said he’d like to see what Republicans would propose to support transit.
“We have to recognize places like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are the economic generators for our state,” he said. “We’re not going to achieve that by not investing in the [transit] system. I don’t believe doing nothing is a viable alternative.”
State Rep. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon and House majority leader, said he believes the administration is doing a good job highlighting the importance of funding issues such as education and transit through a series of similar events across the state. Shapiro was in Westmoreland County on Thursday to lobby for transit funding for the smaller Westmoreland County Transit Authority.
“A lot of work is being done early [before the June budget crunch],” Miller said. “The administration’s got great proposals, and that’s why we’re here.
This is an easy one. Nobody’s against transportation.”
Davis said this is the “first step in the process” to provide reliable funding support for public transportation, something Katharine Eagan Kelleman, Pittsburgh Regional’s CEO, said will be highlighted more in the coming months. In addition to operating funds, the agency will need capital funds of more than a billion dollars for projects such as replacing about 80 light rail trains that are years past their shelf life and the Panhandle Bridge that carries those vehicles from Station Square to Downtown Pittsburgh.
And that’s not taking into account building a new maintenance garage for more than $150 million to allow growth projects like extending light rail on the city’s North Side to Bellevue and Ross and the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway from Rankin to East Pittsburgh as well as establishing a new transit route from Pittsburgh’s Strip District through Oakland and Hazelwood to the city’s Overbrook area.
“It’s definitely the first effort we’ve seen in a decade to provide more money for transit,” Kelleman said. “It is a welcome start to the process.”
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.