Nearly every bus line could see cuts under a proposal from Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

By Jamie Kelly, Bulletin editor
Multiple bus lines that serve Garfield, Friendship, Bloomfield and Lawrenceville could see major service reductions under a proposal from Pittsburgh Regional Transit.
The proposal, announced March 20, would cut services by 35% starting in February, leading to 40 bus routes eliminated, cuts to service frequency on 53 bus lines and an end to service after 11 p.m.
Some of the routes, including the 87 Friendship, 88 Penn and 64 Lawrenceville-Waterfront, would see service cuts of 30% or more.
In a news release announcing the proposal, PRT said state funding hadn’t kept up with inflation and other cost increases.
“This truly is a sad day for our region. Public transit is a lifeline for communities throughout and we are not taking this proposal lightly. We have warned that we would face service cuts and fare increases without new funding for the past year, and we remain committed to continuing to fight for the service Allegheny County deserves,” said PRT CEO Katharine Kelleman. “This isn’t just a Pittsburgh problem. This is an issue facing transit agencies across the Commonwealth. We are not asking Harrisburg to bail us out. We’re asking state lawmakers to ensure that the taxes they receive from Allegheny County come back to Allegheny County.”
In addition to the service cuts, the proposal calls for a 25-cent fare increase, bringing the base fare to $3. It also calls for a 62% reduction in the service area for ACCESS, PRT’s paratransit service and a 20% fare increase.
If approved by the board in late March, the proposal would go before the public for feedback in April, May and June, before the board made a final vote on the budget.
“We started this process early to make sure riders have a voice and a say on these service cuts and fare increases,” Kelleman said. “Our hearts break today knowing there could be significantly less service that connects people to their world. We know these cuts are devastating and we plan to do everything in our power to prevent them from happening.”
The announcement comes not long after PRT finished collecting feedback on the first draft of its transit redesign. That plan assumed the budget for service would remain stable, making its fate unclear.
According to the news release, PRT filled a $50 million budget gap this year using its reserve fund, but with the agency’s deficit expected to grow to $100 million next fiscal year “” and increase every year without a new source of state funding “” even the agency’s reserves are not enough.
Despite efforts to preserve service for high-ridership and transit-dependent areas, cuts of this scale would inevitably harm vulnerable communities, said PRT’s Chief Development Officer Amy Silbermann.
Describing the cuts as “brutal,” Silbermann acknowledged they would affect more than just transit riders.
“Less public transit means less access to jobs, schools, and businesses, and more traffic, demand for parking, and pollution caused by more cars on the road,” Silbermann said.
Kellerman said people had a chance to get involved and advocate for better public transit funding.
“This is a crisis, not just for PRT, but for people across Allegheny County. Even if you don’t ride public transit, you likely know and rely on someone who does,” Kelleman said, encouraging all riders and stakeholders to participate in the public comment process. “We hope that our voices are heard in the state Capital and we’re able to bring greater investment to public transit back home.”
Details on the proposed changes are available at www.ridePRT.org/funding-crisis.