Port Authority cuts looming, SGB without plan to advocate against cuts

In light of cuts in the Pennsylvania budget toward higher education, Pitt’s Student Government… In light of cuts in the Pennsylvania budget toward higher education, Pitt’s Student Government Board has remained largely silent on the possible ending of many Port Authority routes this fall.

In April, the Port Authority of Allegheny County approved tentative cuts totaling 35 percent of its current service to coincide with Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget. These cuts will take effect on Sept. 2, and will eliminate 46 of the 102 routes in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. In addition, remaining routes will face reductions in service including all but 13 routes ending before 10 p.m.

Corbett inherited a $4 billion deficit when he took office in January, so he proposed a lean $27 billion 2011-2012 budget, which included cuts targeted at higher education and transportation.

Decreases in Port Authority service stem from a projected $64 million deficit in the authority’s 2012-2013 operating budget.

Despite the drastic nature of the cuts and its impact on transportation in Oakland, Pitt students appear preoccupied with other pressing concerns.

SGB member Alex Murdoch said currently, SGB dedicates most of its resources toward advocacy against Corbett’s proposed 30 percent cut in funding toward state-related universities in Pennsylvania.

“The transportation [issue] was more or less put to the side,” Murdoch said. “No outright campaign has been started.”

Murdoch also said that the announcement of the cuts in service in late April made it difficult to organize an advocacy campaign because of finals and the end of the semester approaching.

SGB member Julie Hallinan echoed Murdoch’s statement, saying that no plan for an advocacy campaign currently exists, but one could happen in the future.

For some Pitt students, how the cuts will affect their life is still unknown. Ben Yasika, a junior majoring information sciences, said he wasn’t sure how the cuts would affect him at this point, but opposed them nonetheless.

“When I’ve used [Port Authority buses,] they’ve been convenient,” Yasika said. “It would bother me if the cuts affected my ability to go to the other side of Pittsburgh.”

With Sept. 2 service cuts appearing unavoidable — regardless of Corbett’s budget — officials from the Port Authority have scrambled to cut spending across the board.

Jim Ritchie, communications officer for the Port Authority, said ongoing negotiations between the Port Authority and its biggest employee union, Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, serves the greatest current concern.

Local 85’s collective bargaining agreement expires on June 2, and Ritchie said negotiations between Port Authority, state, county and Local 85 representatives have been “positive,” though specific details of the new CBA haven’t been discussed.

Ritchie said the Port Authority has received support from members of the public as well as legislators from across the state.

“I believe there is widespread support and recognition that we need a reliable source of funding [for the Port Authority,]” Ritchie said.

Many state legislators in Allegheny County have vowed their support for the Port Authority because of its importance to their constituents.

Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, whose legislative district encompasses Oakland, said the state needs a “comprehensive transit solution” that includes the repair of highways and bridges in addition to funding toward the Port Authority. In the past, Frankel said, the two issues were wedded together.

Frankel also said Corbett hasn’t taken a proactive role in addressing state transportation issues, and has instead chosen to allow the state legislature to handle the issue.

“The governor has been entirely absent from this conversation and believes the legislature should lead,” Frankel said. “But the legislature needs an ‘active advocate’ in the governor in order to pass legislative proposals.”

Kelli Roberts, spokeswoman for the Corbett administration, said the governor wasn’t calling for the legislature to lead on the issue and was instead hoping for action at the local level.

“Until there is some local action — some real steps toward cost containment — the governor won’t step in,” Roberts said.

Because Corbett has vowed against raising taxes in the state, Frankel and other state legislators have searched for alternative sources of transportation revenue. Frankel said this package of revenue sources includes raising fees on vehicle registrations, drivers’ licenses and tire disposals. Frankel added that these fees haven’t increased in 20 years, and the legislation would base the increase in fees on inflation.

Ritchie said Port Authority employees and Pittsburgh residents can’t bear another service reduction.

“We need to protect the service that we have,” Ritchie said. “We cut back the service in years past, and we can’t afford to do it again.”