Pittsburgh's Port Authority may cut another 35%

Due to a projected $64 million budget deficit in the 2012-13 fiscal year, Pittsburgh's Port Authority may need to slash its budget again in September 2012, this time by up to 35 percent — more than twice the amount it had to cut in March.

According to spokesman Jim Ritchie, between 30 and 40 more routes would have to be eliminated and all other routes will operate less frequently if Port Authority cannot balance its deficit.

If cuts are necessary, specific route cuts will be announced in January, Ritchie said, to give people who work Downtown ample opportunity to figure out alternate routes to work.

These cuts follow a 15 percent service reduction last March. In the face of the $47.1 million deficit, Port Authority eliminated 27 routes and cut 270 jobs, 180 of which were layoffs. In addition, 37 routes experience reduced weekday service, which affected 45 percent of all riders.

"Our funding was cut and has never been restored," Ritchie said.

Ritchie said Port Authority's budget crisis is the result of a lack of funding that is supposed to be provided by Act 44, which is a state act meant to supply base funding and extra money to account for inflation. But the state government has not provided the extra funding required to account for inflation.

Vice President of Transportation and Parking for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership Lucinda Beattie said 54 percent of people who work Downtown rely on public transportation to get to work. Cutting more routes would mean more traffic congestion and parking problems Downtown.

Before the March cuts, Port Authority bought time in January after then-Gov. Ed Rendell appropriated $45 million on Dec. 2, 2010, to bail out Port Authority. A Jan. 12 unanimous vote by Port Authority's Board of Directors decided to spread out Rendell's appropriation over the 2011-12 fiscal year as well as enact the 15 percent cuts in order to give Harrisburg time to solve the budget crisis.

Ritchie said tolling Interstate 80 would have provided for Port Authority's funding, but that plan's subsequent denial by the state legislature added their budget crisis.

"When that happened, the money the state thought would be available wasn't available," he said.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Chivmar agreed.

"Act 44 to be fully funded relied on I-80 being tolled," he said.

Chivmar said Corbett has set up a commission to determine possible ways to fund $2.5 billion for state transportation.

"We're waiting to hear what Gov. Corbett will choose on the best way to fund transportation for all of Pennsylvania," Chivmar said.

A spokesperson for Corbett failed to return several phone calls for an interview.

Beattie said Corbett and the state government need to help city transportation departments deal with Pennsylvania's transportation funding.

"It's a disaster, and it's something in which the legislature and the governor are remiss in," Beattie said. "The legislature is just not dealing with this critical issue."

Ritchie agreed and said Gov. Tom Corbett has not moved forward on solving Pittsburgh's transportation issues.

"The state legislators were going to discuss how to pay for all of transportation, … and when they pass something, hopefully, ideally, it would remedy the transit crisis we're facing," Ritchie said. "There doesn't seem to be any movement in Harrisburg that shows us there is going to be a solution in the near future. Right now, we have to start planning for the worst."