Port Authority plans record service cutbacks

With hopes fading for a state financial rescue, a Port Authority committee today is expected to move ahead with plans for record service cuts and layoffs effective March 13.

But that likely won't be the end of the cutting. Discussions already are under way about a second major round of cuts next July as the agency continues to struggle with chronic budget deficits caused by rising costs and insufficient state aid.

The 35 percent reduction in March would fully eliminate about 48 routes, end all weekend service on 13 others and cause across-the-board cuts in service on the routes that remain. Some 555 of the authority's 2,755 employees are expected to be laid off.

"We're now into the mode of looking at next year's budget and having to cut service further," spokesman Jim Ritchie said. "It's likely that we would have to move ahead with a proposal to reduce service again."

The authority's planning and development committee, meeting today, is expected to approve the March cuts, with a vote by the full board scheduled next Wednesday.

New schedules reflecting the service reductions are likely to be available online by the end of December, Mr. Ritchie said. A chart showing general information about the cuts, including which routes would have all service or weekend service eliminated, is currently available at www.portauthority.org.

The authority faces a $47 million projected shortfall in the current 2010-11 budget. About $27 million of that is attributable to a cut in state funding caused by the federal government's rejection of the state's plan to make Interstate 80 a toll road.

Officials had hoped the state would step in with more funding, but the Legislature has not acted. With the state facing a multibillion-dollar deficit next year and Gov.-elect Tom Corbett preaching fiscal conservatism, the authority's leadership has all but abandoned hope of avoiding the March cuts.

The authority also is planning a Jan. 1 fare increase. The base Zone 1 fare will rise by 25 cents, to $2.25. The Zone 2 fare will go up 50 cents, to $3.25, and the cost of a transfer will rise 25 cents, to $1. Prices for passes and tickets also will go up.

With labor and fuel costs continuing to rise, the authority's financial problems are likely to persist. The decrease in state funding for this year followed four years of essentially flat funding. State aid makes up about half the authority's income.

That means another deficit in the 2011-12 budget, but instead of waiting until March 2012 to make offsetting reductions, the authority likely will do the cutting at the start of the fiscal year next July, Mr. Ritchie said.

He didn't want to estimate the size of the second round of reductions other than to say they would be significant.

Buffeted by complaints about runaway expenditures and inefficient operations, the authority over the last three years has implemented several measures that it says have cut $52 million in annual costs.

In 2007, the authority cut service by 15 percent, eliminated 29 routes and terminated 267 workers, followed by a fare increase on Jan. 1, 2008. Fares were raised again for this year.

The authority also is in the midst of a comprehensive overhaul designed to eliminate low-ridership routes and concentrate service where demand is highest.

That has produced isolated complaints about crowded buses, longer walks to bus stops and a greater need to transfer.

The authority is making adjustments to 46 routes on Sunday, mostly minor but some intended to answer rider complaints.

On the 41D Brookline route, it is adding five weekday morning trips and six weekday afternoon trips to ease overcrowding that followed Sept. 5 schedule changes.

Four morning and four evening trips are being added to the 13X Ross Park and Ride route.

The 38C Green Tree Express will add two early-morning trips and three in the evening after rush hour.

Routing of the 67 Monroeville through Penn Center is being restored, and service to the Brinton Towers senior citizen apartment building is being restored on the 68 Braddock Hills route.

Information about all of Sunday's changes is available on the authority's website.

Jon Schmitz: jschmitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1868. Visit "The Roundabout," the Post-Gazette's transportation blog, at post-gazette.com.

First published on November 17, 2010 at 12:00 am