Jay Costa, a state senator, is working to reduce the inefficiencies of public transportation in southwest Pennsylvania.
“We’re in a transit and a funding crisis right now as we speak. That’s all going to continue to get more serious as we go forward without appropriate revenues coming in,” Costa stated.
In order to encourage smaller transit agencies to join up with Pittsburgh Regional Transit to form a multi-county regional transit system, he sent a memo outlining legislation he is currently working on.
“We would call it SWEPTA, I guess, at the end of the day: Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Transit Agency. Similar to what’s happening in the southeastern part of the state with the SEPTA system,” Costa stated.
Legislators have talked about the possible advantages of regional transit organizations working together for the past 20 years. Since SEPTA and PRT are experiencing the same issues, Costa is reviving the concept.
Significant funding cuts to PRT could result in deeper service cuts and higher tickets.
“Each of the agencies right now across this Commonwealth, either now or in very near future, are going to be experiencing financial cliffs that they’re going to have to deal with,” Costa stated.
“The goal is to be able to have as many counties as possible work together, either through some type of a merger or coordination of agencies, to be able to develop enhanced and more efficient transit services throughout our region,” he continued.
A mass transit system, according to Costa, would also make it easier to connect Pittsburgh and some areas of Allegheny County to other counties.
Counties would not have to take part if the proposed idea is approved. It would be a choice.
Costa stated that in order to overcome some existing inefficiencies, cooperation or a coordinated agreement would be preferable to a merger. The planning, management, and administrative aspects of things might benefit from it.
“That’s where they would be able to save money, and they’d be much more efficient. And save taxpayers and ratepayers a lot more money by having more of these type of routes that are existing for them,” Costa stated.
Costa expects that more legislators will agree to co-sponsor the next legislation. According to him, they are currently starting conversations with all of the local transit agencies.
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“Certainly starting here with Pittsburgh Regional Transit and utilizing the opportunity to talk to folks about what they think is best and how they would like to be part of a regional agency. … I suspect that we will be looking at Greene and Washington and Westmoreland and Butler and Beaver counties to be part of the conversation going forward, and trying to figure out what’s best for everyone involved. Then out of that, to develop more specific criteria about what it would look like,” Costa stated.
By the summer or fall, Costa said, he intends to have some sort of legislation drafted so that lawmakers can discuss and move it along.
“Before we continue to throw more and more money and develop more and more crises with respect to transit funding … that we’re taking steps to be able to figure out ways to be more efficient and be more economical going forward,” he stated.
