[PRCo] Upcoming Bus/Rail Cuts and Higher Fares at PATransit

[Herb Brannon]

>From this mornings Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

More Port Authority transit cuts ahead
Port Authority CEO says rollback plan 'not a scare tactic,' pleads for
state aid
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Venerable bus routes serving Mt. Lebanon, Coraopolis, Green Tree, Mount
Washington, Oakmont, Edgewood and Sewickley will be among 45 routes
eliminated by the Port Authority in September if there is no solution to a
statewide transportation funding crisis.

Riders who aren't stranded will pay more -- the authority plans a 25-cent
increase in the base Zone 1 fare, to $2.50, on July 1. Zone 2 rides will go
up 50 cents, to $3.75. It will be the fourth fare increase in the past 4
1/2 years. The last was in January 2011.

As part of a 35 percent reduction in service hours that would take effect
Sept. 2 -- the largest cut in the agency's 48-year history -- all of the
authority's current 102 bus and rail routes would be scaled back, some
ending altogether and others with deep drops in off-peak and weekend
service.

On all but 13 routes, service would terminate at or around 10 p.m. daily.
Weekend service would be eliminated on the Blue Line of the Light Rail
Transit system.

All routes will end service at approximately 10 p.m. except for the
following: 8 Perrysville, 16 Brighton, 27 Fairywood, 51 Carrick, 61B
Braddock, 71A Negley, 71D Hamilton, 82 Lincoln, 86 Liberty, 91 Butler
Street, G2 West Busway, P1 East Busway, Red Line

The reduction, coupled with a 15 percent service cut last March, would
leave the region's biggest transit agency with barely half of the service
it offered a year ago.

An estimated 500 to 600 jobs could be eliminated, with most of that
achieved through layoffs, authority CEO Steve Bland said.

"If we have to go through with these reductions, my feeling is it's the
beginning of the end of public transit as a significant carrier in the
region," he said.

"It's absolutely not a scare tactic," he said of the proposal being
unveiled today. "The folks who use the routes we eliminated in March know
how real it is. It's as serious as a heart attack."

The authority is facing a projected $64 million deficit in its 2012-13
operating budget, which takes effect in July. Flat or declining aid from
the state and Allegheny County in recent years, coupled with soaring costs
of retirement benefits and fuel, have pushed the agency to the brink of
insolvency.

According to the agency's most recent audit, state operating assistance
decreased by $34.2 million in the fiscal year that ended last June 30, a 19
percent drop. State aid makes up more than half of the authority's income.

The main hope for avoiding the next round of cuts rests in Harrisburg,
where neither Gov. Tom Corbett nor the Legislature has acted on a panel's
recommendations to raise new revenue for the state's crumbling roads,
bridges and transit systems.

Mr. Corbett is expected to address the issue either in his 2012-13 budget
address on Feb. 7 or before that. Legislative leaders from both parties
have called for action on transportation funding but said the governor's
support will be needed to pass anything.

The Port Authority also faces contract talks with the union representing
drivers, mechanics and first-level supervisors. The main contract with
Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union expires June 30, and the agency
is expected to push for significant concessions.

The transit cut and fare proposal will be discussed at a meeting of the
Port Authority's planning and development committee this morning. Public
comment will be accepted from Feb. 5 to March 9, and an all-day public
hearing will be held Feb. 29 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Mr. Bland said it is possible to reverse the service cut if the governor
and the Legislature act by late July or early August. Once the reduction
has taken effect, "it isn't really reversible. You just don't get the
ridership back," he said.

The fare increase is likely to occur even if the state provides more money,
he said.

The cost of weekly, monthly and annual passes will rise along with the cash
fares. Monthly and annual pass purchasers will get a slight discount.
Transfers will continue to cost $1.

Express service to the suburbs was heavily targeted in the reduction plan.
To be eliminated are the G3 Moon Flyer, G31 Bridgeville Flyer, O5 Thompson
Run Flyer, P10 Allegheny Valley Flyer, P12 Holiday Park Flyer, P13 Mount
Royal Flyer, P16 Penn Hills Flyer, P17 Lincoln Park Flyer, P67 Monroeville
Flyer, P68 Braddock Hills Flyer, P69 Trafford Flyer, P71 Swisshelm
Park-Rankin Flyer, P76 Lincoln Highway Flyer, P78 Oakmont Flyer and Y45
Baldwin Manor Flyer.

The 28X Airport Flyer might terminate outbound service at Robinson Town
Centre (eliminating the leg to Pittsburgh International Airport), depending
on whether a federal grant designed to improve access to jobs is renewed,
Mr. Bland said.

Express routes were targeted because they are the most expensive for the
authority to operate and because their riders typically have other options.
"They tend to use park-and-ride and can drive farther, or drive into the
city, in contrast with the person who is completely dependent on public
transit," he said.

Cost recovery on longer, more expensive routes was also a factor in
deciding to raise Zone 2 fares twice as much as those in Zone 1, he said.

According to the authority, 100 municipalities or neighborhoods will lose
all transit service if the reductions are implemented. Among them are
Braddock Hills, East Hills, Edgeworth, Elizabeth, Fineview, Forest Hills,
Holiday Park, Manchester, Moon, North Fayette, North Versailles, Trafford,
Turtle Creek, Verona and Wilmerding.

Service also would be discontinued to the Allegheny County Airport in West
Mifflin; Boyce campus of Community College of Allegheny County; Brinton
Towers senior housing complex in Braddock Hills; Olympia Shopping Center in
McKeesport; Parkway Center Mall in Banksville; and the VA Medical Center on
Highland Drive in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar.

The authority board is scheduled to vote April 27 to finalize the service
reduction plan and fare increases. The board took a similar vote in
November 2010, authorizing a 35 percent cut in service hours, but then-Gov.
Ed Rendell came up with $45 million in emergency aid the following month.
As a result, the authority was able to temporarily make ends meet with the
15 percent service reduction last March.

That stranded thousands of riders and forced others onto overcrowded buses.
Despite adjustments, it is still common for buses to pass up waiting riders
because there is no room for them.
Jon Schmitz: jschmitz at post-gazette.com or 412-263-1868. Visit the PG's
transportation blog, The Roundabout, at www.post-gazette.com/roundabout.
Twitter: @pgtraffic.

First published on January 18, 2012 at 12:50 am

Read more:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12018/1204207-147-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml#ixzz1jou8qHFe


-- 
Herb Brannon
In Cuyahoga Valley National Park