PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Public transit riders in Allegheny County are tired of politicians playing them for fools
by stephen donahue Thursday, Mar. 25, 2004 at 7:23 AM
412-361-3022

Under the watchful eye of state policy makers, public transit in Pennsylvania is bleeding to death. Riders are ready to fight!

It has become an annual rite of Spring for folks who ride public transit in Allegheny County to agitate for the state funding needed to prevent drastic service cuts and fare hikes. Last year at this time the Port Authority of Allegheny County was projecting a $19 million deficit. To get rid of this deficit, as required by state statute the Port Authority asked their riders to consider giving up all night time and Sunday service. This year the transit authority is figuring on a $30 million deficit! It is hard to imagine just how this could be balanced with service cuts and fare hikes. Indeed should the revenue not come in to help alleviate this shortfall, public transit in Allegheny County will be about dead.

Last year we were saved through an emergency flexing of federal highway money from a project on I-79 over to the Port Authority. Getting this done was complex and involved many actors from then County Executive Jim Roddey to the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission. The odds of getting something like this again this year are small. The highway construction lobby was not happy with last year’s flex and indeed this was quite a coup for public transit.

So far the Port Authority has been mum on just how they plan to deal with a $30 million operating budget shortfall. Bills in the State General Assembly that will help are just sitting there gathering dust. Elections are coming up and nobody in Harrisburg wants to be seen raising revenue. Besides, the prevailing wisdom among politicians these days is to just not fund public entities. These politicians want those who use a public service to pay for that public service. (I would like to shove a fare box up their….) State subsidies to anything other than private prisons, wealthy corporations and highway construction are no longer popular.

There are many policy makers in this state who will happily watch public transit decay as a pretext to selling it off. That’s the rage right now -- sell off everything that the public owns.

And so we must once again take up OUR CAUSE for OUR PUBLIC TRANSIT. And it is ours!

COME TO AN APRIL FOOLS DAY
RALLY & MARCH FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT FUNDING

WHERE? PNC Park @ the corner of Federal St. and W. General Robinson St. (Just walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge, a.k.a. 6th Street Bridge)
WHEN? Thursday, April 1, 2004, APRIL FOOLS DAY
TIME? We will start gathering at 11:30AM and we will be done by 1PM.
WHY? BECAUSE Pennsylvania policy makers are letting public transit bleed to death even as they give major tax breaks to corporations like Comcast. Comcast has $54 billion to buy the Walt Disney Company but the Port Authority of Allegheny County is close to $30 million in the hole. BECAUSE Pennsylvania policy makers can find money to build stadiums, convention centers & new highways but they refuse to find DEDICATED and RELIABLE funding for public transit. BECAUSE we are sick of being played for a BUNCH OF FOOLS!

EVERY SPRING WE FACE MAJOR PUBLIC TRANSIT SERVICE CUTS AND FARE HIKES. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!


Want to tell our PA lawmakers to quit FOOLING around with our public transit? Want to tell them that they can’t FOOL us? Then join with fellow bus/trolley riders on April 1. We will tell all the FOOLS in Harrisburg that they had better get public transit the dedicated and reliable funding that it needs, OR ELSE! (and WE AIN’T FOOLIN.)



Save Our Transit
No More Service Cuts! No More Fare Hikes!
Call 412-361-3022 for more information or email sdonahue412@hotmail.com

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