PAT/"Death spiral" could come with more cuts Options

[KevinKorell]

Fighting the agency?s plan to cut service by 35% on Sept. 2 to erase a $64 million budget deficit, more than 300 people registered to speak at a legally mandated hearing on the agency?s proposal. View the full article

[KevinKorell]

Progressive Railroading, 5/1/12:

Pittsburgh port authority weighs fare hike, service and staff cuts

The Port Authority of Allegheny County’s board voted late last week to authorize a fare increase and 35 percent service reduction that could go into effect later this year.

Find this one here.

[KevinKorell]

Port Authority's own synopsis of the fare increases and service reductions & cancellations here.

[Sloan]

It's unfortunate that PAT is having to make a Hobson choice that would drive riders away by either substantially raising fares or slashing service to skeleton levels.

I am quite aware of how bad the situation is, and I suspect the only way out for this PAT situation is bankruptcy. Pennsylvania state government will become the receiver. This arrangement will not delight many transit workers.

For years, PAT leadership has lavished above-market pay and benefits on authority line and staff in the naive notion that local and state resources will continue to grow ad infinitum. These subsidies would supposedly cover increasing pension and health care costs (both for workers and retirees). A state takeover to correct these imbalances will involve some heavy-handedness that will please few people, especially PAT labor and management.

Sloan

[KevinKorell]

Has a major rail transit provider ever filed for bankruptcy before? It does not mean that service would totally cease, but cuts could end up being even worse that what Port Authority proposes.

I know that one solution to Pennsylvania's transit funding crisis was to toll I-80. Given the long east-west distance across the state, and the fact that I-80 runs nowhere near the major cities, the idea did not stick. I'm not sure at this point if the idea was totally discarded, but I can't see it getting any support either politically or with the trucking and vacation industries.

I still fail to see how they are able to provide totally free LRT service on the newly opened North Shore segment, yet they are raising fares on the rest of the LRT system and in fact the entire Port Authority transit system, what's left of it. I know that several entities provided some financial support, so perhaps more of this is needed to keep the rest of the system afloat, as opposed to cutting everything but rush hour service.

[AlanB]

Has a major rail transit provider ever filed for bankruptcy before?

Well as phrased, yes! The Pennsylvania RR for example, as well as the Brooklyn Rapid Transit (BRT), both filed for bankruptcy and I'm sure that there are a few others as well.

I'm not sure that a publicly owned systems has ever filed for bankruptcy however.

[jacorbett70]

Port Authority, union reach terms
Called crucial step for avoiding cuts set for next month; details withheld pending ratification

The Port Authority has reached a tentative contract agreement with its largest union, a crucial step toward avoiding the record-breaking public transit service cuts planned for next month.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced the agreement Thursday afternoon in a brief statement that said no details would be provided until after ratification votes by Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union and the authority board. The union's contract expired June 30.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/t...h-terms-648413/

[KevinKorell]

Includes nearly $60 million in concessions. A two-year wage freeze will save the agency $19.6 million. A key provision lets the union to void the contract if the state and county don't provide adequate future funding and the authority is forced to lay off employees or close garages. View the full article