Pittsburgh Regional Transit has begun a new fiscal year planning for countywide service cuts of 35% after passing a budget without assurances of the relief sought from state government.
PRT’s board met June 27 and approved a 2025-2026 budget based on “conservative” revenue projections, while Pennsylvania lawmakers continue to wrangle over a state budget that could address county transit funding needs.
Earlier this year, PRT announced budgetary shortfalls over $100 million as pandemic relief money dries up and ridership remains well below pre-2020 averages. That would lead to the elimination of 40 bus routes, the termination of the Silver T line and reduced service to remaining routes, officials warned. The agency would also lay off staff and increase ride fares by 25 cents.
“This is the meeting that nobody wanted to come to,” PRT CEO Katharine Kelleman told the board before the budget vote June 27. “I know nobody in the public wanted to have this conversation, and we at PRT did not want to have this conversation either.”
“This isn’t just about line items,” Kelleman added. “This is the ability to get to work, to school, to the doctor, to care for a loved one… this is how you get around for your life.”
Kelleman said the board had to pass a balanced budget to meet its legal obligations before the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1, but maintained it could revisit the numbers — and the corresponding services — if the state comes through with additional funding.
PRT requested $117 million from the state government in a bid to maintain existing services. Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed an additional $40 million in his budget, which has cleared the Democratic-controlled House but faces challenges in the Republican Senate.
“We remain hopeful that the voices of the thousands of riders and employees and vendors and business owners…. results in a favorable outcome,” Kelleman said.
The threatened bus routes
The budget passed last week follows PRT’s release of a March proposal that set out 40 bus route terminations and the elimination of the light rail Silver Line. Bus lines facing elimination include:
- 2 Mount Royal
- 4 Troy Hill
- 7 Spring Garden
- 14 Ohio Valley
- 18 Manchester
- 19L Emsworth Limited
- 20 Kennedy
- 26 Chartiers
- 29 Robinson
- 36 Banksville
- 38 Green Tree
- 39 Brookline
- 40 Mount Washington
- 41 Bower Hill
- 43 Bailey
- 51L Carrick Limited
- 52L Homeville Limited
- 53L Homestead Park Limited
- 58 Greenfield
- 65 Squirrel Hill
- 71 Edgewood Town Center
- G3 Moon Flyer
- G31 Bridgeville Flyer
- O1 Ross Flyer
- O5 Thompson Run Flyer via 279
- O12 McKnight Flyer
- P7 McKeesport Flyer
- P10 Allegheny Valley Flyer
- P12 Holiday Park Flyer
- P13 Mount Royal Flyer
- P16 Penn Hills Flyer
- P17 Lincoln Park Flyer
- P67 Monroeville Flyer
- P69 Trafford Flyer
- P71 Swissvale Flyer
- P76 Lincoln Highway Flyer
- Y1 Large Flyer
- Y45 Baldwin Manor Flyer
- Y47 Curry Flyer
- Y49 Prospect Flyer
Another 33 bus lines — most of the remaining routes — would face major drops in frequency of service, while three would be reduced in length, as would the light rail Red Line. Another 20 routes and the Monongahela Incline would see minor reductions.
The light rail Blue Line would see more weekend service to take up some of the slack for the lost Silver Line, and the 53 Homestead Park bus line would similarly increase its runs to make up for elimination of the 53L.
Jamie Wiggan is deputy editor at PublicSource. He can be reached at jamie@publicsource.org.
Adam Smeltz contributed reporting.
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