Pittsburgh Regional Transit looking into state funds that restored Philly’s transit cuts

Pittsburgh Regional Transit will consider using state funds earmarked for capital improvements to stave off massive service cuts scheduled to begin early next year.

But the local agency won’t decide immediately whether to follow that path because it isn’t under the same time pressure to divert the capital funds to cover operational costs as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. On Monday, Gov. Josh Shapiro approved SEPTA’s request for $394 million in capital funds after a judge ruled that a 20% cut in service that began last month was unfair to minorities and poor riders and service had to be restored as soon as possible.

PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph said Monday the agency will take its time to review which projects would be delayed if it asks to use capital funds to pay for day-to-day operating costs. PRT has announced plans to cut service by 35%, eliminate 41 bus routes, lay off 38% of union and management staff, end service at 11 p.m., and not provide extra service for events such as Pittsburgh Steelers football games and stadium concerts.

Most transit agencies across the state are facing severe financial problems because emergency federal funding approved during the pandemic is running out and the state Legislature has yet to take action on a new transportation funding package after the previous 10-year plan ended two years ago. A special provision in state law allows PRT and SEPTA to use capital funds once a year if they are facing service cuts or fare hikes, but no other transit agencies across the state are included.

Shapiro and many of his Democratic colleagues in the General Assembly have joined transit advocates in opposition to using capital funds and have been pushing for a long-term solution for transit funding. Republicans have been against increasing funding for transit because about 87% of the money goes to PRT and SEPTA, which they say provides little benefit to constituents they serve in more rural areas.

But faced with the court ruling, Shapiro and SEPTA determined using capital funds would be the best way to temporarily fund the restoration of service. On Sunday, SEPTA expects to return to the service it provided before the cuts.

“It certainly is not [PRT’s] preferred path forward,” Brandolph said Monday. “If we do it, we see it as a short-term measure we can use to help ourselves.”

PRT’s financial crisis is coming up about a year later than SEPTA because it stretched out its federal funding longer than the Philadelphia agency, which needed a special state allocation of $153.4 million to avoid starting cuts last November. PRT passed its latest budget in June and scheduled the cuts to begin in February to address a $100 million budget deficit.

That extra time is a benefit, Brandolph said, but planning the cuts takes time, so the agency won’t wait a long while to decide whether to use the capital funds. It also doesn’t want to face a similar lawsuit and be forced to take emergency action if its cutbacks were to be reversed.

“That certainly gives us a little more time to consider,” he said. “But we’re going to have to make a decision sooner rather than later. Certainly asking for [permission to use capital funds] is a real possibility.”

Brandolph said it is too early to say whether PRT would ask for permission to use enough capital money to cover two years of operating deficits as SEPTA did. It’s not clear yet whether the agency is expecting enough capital funds this year to do that and whether all those projects could be delayed.

Regardless, Brandolph and others stressed that tapping capital funds would only be a short-term fix.

“It starts the clock ticking for the next conversation [about long-term funding],” he said.

In a news release announcing approval of SEPTA’s request, the Shapiro administration said the agency will be using capital funds that hadn’t been allocated to specific projects yet. That means no scheduled work will be delayed.

In his response to SEPTA approving the funds, Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll placed the blame for the delay in passing a new state budget squarely on Senate Republicans. Transit funding has been one of the key issues holding up the budget.

“Unfortunately, Senate Republicans have refused to agree to a long-term solution that provides certainty and does not also unfairly raid mass transit capital dollars for unrelated expenditures – and the Shapiro administration believes Pennsylvanians who rely on SEPTA deserve service that helps them get to work, school, or wherever they need to go.”

The cuts have caused substantial problems for 800,000 transit riders who use the system, including 52,000 students in Philadelphia Public Schools, where absenteeism and tardiness have increased dramatically. More than 26% of riders have told the agency they have been passed up because transit vehicles that are running are too full to pick them up.

The agency asked for two years of funding so it can guarantee full service in 2026, when it will be celebrating the nation’s 250^th birthday and hosting international soccer championships and the Major League Baseball’s All-Star game.

State Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills and Senate minority leader, praised the governor and PennDOT for approving the use of capital funds by SEPTA but lamented that the step was necessary. He called it a “temporary solution” and said Democrats will continue pushing for long-term transit funding.

“The Senate Republicans have proven over the last two years that they are not willing to agree to a permanent and sustainable solution to support our transit systems statewide …” he said in a news release.

“So today, the governor and PennDOT took the last, worst step that was available and accepted SEPTA’s request to access capital funds intended to provide for safe and efficient transportation service and to divert them for operational needs to restore the transit service that Philadelphia runs on. This is not ideal, but is necessary, and we applaud the Shapiro administration for taking this bold action.”