With Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s funding stable for the next two years, transit advocates peppered the board of directors Friday for improvements during that time, not just status quo.
CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman said the agency should be able to comply.
“As soon as February, we can invest in schedules that meet people’s needs,” Kelleman said after the board meeting. “We know there are needs in every schedule change going forward, and we will do what we can to meet those needs.”
The board unanimously approved a plan Friday for the agency to shift state funds that had been earmarked for capital projects to help pay operating costs the next two years and avoid service cuts of 35%, layoffs of 38% of management and union employees and the end of service after 11 p.m. That plan developed for PRT and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority around Philadelphia after it became clear that the state Legislature was not going to approve an increase in state subsidy for public transit.
SEPTA had started the first of several rounds of service cuts at the beginning of August, and PRT’s cuts were to start in February. Both agencies canceled the cuts because they are allowed to use state capital funds for operating expenses rather than cut service or increase fares.
Laura Wiens, executive director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit, stressed that just avoiding the drastic service cuts isn’t enough. She encouraged PRT to fix routine scheduling problems across the system while continuing to lobby the Legislature for increased funding.
“We have merely traded one set of problems for another,” she said.
Under the agency’s contract with the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union, it can make scheduling changes three times a year when operators can bid for the routes they want on a seniority basis. With manpower shortages over the past two years, the agency cut more than 5% of service to reduce the number of times a scheduled bus didn’t arrive because no driver was available.
Now, with a full staff of operators through increased training classes and hiring incentives, that should be over, Kelleman said. Restoring those cuts will be the “bare minimum” the agency will do, Kelleman said, but she expects there to be more.
“We took 5% out because of manpower,” she said. “At a minimum, we will restore that. Riders deserve that. They don’t just expect it, they deserve it.”
Additionally, the agency will resume work on its bus line redesign, where it is looking at all its bus routes to make changes based on shifting workplaces and residential growth areas. The agency paused work on that project earlier this year because of the funding crisis.
By early next year, Kelleman said, the agency should be ready to go back to the public with recommendations to change traditional bus routes. One of the major goals is to make it easier for riders to travel from one local municipality to another without having to ride into Downtown Pittsburgh and transfer to another bus.
Other goals include providing later service, more weekend service and service to new areas while not eliminating less busy corridors.
“One of the things we heard loud and clear from the Legislature is that we have to change service to the way people are riding [after the pandemic],” Kelleman said.
Kelleman, board members and advocates agreed on one thing: Using capital funds to maintain service is a bad idea, and a long-term funding system is needed. Additionally, PRT and SEPTA are the only agencies allowed to use capital funds that way, so the other 60 counties across the state continue to have financial problems.
Transit funding came to a head because most agencies have been using emergency federal funds awarded during the pandemic to help pay for operating costs, but that money has run out. Also, the state transportation bill that includes transit subsidies expired two years ago.
“Nothing has really been solved with this situation,” said Chris Sandvig, executive director of advocacy group Mobilify Southwestern Pennsylvania. “The day of reckoning is coming if there isn’t something done soon.”
Kelleman agreed that shifting funds away from needed construction projects is a bad idea but something that couldn’t be avoided right now.
“This is not new money,” she said during her monthly report to the board. “It is money for needed capital projects. It’s a Band-Aid, but there’s still a wound on the other side.
“We are thrilled we are protecting service. The conversation [about long-term funding] is not over.”
Under the shift approved by Gov. Josh Shapiro and the state Department of Transportation, PRT will use $106 million in capital funds to balance its budget over the next two years without service cuts or fare increases. The changes increase the operating budget from $539.3 million approved in June to $572.2 million and reduce the capital budget from $187.9 million approved in June to $58 million.
It expects to use the rest of the capital money plus other state and local funds to balance the 2026-27 budget. It will face severe cuts again in 2029 without a funding change.
The agency hasn’t released which capital projects will be pushed back, but it said all safety-critical projects would be completed.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.