[PRCo] Re: pat

[Fred Schneider]

My questions would be:

1.  Are pensions paid based on a 40-hour a week base pay or on total  
compensation during the last or highest so many years (usually three  
or five years)?

2.  Are the drivers manipulating the working hours to squeeze as many  
hours into overtime pay to increase pensions just before they retire?

If the rules allow it, one can not fault them for doing it.   But one  
can fault administration for allowing the rules that allow it.

In my particular instance I chose to retire at a time when I had an  
extra pay period in the highest three years used for calculating  
retirement.   Was I wrong?   I don't think so.   I had the sense to  
see what the sacred scrolls said and to manipulate when I chose to go  
out.   One more pay period gave me a few percent more in the  
pension.   I wouldn't blame the drivers any more than I blame myself  
for finding the loophole.

On Oct 21, 2006, at 1:18 PM, Jim Holland wrote:

> Pittsburgh  Tribune Review
>
> Port Authority Pay
>
> Thursday, October 19, 2006
>
> I am surprised that Allegheny County Councilman Matt Drozd sees the  
> Port
> Authority's salary figures as "outrageous" ("Port Authority defends
> overtime
> <http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/today/ 
> s_475133.html>,"
> Oct. 15 and PghTrib.com).
>
> What is wrong with earning a living wage to support your family and
> being paid for overtime if you elect to take it?       As to the
> management salaries, they would certainly be much higher in the  
> private
> sector.
>
> Has Mr. Drozd forgotten that the $138 million in wage dollars that the
> Port Authority spends comes right back into the local  
> economy?       The
> 3,056 employees use that money to buy homes in this area.        
> They pay
> property taxes and sales tax.       They buy groceries, pay for dance
> class and sports registrations.       They pay for braces and car
> repairs.       They are your neighbors.       Perhaps, Mr. Drozd, your
> efforts would be better spent working on dedicated funding for the  
> Port
> Authority because Allegheny County needs a transit system and
> decent-paying jobs and the Port Authority needs to pay people to  
> come to
> work.
>
> Stephanie Zoffel
> Penn Hills
>
> http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_475633.html
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Pittsburgh  Post-Gazette
>
>
>     Yellow cabs willing to pay to use busways
>
> Friday, October 20, 2006
>
> By Joe Grata, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
>
> Buses that enjoy some of their own highways into Pittsburgh soon could
> be sharing them with taxis, vans and even commercial vehicles.
>
> The Pittsburgh Transportation Group, which includes more than 300  
> Yellow
> cabs, says it would like to use the Port Authority's exclusive busways
> and is willing to pay for the privilege.
>
> Yellow Cab Co. President Jamie Campolongo delivered the message to Dan
> Onorato yesterday when the county chief executive visited the  
> company's
> North Side headquarters for lunch and "Driver Appreciation Day."
>
> Mr. Onorato is interested. And so is the Port Authority: "We'd  
> certainly
> be glad to take a look at that,'' said authority spokesman Bob Grove.
>
> Mr. Campolongo said his cabs, airport limos, airport shuttle buses and
> ACCESS vehicles that run under Port Authority aegis could save time  
> and
> money, improve transportation efficiency, save fuel and reduce  
> pollution.
>
> In turn, he said, Pittsburgh Transportation Group would consider  
> paying
> an annual fee similar to the $600 per vehicle and $1 per trip that it
> pays for operating access at Pittsburgh International Airport.
>
> The West Busway and Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway provide  
> exclusive
> bypasses of the Fort Pitt and Squirrel Hill tunnels on the
> traffic-congested Parkway West and Parkway East, respectively.
>
> Mr. Onorato said he's not only receptive to the idea but it fits into
> his plans to maximize use of transportation facilities as part of
> public-private partnerships.
>
> "It sounds great in theory, but they'll have to be willing to pay," he
> said.
>
> "That's what we need to find out first. The Transportation Task Force
> (that he formed earlier this year) is looking at the matter," not only
> for Public Utility Commission-regulated vehicles like taxis but  
> also for
> private companies like UPS and FedEx.
>
> Issues that would have to be settled besides fees that would provide a
> new source of revenue for the cash-strapped Port Authority include
> special operator training, liability insurance and possible new safety
> rules.
>
> Currently, 383 buses a weekday use the West Busway and about 956  
> buses a
> day use the East Busway.
>
> Mr. Campolongo said his company's drivers are already trained to
> authority standards and subject to some of the same rules, such as  
> drug
> testing.
>
> He estimated using the West Busway to and from the airport could  
> cut an
> average of 20 minutes off rush-hour trips and reduce cab fares by 20
> percent. The one-way taxi fare between the Pittsburgh Hilton and the
> airport is now about $32.50.
>
> Mr. Campolongo said comparable time and money savings could be  
> achieved
> if ACCESS vehicles could use the busways. The door-to-door,
> advance-reservation rides are the most heavily subsidized service  
> in the
> authority's operating budget.
>
> Mr. Campolongo said he approached authority officials about using the
> West Busway shortly after it was opened in 2000 but was told the extra
> traffic was not evaluated as part of an environmental impact statement
> needed to qualify for federal funding.
>
> Instead, Pittsburgh Transportation Group vehicles that serve 85  
> percent
> of passengers at the "commercial curbs" at the airport are stuck in --
> and contribute to -- the traffic jams on both sides of the Fort  
> Pitt Tunnel.
>
> "Going east is murder," Mr. Campolongo said, when cabs, vans and
> shuttles could be sharing the 9.3-mile East Busway to the eastern part
> of the city, Wilkinsburg, Edgewood and Swissvale.
>
> He said the company's approximately 600 vehicles, ranging from stretch
> limousines to full-size buses, log more than 30 million passenger  
> miles
> a year.
>
> The taxis alone carry about 1 million riders.
>
> Pittsburgh Transportation Group owns and operates Embassy Coach,  
> Yellow
> Cab, Pittsburgh Transportation Co., Checker Cab Co. and Express  
> Shuttle USA.
>
> Mr. Grove of the Port Authority said sharing the South Busway is
> probably out of the question because it's already crowded with  
> buses and
> light-rail vehicles in a narrow corridor through South Hills Junction
> and the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel.
>
> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06293/731526-147.stm
>
>
>
>