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May 15, 2003

Pitt, Port Authority still negotiating

Pitt and Port Authority of Allegheny County officials continue to re-negotiate a contract for ride-for-free service for Pittsburgh campus employees and students, despite the consensus that Port Authority service will be severely cut back due to budget shortfalls.

Pitt and the Port Authority have a renewable contract that runs until July 31, 2006. But the transit company advised Pitt last fall that it wanted to raise the University’s annual fee to be more in line with the per-ride average fare of all customers.

Pitt is paying $2.52 million from Aug. 1, 2002, to July 31, 2003. That fee was the annual amount agreed to through July 31, 2006, absent re-negotiation. Port Authority data indicate that Pitt customers account for about 450,000 rides per month.

The Port Authority raised its rates by 25 percent on all pre-paid fare packages last Sept. 1, but decided to wait until this year to approach Pitt about re-negotiating future fees.

The current negotiations are further complicated by the transit company’s bad economic news. According to Authority officials, despite raising fares the last two years, the transit company is facing a $19 million shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year and will likely have to reduce services drastically and/or raise fares again.

State law requires the Port Authority to have a balanced budget. Port Authority officials cite a combination of factors that have produced the current shortfall: years of stagnant or reduced state funding, including a $5 million reduction this fiscal year and a proposed 6 percent reduction in the next fiscal year, as well as a 6.7 percent drop in ridership.

Those officials say the Port Authority has been aggressively reducing administrative costs by implementing hiring, wage and salary freezes; laying off 85 employees, and eliminating 33 administrative positions (10 percent of the administrative workforce), among other moves. “Although these actions are saving millions of dollars, they are not sufficient to eliminate the budget deficit,” said Paul P. Skoutelas, Port Authority chief executive officer. “Without increased state funding, Port Authority has no option but to consider raising fares and reducing service.”

Included among the proposals Port Authority is considering are: elimination of Sunday and holiday service; elimination of weekday service after 9 p.m.; reduction of Saturday services to Sunday levels; reduction of weekday peak-hours service, and increase of base fares from $1.75 to $2, as well as proportionate increases in pre-paid passes, including Pitt’s annual fee.

According to Port Authority spokesperson Bob Grove, the Port Authority issued its latest written proposal to Pitt in mid-April. “We continue to communicate and I think both sides want to work this out,” Grove told the University Times this week. “The Port Authority board will hear recommendations at its June meeting, and make final decisions about service cuts and fares at its July meeting. So there is still a window of time for working out a deal with Pitt.”

Joseph Phillips, director of Pitt’s Parking, Transportation and Services, told the University Times that Pitt was mulling over the Port Authority’s latest proposal.

Both sides declined to discuss proposal specifics.

Pitt spokesperson Robert Hill said, “A cut in service would be particularly difficult for our CGS (College of General Studies) students, who have classes at night and on Saturdays, as well as other commuter students generally.”

Todd Ridley, president of the CGS Student Government, said changes in service levels would be very detrimental to CGS students. “I think in the short term, students will have to accept what happens. In the longer term, the effects on the city will be devastating,” Ridley said.

In addition, students who just faced a 13.9 percent increase in tuition and are looking at a likely additional hike this year are being priced out of their education, he said.

Pitt’s annual fee to the Port Authority is subsidized in part by the $75 per term security, safety and transportation fee that Pittsburgh campus students pay. The balance comes from the auxiliary operations budget of the Office of Parking, Transportation and Services.

Andrea DeChellis, an undergraduate who is a former Student Government Board (SGB) member, said the implications for reducing transit services also impact student housing. “Students find living [off-campus] in Oakland is too expensive, and they’ve been looking for less expensive places in the surrounding areas and even further out,” she pointed out. “If there is no bus service, what can they do?”

She added that the University should consider expanding its van call and shuttle services to compensate for bus service reductions, should they be implemented.

DeChellis said that she and four newly elected SGB members plan to attend the Port Authority public hearing on service reduction and fare increase options, slated for May 21, noon-8 p.m. in room 408 of the David Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown.

Remarks may be submitted in writing to: Port Authority Fare and Service Proposal, Heinz 57 Center, 345 Sixth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15222-2527.

Comments also will be accepted on-line at the Port Authority’s web site (www.RideGold.com) until 4:30 p.m. May 28.

Individuals wishing to testify at the public hearing are encouraged to pre-register by calling 412/566-5103 (or the TTY number, 412/231-7007, for the speech and hearing impaired).

Port Authority officials said any service reductions are expected to go into effect Aug. 31, 2003; any fare increases will be implemented in January 2004.

Regarding the contract, Hill said Pitt is likely to wait to see what the Port Authority does before finalizing any new agreement. “But we are continuing in negotiation, so that’s a good sign,” he said.

—Peter Hart


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