PAT Proposes Massive Service Cuts

and many local routes were saved in late 2010 by an unexpected influx of state money to keep the transit agency on life-support.

But the massive garage located off Washington Pike and every route in the system .

The Port Authority of Allegheny County announced Wednesday that it will have to cut service by 35 percent, layoff more than 500 workers and might close the Collier and Ross garages if state legislators do not agree on a dedicated revenue stream for transit by September. The Collier garage, a sprawling facility across the street from , has been used since the early 1960s and has about 330 employees who service and maintain buses nearly 24 hours a day.

Nearly half of the Port Authority’s 102 routes would be eliminated while the remaining ones would make fewer trips or have reduced hours. Port Authority officials estimate the cuts could impact 45,000 daily riders.

Fares are also scheduled to increase on July 1 by a quarter for Zone 1 passengers and 50 cents for people who grab their bus in Zone 2. A public hearing on the reductions is scheduled for Feb. 29 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

when it stretched $45 million in unused state transportation money over 18 months.

Collier Township Manager Sal Sirabella said they were monitoring the situation and hopeful the state will find a way to save the bus routes across Allegheny County.

“We’re reviewing and cautiously optimistic that adequate funding sources will be available to meet the ridership needs for the residents of Collier Township,” he said.

That seems unlikely months after Gov. Tom Corbett assembled . The commission put forward several ideas, which included increasing registration fees and gasoline taxes, that have yet to be considered by the governor.

State Rep. Jesse White, a Democrat who will soon be representing parts of this area, is unsure what will happen because the Republican-led House and Senate have not put forward proposals.

“It’s unreal on a lot of different levels,” White said. “They don’t want to address it because it’s going to cost money. It’s ugly.”

The state passed Act 44 in 2007, which was designed to rebuild roads, repair bridges and assist public transportation. But half of the revenue that was supposed to come from leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike or tolling Interstate 80 fell through and the state has wavered on a dedicated revenue source ever since.

But finding money by raising fees or gas taxes in an election years appears to be a nearly impossible task. White hopes that’s not the case.

“Of all the things government spends money on, infrastructure is the easiest thing to defend,” White said. “It’s going to have a really bad effect on the economy. People can’t get to work anymore. To me, this is directly tied to job preservation.”

Click on this link to learn more about the service cuts and see how your bus route might be affected.