Trying to get by: Pittsburgh Regional Transit board looking for ways to delay massive February cuts

With the state budget already nearly three weeks late and a long-term funding solution for public transit nowhere in sight, Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s board members are exploring other options to avoid massive cuts in February.

State Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-West View and a member of PRT’s board of directors, told a meeting of the Finance Committee Thursday that her party leaders say talks with the Republican majority have been “cordial but slow” since the new fiscal year began July 1 with no full budget in place. The stalemate, which is tied to increasing demands on state funds due to federal cutbacks and a reluctance by Senate Republicans to increase funding for transit because it mostly serves urban areas, isn’t likely to be resolved before September, she said.

The agency, faced with a $117 million deficit this year that will continue growing without more funding, adopted a budget last month as part of a 10-year funding plan. That plan, which can be modified by the board when a final state budget is passed, is designed to stabilize service as long as possible rather than to keep making small cuts every year or two.

As a result, it calls for changes next February that include a 35% reduction in service; 38% cut in union and administrative staff; eliminating 41 bus routes; canceling service after 11 p.m.; and no extra service for sports, concerts and community events such as July 4 or Light-Up Night.

To avoid those cuts, Williams and another board member, Bobbie Fan, asked PRT staff to develop other possible scenarios to deal with the financial crisis facing all transit agencies across the state. They got the results Thursday, but they seem only marginally better than earlier staff recommendations.

Williams requested a five-year plan, similar to a bill the House passed that would give the agency just over $40 million a year more. Chief Financial Officer Donminika Brown said the agency could continue service without changes until 2028, when it would have a $2.7 million deficit.

The following years, it would have no reserve funds and have to make drastic cuts to stay in operation. It ended June with $394.2 million in reserves and needs to maintain three months of reserves – about $188 million – to pre-pay some reimbursable purchases, Brown said.

Williams, who attended the meeting online, offered no opinion on the option but stressed her interest in other approaches rather than making heavy cuts.

“I’m trying to figure out how to do this as long as possible without cuts,” she said. “Is there some way to minimize the damage to riders?”

CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman said, “We clearly don’t have to make these Draconian cuts in February,” but the agency was trying for “the service equivalent of the best bang for the bucks.”

Fan requested a scenario to delay cuts until October 2026. Brown said with cuts of 40% in staff and service starting then, the agency could use another $100 million in reserves to cover 2027, then have balanced budgets until 2032, when it would have to tap reserves again.

Fan, also attending online, had no direct comment on the option she requested.

Ordinarily, the board doesn’t meet in August, but Kelleman said she could schedule a public workshop to update members on the budget talks and continue discussion about possible alternatives to the cuts. The board would have to take specific votes in September to approve the package of cuts and a proposed increase in the base fare by 25 cents to $3 because it takes about five months to implement the changes.

Transit agencies are struggling because the state’s 10-year funding package for transportation expired two years ago and they have been getting by on federal emergency funds awarded to keep transit open across the country during the pandemic. Now, that money has run out.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which serves five counties around Philadelphia, has scheduled its first round of substantial cuts for late August.