PA: Editorial: One transit solution for Pa. is hiding in plain sight in the Mon Valley

Do you remember when bus rides in Pittsburgh cost a quarter? Well for residents in several Mon Valley communities, from Rankin to Port Vue and out to Monroeville, their memory doesn't have to be very strong — because they can ride the bud for $0.25 right now.

That's because of a service, little known outside the 16 boroughs where it operates, called Heritage Community Transportation (HCT). It's a part of the Braddock-based nonprofit Heritage Community Services, and is the only private nonprofit in Pennsylvania to operate an official, state-funded public transit service.

This private service, which is not facing a budget crisis like most public agencies, including Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) and costs a pittance to use, may provide a model for other areas across the Pittsburgh region and the Commonwealth. This model can't replace large legacy agencies, which own and must steward massive pieces of infrastructure, but could supplement them as state support becomes increasingly uncertain.

HCT short buses run along three fixed routes. The green East Pittsburgh route serves lower Turtle Creek valley neighborhoods, running between Wilkins Township and Swissvale, where it connects with Pittsburgh Regional Transit's East Busway. The blue McKeesport route serves Youghiogheny valley communities from Dravosburg to White Oak. And the red Monroeville route serves upper Turtle Creek valley neighborhoods like Wilmerding and Pitcairn on its trip between East McKeesport and Monroeville's commercial districts. All three routes meet at the Walmart in North Versailles.

The headways — that is, the time between buses — for HCT routes, at two to three hours, are quite long by public transit standards. But this is tolerable for riders because the service is supplementary to PRT buses, which serve many of the communities in HCT's catchment area — though mostly oriented to Downtown Pittsburgh, as opposed to intra- Mon Valley transportation. Further, HCT buses meander through neighborhoods, making them available to more people and especially those with limited mobility, while PRT buses mostly stick to main roads.

More than half of HCT users have an annual household income of less than $25,000, and nearly 80% do not have access to a vehicle. The service fills in a gap where PRT's financial model simply doesn't work.

While PRT costs $2.75 a trip, with $3 on the horizon, HCT rides cost a seemingly absurd $0.25, while children and people with disabilities pay a dime. This nominal fee does little for the service's bottom line, but does ensure users have skin in the game. As for that bottom line, Heritage's president and CEO Paula G. McWilliams told the Post-Gazette's Adam Babetski that HCT is doing fine, at least for now. It uses a combination of public and private funding to supplement the farebox.

It would be unfair to say that HCT highlights the shortcomings of PRT. As a countywide public agency, PRT owns and must maintain billions of dollars in infrastructure, while HCT just rolls along public roads. Further, PRT is burdened with additional regulations and restrictions, such as a union contract that severely limits its ability to adopt smaller buses for less-traveled routes, like those where HCT works best.

Still, HCT's success in supplementing PRT, at such low cost to users, should be closely studied. If the county agency is forced to go through with draconian service cuts, it's possible that public and private support could stand up similar transportation services in areas from which the public agency is forced to recede.

Ideally, PRT would be able to fulfill the transit needs of every community in Allegheny County, but that is not the world in which we live. A patchwork of neighborhood-based services may, someday, be a compelling backup option.

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