PA: 'Not things our community wants': Thousands of PRT riders make the case against proposed cuts

Pittsburgh Regional Transit received more than 4,000 community responses opposing planned service cuts during a monthslong public comment period that ended last week — and almost all of them were negative.

A vast majority — about 99% — of respondents oppose plans to eliminate as many as 41 of 100 bus routes and the Silver Line of the T, with 78% against all of the cuts and 21% opposed to specific cuts.

The results sent a clear message, PRT Chief Development Officer Amy Silbermann said during a Planning and Stakeholder Relations Committee meeting Monday.

"All of the changes proposed here are not things that our community wants," Ms. Silbermann said. "They're not things that PRT wants to do either."

Ms. Silbermann highlighted response rates that PRT found particularly alarming: 40% of respondents said that the cuts would affect their employment, 25% said it would be more difficult to access medical care, and 18% said they would have to move if they lost service.

An overwhelming 98% opposed cutting service to Access Paratransit — PRT's shared-ride shuttle that primarily serves seniors and people with disabilities — while 80% opposed a fare increase.

PRT CEO Katharine Kelleman likened PRT's predicament to a "death spiral," where the agency would have to keep increasing fares to compensate for shrinking ridership, thereby shrinking it even more.

The agency has repeatedly said that its hands are tied without state assistance as it faces what it projects to be a $1 billion shortfall over the next decade.

Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed $40 million in state funding for PRT in 2026. The proposal passed in the Democratic-majority state House last week with only a handful of Republican votes, and it must now pass the Republican-majority state Senate.

Even if it passes, the funding is more than $75 million shy of PRT's projected $117 million shortfall for next year, and it is not clear where the rest of the money would come from to avoid cuts entirely, officials said.

"We're in a little bit of a waiting game right now," Ms. Silbermann told the committee. "If additional funding does become available, we will try to be ready to pivot and react as quickly as possible to bring an updated service plan to the board and the community."

PRT logged 4,067 responses between March 31 and June 12, with most — 3,544 — submitted via PRT's online survey; 303 responses came from speakers at one of PRT's three public hearings.

The communities with the highest response rates were Beechview, Bethel Park, the North Side and Wilkinsburg.

In response to PRT's proposed 9% fare increases, 60% opposed and 40% were in favor. Opposition to the price hikes was higher among people who reported making less than $25,000 annually (76%), and lower among people who reported making more than $100,000 (48%).

Additionally, 43% said that they would take fewer trips if fares increased, and 34% said increases would force them to choose between travel and essentials.

PRT is continuing to focus on raising awareness about the looming funding crisis.

Ms. Kelleman said that she was grateful to legislators from both sides of the aisle who have pushed for more transit funding and to local advocacy groups, including Pittsburghers for Public Transit, which held a rally outside of the Capitol building in Harrisburg earlier this month.

"The outpouring ... has been huge and tremendous, and humbling, I think, to see how many people really love the work that we do," Ms. Kelleman said.

Ms. Kelleman will present PRT's proposed 2026 operating budget of $539,256,823, a 0.6% drop from this year, during Friday's board meeting.

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