Port Authority approves drastic cuts to service

Getting around Pittsburgh may get a lot harder next fall.

The Port Authority of Allegheny… Getting around Pittsburgh may get a lot harder next fall.

The Port Authority of Allegheny County, which operates public transportation in and around Pittsburgh, approved cuts totaling 35 percent of its current service on Friday, according to a press release.

These cuts, which will take effect on Sept. 2 of this year, will eliminate 46 of the 102 routes that the Port Authority operates within Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas. Every remaining route will face some reduction in service, such as discontinuation of weekend service and ending service after 10 p.m. Eighteen park and rides throughout the county will also lose service if these measures take effect.

These cuts are aimed at reducing $64 million in the department’s 2012-2013 budget.

Beginning on July 2, riders will pay $2.50 in Zone 1, the area that includes Oakland and other areas near Downtown Pittsburgh. The current fare is $2.25. The fares for Zone 2 will increase from $3.25 to $3.75, said Jim Ritchie, communications officer for the Allegheny County Port Authority.

Ritchie explained that there is simply not enough money to continue the current level of service, which the state government funds.

“The problem here is that our funding stream through the [state] government is no longer enough to cover our costs,” he said.

Kelli Roberts, a spokeswoman for the office of Gov. Tom Corbett, said that it is unfortunate that some residents of the area will have to deal with the reduced public transportation. However, the state government is not in a position to provide the Port Authority with additional funds.

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.

She emphasized that the specific decisions about cuts were being made at a local level.

“[The Port Authority] needs to look at how they’re managing their finances in order to provide sustainable service,” Roberts said.

Ritchie stressed that the cuts are reversible, and that the Port Authority was speaking with transit unions in order to find an alternative to the significant reductions in service.

Ritchie pointed out that on some routes, buses are often too crowded for additional riders to board, and they may have to wait for the next bus to come. He said the cuts in routes would exacerbate this problem.

“People who rely on transit who lose their routes are going to go to the routes that do survive,” said Rich Fitzgerald, the chief executive for Allegheny County. He was “somewhat optimistic” about finding a solution that would not involve the proposed cuts in service.

“I think that if everyone works together, then we can find a solution,” he said.

Ritchie said that while the service cuts could affect the entire county, it could make life difficult particularly for transit riders who rely on the ACCESS program, which serves riders who have difficulty using the regular buses. In the program, shuttle vans pick up these passengers by appointment.

The program operates within a three-quarter-mile range of existing bus routes, so the elimination of certain routes would also mean the end of the ACCESS program, which could impact those who rely on the program to commute to work.

Fitzgerald said that the reduction of the ACCESS program is a concern of his office, but that he was not ready to discuss proposed measures that would address the issue.