Residents of Allegheny County are mobilizing to defend public transportation from fare hikes, service reductions and the elimination of routes. These major changes to Pittsburgh area public transportation, proposed in March, would impact over 19 working class neighborhoods.
When the city of Pittsburgh held an April 29 public hearing on the proposed cuts over 60 people took the mike and spoke out against them. Workers and transit riders, local union leaders, politicians and advocacy group demonstrated outside in an action organized by Transit 4 All PA and Pittsburghers for Public Transit.
Facing a budget crisis the PRT (Pittsburgh Regional Transit) proposed cuts of 35% to the current service impacting 95 lines, 41 of which will be eliminated leaving 19 municipalities and 3 Pittsburgh neighborhoods without service. Many of the bus garages will also be forced to close.
Many of the rally’s attendees and speakers were concerned about being left without service to go to work and for access to social services, education and healthcare.
Speaking to a crowd of over 200 at the demonstration, Ross Nicotero, president of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 85, called the routes “lifelines” that “get grandparents to the pharmacy, get them to the grocery store,” get the children to schools. He continued “You’re talking about shutting down service at 11 p.m. Look at this hub, all these restaurants. Where are the workers? How are they getting home? If you want this enjoyment you have to fund it. We will continue to fight and continue to move Allegheny County.”
Katie, a social worker from the Mon Valley, told Liberation News that “many of our clients rely on the bus system both to get services from us and as well to get to work, receive healthcare … without that they don’t have a way to have a sustaining life or job for themselves.”
Pittsburghers for Public Transit estimates that 180,000 residents and 50,000 jobs would be left without service if the cuts go through. The cuts will limit access to many K-12 schools, to St. Clair Hospital and to the Community College of Allegheny County’s West Campus.
Among the cuts is a 62% reduction of ACCESS – PRT’s service for people with disabilities. Across the board transit hikes, to an estimated $3.90-6.00 per ride, will hurt all, but will impact paratransit riders most severely.
Senator Lindsey Williams told the crowd that that since the proposed cuts were announced, her office “has been flooded with hundreds of calls and emails by people telling her how much people value public transportation.”
Money meant for public transport is given to the police
Predicting a deficit of $100 million, the PRT says it will need $117 million in state funding with annual increases to maintain service levels for the next ten years. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is proposing a budget for statewide public transit that would only allocate $39 million for PRT, falling very short of the area’s needs. Instead money is going to the police. The police budget has been increased by $111 million, more-or-less that same amount that public transport needs!
PRT has faced decades of underfunding and service cuts. Price hikes and major cuts in 2010 and 2011 eliminated over 70 lines. Shapiro’s budget continues this scheme, starving transit and infrastructure. The Motor License Fund, funded by gas tax and vehicle revenue, is a state fund meant to be used for highway infrastructure, road and bridge repair, maintenance and safety improvements. But for years Pennsylvania has directed revenue from this fund to the state police — over $500 million annually.
While Pittsburgh’s public transit system is chronically underfunded and struggles to return to 2019 levels of service, the police budget continues to inflate. The state police budget is to be increased by $111 million to $1.8 billion. The plan is to add over 800 new cops to patrol the highways and create five new lab operations positions. At the city level the police budget was raised to over $120,000,000.
In 2013 the transportation bill, Act 89, was signed into law to fund road projects, bridge repairs and public transit across the state. It was not enough, and PRT had to utilize Federal Pandemic Relief Funds which have now been spent.
The situation is dire, but working class people in Allegheny County are showing that they will not let public transportation go down without a fight. The Pittsburgh region deserves and demands a public transit system that is treated as an essential public good. What will secure that gain is an organized working class demanding an end to fare hikes and route eliminations.
