Riders want Port Authority to further boost service
No money, no garages, transit service contends
Pittsburghers for Public Transit says it will lobby state, federal and local sources for more money for the Port Authority after the agency granted only three of more than 80 requests for additional service.
The transit group held a news conference Friday at the Wood Street T station and then addressed the authority’s monthly meeting. Members praised the authority’s staff for recommending weekend and some evening service in Garfield, Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills, but they said the large number of requests for expanded service shows that is not enough. Money for that weekend and evening service is included in the authority’s 2016-2017 budget, scheduled for approval next month.
Port Authority officials have said they are restricted to providing only off-peak service improvements, in most instances, because the agency doesn’t have enough buses or the garage space to store and maintain new ones. They say the agency would need 25 to 30 acres of land and $8 million to $10 million to build a garage if new buses were purchased — money it doesn’t have.
That means requests such as daily service north of West View on Route 19, which received a high rating from from authority staff, can’t be filled. Several speakers reiterated the need for service to public facilities in McCandless such as Community College of Allegheny County’s North Campus and Northland Public Library.
“The fact the kids can’t get to a college in their own neighborhood, that’s just a crime,” said Fran Lange of Ross, a member of Buses for Perry Highway. “There are a lot of senior citizens that would love to go to the library, but you can’t get there.”
Molly Nichols of Pittsburghers for Public Transit said the group wants to build on its lobbying for service to Garfield and Baldwin Borough last year by lobbying for more transit funding. In addition to state and federal sources, she said the agency should seek “at least some” part of the county’s $16 million surplus in drink tax