PA: PRT touchdown: Transit agency earned more than $500,000 on special draft service

The jury is still out on whether the Pittsburgh Steelers had a good NFL Draft. Some Downtown businesses weren’t happy with their results, but Pittsburgh Regional Transit scored a touchdown.

In addition to winning kudos for its special Football Flyer service and light rail system that carried just over 180,000 fans to the event at no charge, the transit agency more than covered its costs through sponsorships and advertising sales. Figures released Monday at the request of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette show the agency likely received more than $500,000 more in revenue than it spent on extra service during the event.

The agency generated that additional revenue despite paying about 1,600 union workers who work directly in transportation time-and-a-half for regular hours worked during the three days. PRT and the Amalgamated Transit Union reached a special agreement on extra pay during the draft to ensure that veteran employees didn’t take time off to avoid working the stressful duty.

“We happy about that, but that’s not why we did it,” spokesman Eddie Phillipps said, adding that the agency was happy to support the major community event.

To determine whether it covered its costs during the draft, the agency compared payroll figures for the three days of the draft with figures for the same three days during the previous week. Those figures showed the agency spent $2,785,211 during the draft compared to $2,103,361 the previous week.

That shows higher expenses of $682,850, although PRT conceded one set of costs for off-board fare collectors may not be exact due to a coding error.

However, the agency received a total of $1,219,000 in sponsorships, advertisements and other fees. That means it took in about $530,000 more than it spent.

Operators were paid $981,382 during the draft compared to $661,560 the previous week. Other additional expenses included $71,969 for police officers, $243,865 for maintenance, technicians and mechanical support employees, and $52,099 for other support personnel.

For setting up special service for the draft, the agency received $350,000 from the NFL and city draft organizers to reduce the number of visitors traveling by car into Downtown Pittsburgh. Organizers were concerned that heavy traffic and limited parking in the business district and North Shore would create massive traffic jams with more than 700,000 people expected to attend the event.

The authority set up Football Flyer buses from park-and-ride lots in the north, south, east and west suburbs and encouraged visitors to use public transit to attend the draft. The special buses and light rail system operated every 15 minutes on Thursday and Friday that week and every 30 minutes on Saturday.

Then Sheetz stepped up with a $200,000 sponsorship for free rides on the light rail system, and the Pittsburgh Organizing Committee gave the agency $175,000 for free bus and Monongahela Incline rides.

The agency also collected $494,000 for additional advertising sales and sponsorships related to the draft.

“The NFL Draft was an important opportunity for this region, and PRT was proud to play a meaningful role in supporting the event by providing enhanced transit service,” CEO Katharine Kelleman said in a statement.

“While that financial outcome is certainly positive, it is not the standard by which we measure our participation. PRT exists to serve the public and support the region. Major events often require additional service and additional expenses, and we believe providing that support is part of our responsibility.”

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