Port Authority to take its issues to the public

Agency setting up meetings to discuss plans

More than anything, 2020 will be a year of customer engagement for the Port Authority as the transit agency plans its future in a variety of areas.

It expects to hold at least a halfdozen community meetings throughout Allegheny County beginning in the first quarter of the year. Instead of concentrating on a single subject, the meetings will hit on a number of topics: development of the agency’s long-range plan; the proposed Bus Rapid

Transit system between Downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland; service standards; fare policy and structure; new digital apps; and bus stop consolidations.

“We have made huge strides in the last couple of years in engaging the public,” authority spokesman Adam Brandolph said. “We don’t want to make decisions in a vacuum. We want to hear from people what they want to see.”

The meetings fit directly with the planning background of CEO

Katharine Eagan Kelleman, who took the agency’s top post in January 2018 after transit planning jobs at several other agencies. With a revised staff in place that includes a planning team and new leaders in operations and scheduling, the authority is ready to deal with some of its major issues.

The agency is developing a long-range plan to envision what transit will look like 25 years from now — where it will go, how it will get there and the timetable for meeting those goals. Chief Development Officer David Huffaker and his staff are reviewing consultants and expect to move the planning process forward in 2020, with input from the public through the engagement meetings.

The proposed $225 million Bus Rapid Transit project will finish the design phase and could receive federal funding next year for a system that uses exclusive traffic lanes to move buses with fewer slowdowns for traffic congestion. Plans need public input for some

final details such as possible locations for recharging facilities for electric buses and layover sites for drivers between routes.

Service standards, which are reviewed every two years, set the guidelines for when the agency should provide additional buses for a route, when a vehicle is too crowded and what types of amenities should be available at bus stops. Riders will have an opportunity to push for improvements in those areas.

The agency also is working with a consultant on a full study of its fare policy and structure. Among the items that review will examine is whether the agency should allow free transfers, but if that happens it has said it would have to find another source for about $5 million in revenue it gets from transfer fees.

The consultant also is looking at whether the agency can afford a policy known as fare capping, where riders who can’t afford the upfront costs of discount passes receive the benefit of the passes when their individual fares reach the amount to qualify for discounts.

The study was expected to be completed by the end of the year, but no changes are expected to be made until after the public meetings.

The authority also will be looking for public input on new apps and technology it should consider.

The agency added Wi-Fi to more than 400 buses in midDecember and is expected to have it available in all vehicles early next year. New buses added to the fleet this year include USB ports for riders to charge mobile devices.

The authority also is in the process of developing a payby-phone app that should be available in early 2020, but part of that depends on any changes the agency makes in its fare policy and structure.

Another effort in the early stages is a six-year review of bus stops with a goal of cutting redundant or unsafe stops to improve the agency’s on-time performance.

Mr. Brandolph stressed that many of the features customers want may be dependent of other factors that aren’t easily addressed. For example, riders may want increased service throughout the system, but right now the agency’s existing garages are full at 720 vehicles and it hasn’t identified a location or funding for a new garage that would cost more than $120 million.

“Whether it’s a question about fares or service, they kind of go hand in hand,” he said. “No decisions necessarily are going to be put in place [in 2020]. But they will be put in the vision of what people want for Allegheny County in the future.”

The agency plans to make the engagement meetings annual events.

Pittsburghers for Public Transit, which advocates for transit riders, is happy about the agency’s increased plans for public engagement. But Executive Director Laura Wiens said she’s concerned the meetings will deal with so many subjects that none of them will get the proper attention.

“We at PPT are glad they are going out to the public to hear from the riders about the incredibly important projects they are working on,” she said. “We hope this is the beginning of a conversation with riders on issues where a conclusion hasn’t been reached yet.”