Pittsburgh announced massive cuts that would impact riders of all abilities, ages, and neighborhood. Small towns and cities across PA aren’t far behind.
TAKE ACTION to tell legislative leaders we need full funding for transit in every community in PA!
Pittsburgh Regional Transit proposes 40% service cuts and 9% fare increases for fixed route service. Paratransit cuts of 62% and 20% fare increases. This is just the start for cuts across PA. Riders and supporters need to organize to save our service!
Transit agencies across Pennsylvania are bleeding, and this week Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) was the first to make concrete this looming disaster. Transit riders and workers are ready with a response that meets the scale of the crisis.
In the last decade, the funding formula for public transportation has remained stagnant, even as costs for transit agencies have continued to rise. In Allegheny County, transit riders have experienced service cuts of 20% just over the last five years of the pandemic. Now, without new funding from the state, PRT is laying out a catastrophic scenario of cuts in fixed route service of 40% with an additional 9% increase in fares. The impacts on disabled riders would be even more profound, with paratransit service cuts of a staggering 62%, and fares increased by 20%. This would effectively kill public transit in our region, and the commensurate damage to our riders, our economy, our healthcare system, our road congestion and air quality is incalculable.
For months, SEPTA has publicized a similar scenario which they deem a “death spiral.” Though their full announcement of service cuts is forthcoming, the agency has publicly threatened service cuts of at least 20%, alongside fare increases of a similar magnitude. The dozens of other agencies across the state will hit these same breaking points in the months to come.
These service cuts and fare increases will impact elders moving around their communities safely in Erie, and disabled community members using paratransit in Harrisburg. The funding for all our transit agencies is tied to the same source, so the solution must be statewide, with input and support from communities all across the Commonwealth.
Over the last several years, Transit for All PA! has organized for an abundant state funding source to run the transit services riders and workers across the Commonwealth need. We are a coalition of thousands, hailing from Philadelphia to Pottstown, Bellefonte to Bellevue. And together, we have a shared demand: for state legislators to pass a new, dedicated source of funding for public transit, sufficient to restore transit service across the state to 2019 levels– and to expand transit service in communities outside Pittsburgh and Philadelphia by an additional 10%.
Better transit- not worse- is possible, is necessary, and is transformative. We’re ready to bring this challenge to our state elected leaders: are you ready to meet this moment with us?
Whether you’re from State College or Scranton, Philly or Erie, every Pennsylvanian deserves transportation access to opportunity. Here’s how you can help win public transit in every corner of our state:
>> Join the next Statewide Transit for All PA! call
On April 2nd, Join public transportation riders, workers, and neighbors from across Pennsylvania to learn to build a platform for visionary service in rural and urban communities across the Commonwealth! Thousands of Pennsylvanians have been organizing with Transit for All PA! since 2021. Learn about the background of our transit organizing, share your stories about the state of transit in your community, and gear up for our biggest fight yet!
This statewide conversation will host over 200 transit riders and stakeholders statewide to ratify a legislative platform that will name the tax mechanisms and investments that would allow our Commonwealth to meet this goal!