Occupy Pittsburgh / PPT Transit action!

Pittsburghers for Public Transit is partnering with our friends at Occupy Pittsburgh (http://www.occupypittsburgh.org) for the following action:

Week of Action - Occupy Pittsburgh Public Transit Action

Start: 12/16/2011 3:00 pm

As many of you know, Port Authority of Allegheny County is pondering additional service cuts - up to 35% - effective in 2012. Last March, they proposed the same number, but after public outcry, demonstrations, and work done by Pittsburghers for Public Transit (http://www.pittsburghersforpublictransit.org/), the cuts were reduced to 15%.

But funding issues continue to prevail, and riders and drivers are faced with another round of cuts, which combined with the March 2011 cuts, would reduce transit service hours in Allegheny County by 50%! A recent article explaining the cuts: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11333/1193283-53-0.stm

As part of Occupy Pittsburgh's call for a week of action to bring attention to the issues the movement focuses on, we are partnering with Pittsburghers for Public Transit and One Pittsburgh for a transit action this Friday, December 16, 2011. Occupy Pittsburgh participants will meet at the People's Park by 3:00 pm, then will hit the streets to take part in an action throughout downtown, focusing on local bus stops during Friday's rush hour. A call to action will be handed out to people waiting at the stops, which explains the looming cuts to service, who they can contact to voice their concerns and request a moratorium on all cuts to transit service.

Please join us in this effort to educate and empower people to demand that transit service not be reduced, effectively putting many people - both driver and riders - in danger with their jobs and limiting or eliminating their right to transportation.

Meet by 3:00 pm at People's Park, 6th & Grant, downtown; contacts: Maria and Calvin

See you there!

MARCH AND RALLY TO SAVE PUBLIC TRANSIT - 9/24 AT NOON - MELLON PARK IN EAST LIBERTY

Backers of Transit Try to Mobilize

Thursday, August 11, 2011

By Dan Majors, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Community groups calling for more public transit Wednesday met in the Hill District with a clear goal: If they're going to get people on buses, they have to get people in the streets.
"As organizers, we need to adopt the civil rights model," said Mel Packer of Pittsburghers for Public Transit. "We put thousands of people in the streets. That's how they listen to us. Talk to people, and we can build a mass movement."

Homewood Community Forum on Transit!

Alarm raised anew on Port Authority deficit

If trend continues, the 2012-2013 budget may be $30 million in the red

Thursday, June 16, 2011

By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Port Authority board is prepared to adopt an operating budget for the coming fiscal year that maintains current service and fares through next June.

After that, officials said, look out.

Organizing Around Transit: At the Intersection of Environmental Justice and Class Struggle

Tom Wetzel is a member of Workers Solidarity Alliance, posted on http://nefac.net/CaliTransit

For the older big cities in North America, public transit is critical to their daily functioning. Organizing among workers and riders on public transit has a strategic importance.

Buses, light rail cars and subway trains attract a diverse working class ridership. Workers in small factories, department stores, hospitals, and restaurants are thrown together on the bus. We encounter retirees going to a doctor's appointment, the unemployed, working class students going to classes at a community college, people of all colors and nationalities, immigrants and native-born. Organizing among transit riders allows the organizers to interact with a broad spectrum of the working class population.

Transportation is how people glue together the various fragments of their lives spent in different locations. If transit workers were to strike, it could bring a large city to a halt. This gives the large workforce of a transit system a strategic position in the local economy.

Public transit subsidies were a major gain achieved by the working class in the '60s/'70s era. This became a component of the "social wage" — benefits working people receive through government programs.

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, public transit was a capitalist industry. Even when government agencies took over transit systems, they still operated them like a business. For example, the fares paid by riders on the bus system in Los Angeles paid all of the operating costs as recently as 1970. Today, the proportion of expenses paid by fares varies from a high of 42 percent in New York City, to 26 percent in Los Angeles, and only 12 percent in San Jose.(1)

The present Great Recession has greatly ramped up the fiscal crisis of the state which has been developing in the USA since the late '70s. The result has been increasing attacks on the public transit component of the social wage, through service cuts and fare hikes.

Trip to Harrisburg, May 3

Bryon Shane

29 April 14:29

To All;

We are going to Harrisburg with the CLEAR Coalition for the Rally for a Responsible Budget on May 3 at 1:00 PM at the State Capitol in Harrisburg. We need all hands on deck to show our support of a balanced approach to the state budget that includes Dedicated Funding for Transit, smart budget savings, and long-term revenue solutions to effectively address Pennsylvania’s budget crisis. We have space on two busses supplied by the Port Authority, the busses will be leaving the Manchester Building at 6:30 a.m. Sharp on May 3rd. Please be there around 6:00 am, Free Parking will be available at the employee lot at the Manchester Building underneath the bridge. We need either e-mail confirmation or a return call ASAP, so we can coordinate available seating, Family members and friends are welcome.

Please contact

Mike Harms 412-715-5212 atu3900@comcast.net

James Bonner 412-592-2923jebonner1178@gmail.com

Bryon Shane 412-999-9208 isaythat@msn.com

FRIDAY MORNING BUS CUT RALLY DOWNTOWN!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=162088440518701

Time	29 April · 08:30 - 11:30
Location	Heinz Building, Sixth Street Pittsburgh, Pa
	To All PPT Members; We are scheduling a Rally in front of the Heinz Building on Friday April 29th at 8:30 am. Port Authority Board Meeting begins at 9:30 am. ... We have been silent for too long, we cannot afford to continue to wait for Dan Onorato and Steve Bland to decide to come back to the table and negotiate in good faith, We have to take it back to the streets and make our voice heard again. They are hoping that we have gone away. The people who have lost their means of transportation and the people who have lost their jobs because Dan Onorato, Steve Bland, and the Port Authority Board of Directed chose to make these unnecessary transit cuts have to come together as one voice to show these cuts have hurt so many lives. Transit Riders and Transit Supporters Please take the time to forward this email to your friends, Labor leaders please send this to all in your address book, Port Authority employees please email, call, or text your co-workers and let them know about this rally. It is very important that we have a strong showing so that our message is clear, WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY! We will not stop until these cuts are restored, and all of our laid off brothers and sisters are returned to their jobs. In Solidarity, ATU LOCAL 85 Any Questions call Bryon Shane 412-999-9208 Mike Harms 421-715-5212

PA Gov. Tom "Corporate" Forms Transportation Funding Advisory Commission

HARRISBURG, Pa., April 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Tom Corbett announced today that he has signed an executive order creating a Transportation Funding Advisory Commission to develop innovative solutions to Pennsylvania's mounting transportation funding challenges.

Get on the Bus: Transit Union Looks to Ally with Riders

Paul McLennan- Labor Notes

More than 100 transit activists met in Washington, D.C. in mid-March for the Amalgamated Transit Union’s “boot camp,” learning how to build coalitions between transit workers and transit riders.

Responding to the near-universal threat of budget cuts and privatization, transit workers and transit riders are learning how to work together, like these Toronto activists did. Photo: ATU Local 113.

Dear Supporter,

 

Thank you for visiting Pittsburghers for Public Transit’s site!  We’re excited that you want to join us in the fight to protect and expand Pittsburgh’s public transit system. Here's how you can help!

 

 ·         Come to a PPT meeting!  They are open to all and anyone with an opinion or idea is welcome to voice it.  We make all decisions democratically, with each attendee having a voice and a vote.  Our next meeting will be sent to our announcements e-mail list which you can join by e-mailing SAVEPGHTRANSIT@GMAIL.COM

 

·         Volunteer!  We will regularly need help distributing leaflets for events, passing out copies of our “Pittsburgh Needs Transit!”  (put a link to the webpage with the paper on it: http://www.pittsburghersforpublictransit.org/p/articles-op-eds.html) newsletter at bus stops, and all kinds of other duties.  If we’re going to build a successful movement to protect and expand public transit, we’ll need all hands on deck.  If you have any special skills, talents, or resources that you think can help push our movement forward, please let us know! 

 

·         Donate to PPT!  We have no budget, no paid staffers, no corporate backers.  We published 20,000 copies of our newsletter for only 900 dollars, all of which came from members and supporters of PPT.  Once we run out, we’ll need to publish more, and in the future we may want to produce posters, banners, apparel, or anything else we’ll need in the course of this fight.  Help us make these things a reality!  You can donate to PPT by writing a check to “Thomas Merton Center”, with “Economic Justice – Transit” in the memo line.  You can mail your donations to “Thomas Merton Center, Attn: Economic Justice Committee, 5129 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15224.” Any amount helps!  We currently have 141 people on our mailing list; if everyone on it gave just 10 dollars we would have more than enough to publish another round of newsletters!

 

·         Spread the word!  Talk about PPT and the struggle for transit with your coworkers, classmates, neighbors, and the people waiting for the bus with you.  Point them in the direction of our website and Facebook page, invite them to a meeting or action, or give them a newsletter.  Word of mouth is a powerful tool, especially when organizing around an issue as important and impactful as protecting and expanding public transit. 

 

·         Stay up to date with PPT by regularly checking www.PittsburghersforPublicTransit.org and by joining our Facebook group.

 

As you know, PPT, along with our brothers and sisters in the Amalgamated Transit Union’s Local 85, organized a hugely successful and well-attended march through Squirrel Hill on March 19th.  More than 500 people marched, chanted, and stood in unison against the cuts bearing down on our transit system.  The event was really a sight to behold, and garnered a great deal of media attention from all of the major local news outlets, independent media, and the city’s student press.

 

Despite our success, the cuts still happened.   Tens of thousands of people and dozens of neighborhoods have lost their transit service entirely; for the rest of us, the system has been thrown into chaos and unpredictability, which will settle into a reduced level of service.   Hundreds of hard-working Port Authority workers have lost their livelihoods in an economy that is producing few if any good, family-sustaining jobs.   Unless we organize and fight back on an even greater scale, this reality will persist indefinitely, despite the Port Authority’s claims that the cuts are only ‘temporary.’

Make no mistake, more cuts are coming unless they are doggedly resisted.  All levels of government are in fiscal crisis and cuts to services like transit are the order of the day for the politicians and the corporate interests that control them.   We need to be clear that the hard-working and dedicated workers who make the Port Authority run and provide the heartbeat for our city are not the cause of the transit crisis, but that the real cause is a boggling misallocation of resources in our government and throughout society generally. 

 

We need to be in the streets asking: “Why are we spending more than a trillion dollars a year on the military budget rather than funding transit nationally?  Why are Marcellus Shale drillers who ruin our environment not being taxed so we could fund transit statewide?  Why do huge, money-making ‘non-profits’ like UPMC not pay a dime in local taxes when we could be funding transit in Pittsburgh?”  We need to be asking those questions (and loudly!), in our streets, on the news, in our workplaces, classrooms, neighborhoods, churches, unions, buses, and subways.  

The fact that a small but dedicated organization was able to organize a big demonstration and major media event with no budget and maybe two dozen volunteers shows the potential for the working people, youth, students, elderly, disabled, and all who care about public transit in Allegheny County to launch a major movement to not only stop future cuts to public transit but to expand it.  That is PPT’s mission and reason for existence.   The inspiring struggle of workers in Wisconsin and ordinary people in Egypt against injustice in their regions give us optimism that the same methods can be applied in this battle with success, and that a dedicated and massive movement can achieve our aims. 

All of us at PPT hope you’re able to get involved, and we warmly invite you to do so.  We firmly believe that the best way forward in this fight is through mass action that will pressure the authorities into accepting and carrying out our just demands.  Together, we can win this fight. 

Thank you,

Pittsburghers for Public Transit

ALERT! County Council Meeting on Transit 3/30, 4pm Rally!

To All Activists:

On Wednesday 3/30/2011 (tomorrow) Jim Burn President of Allegheny County Council will be holding a special session of Council at 5:00 pm. We need everyone who can make it in such short notice to come to Grant street in front of the County Courthouse Tomorrow AT 4:00 PM to show we are not defeated and we will not go away! This fight has only just begun. We are United and we will not accept defeat!

In Solidarity,
ATU LOCAL 85

Any Questions call
Bryon Shane 412-999-9208
Mike Harms 421-715-5212

The Union Makes Pittsburgh Transit Better

by Jonah McAllister-Erickson

The Amalgamated Transit Union is a crucial part of the solution Pittsburgh transportation crisis. It is because of the ATU -- not in spite of it -- that Pittsburgh has a safe and reliable mass transit system. It is because of the union that the women and men who clean, drive, and repair our buses are able to take pride in their work. Studies have shown that unionized workers are more able to get unsafe working conditions corrected, and that employer compliance with health and safety rules is much better when there are union safety representatives.

What the Port Authority Faces: Budget Crises

by Alicia Wlliamson

photo by Dawn Jackman-Biery

Port Authority Transit’s budget comes from a variety of sources at the city, county, state, and federal levels and its levels of funding is inconsistent. PAT has direct control over some financial cost variables like fares, employment and route efficiency, but are operating expenses that they cannot control, such as fuel prices and the rising costs of healthcare. So every time there is a serious budget deficit, PAT responds by increasing fares, cutting service, and laying off workers. All of these measures undermine the mission of public transit.

Keep Pittsburgh Green, and Make It Greener

by Alicia Williamson

photo by Dawn Jackman-Biery

Pittsburgh is trying to establish itself as a "green city," leading the way in innovative environmentally-friendly jobs, technologies, and policies. Cuts to public transit would be a major step in the wrong direction.

The Federal Transportation Administration and Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 study of mass transit and climate change finds that public transit helps the environment by "providing a low emissions alternative to driving, facilitating compact land use, and minimizing the carbon footprint of transit operations and construction." The city’s industrial past left Pittsburgh with one of the worst air qualities in the country. For each passenger-mile traveled, public transit produces 95 percent less carbon monoxide, 92 percent fewer volatile organic compounds, and about half as much carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides as atypical car.

Elizabeth Miller's Story

Elizabeth is a Port Authority bus driver facing layoff.

"I have been working for Port Authority for almost 2 years I received my furlough paperwork in January telling me that my last day of work would be March 26. I am a single mother of two girls ages 14 and 10. I have been working hard with many other people and the union to save our jobs I have been attending rallies, meetings, and going out personally and to collect signatures on petitions to stop the cuts that Steven Bland of the Port Authority is putting in place."

"This could affect thousands of people, and myself personally, I could lose my home, my car and maybe even have to file bankruptcy. Mine will be just one of many sad stories if we do not stand together strong as citizens and union members. These cuts will severely hurt the elderly, the handicapped and the students of Allegheny County, so we ask for your help and support to stop the transit cut."

Dan Horgan's Story

Dan lives in Bloomfield and works at the airport. It takes him two buses to get to work.
It’s pretty convenient to use public transportation to get to work, especially financially. Some people can’t afford to drive all the time and gas prices are going up.

"What I’ve always understood about public transit is that it was a way to help people travel, get to work, get where they need to go, and that it’s green, it cuts down on emissions. But every time they cut service, I see buses breaking down more often. I can’t really rely on the service. I’m about to lose my job because I don’t know which bus is going to get me to work on time. You don’t know if its going to break down if they keep cutting jobs in the maintenance department."

Connie Muldrow's Story

Connie Muldrow, age 68, lives in senior citizen housing in the Hill District. The Hill District lost most of its transit service last September.

"We the elderly of the Hill District need public transportation. From Sugar Top down to Bedford Avenue and Center Avenue, transportation is needed very urgently. We have three high rises up on Bedford Avenue where we’re pinned in."

Anne Hodapp's Story

Anne Hodapp is a single mother who lives in Pitcairn, a small borough just a few miles south of Monroeville. Her 10-year-old daughter has several disabilities and has seizures, but ACCESS has said she is not disabled enough to qualify for their door-to-door transport service for seniors and the disabled. The Port Authority has announced that at the end of March it will eliminate Route 72, Pitcairn’s bus link to Monroeville.

The Myth of the $100,000 Bus Driver

There have been rumors and misinformation heard from time to time that Port Authority drivers are paid huge salaries of up to $100,000 a year. These attempts to blame the hard-working drivers for the cuts in bus service don’t stand up to the facts.

Keep the ‘Public’ in Public Transit: Privatization is a Bad Deal

by Andrew Wagner

photo by Dawn Jackman-Biery

With the Port Authority of Allegheny County in financial trouble, we’re hearing the call for “privatization” from some powerful political and business interests. These privatizers include some of the same politicians whose failure to adequately fund transit helped create the crisis, and they include business people who see big bucks to be made running private transportation. A good deal for them maybe, but for transit riders and workers, privatization is a very bad deal.

Transportation is Our Need – and Our Right

photo by Dawn Jackman-Biery

by Mel Packer

Imagine, Dear Rider, that you go to your usual bus or trolley stop and find that it is strangely silent, that others have been standing for quite a while and no bus has been seen. You ask another rider who tells you that the news says that the commuter highways are jammed more than usual. Finally, you and the other regular riders walk another half mile, hoping to find other transportation.

3/26 Rally, OnoRATo Refuses the Union's Concessions, Cuts Transit, Lays Off 180

Click for Pictures Slide Show

Stop the Cuts! 24 Hours of Action!

Stop the Cuts!

Sign-up for 24 Hours of Action to Save

Public Transit in Allegheny County!

Beginning at 11:00 AM on Thursday, March 24 through 11:00 AM Friday, March 25

Culminating in a rally on Friday at 8:30 AM before the Port Authority Board Meeting

At Port Authority Head Quarters, 6^th St. and Smithfield Ave. in Pittsburgh

Help pass fliers, gather signatures on post cards and petitions make signs, cheer on speakers and entertainers, record personal testimony from transit riders and workers who will suffer from loss of transit serves, join faith leaders for a sunrise prayer breakfast and raise your voice with hundreds of others as we rally together before the Port Authority Board Meeting.

For more information call Bryon Shane 412.999.9208 or Mike Harms at 412.715.5212

3/19/11 MARCH TO STOP THE CUTS!

VIDEO:
WPXI - http://www.wpxi.com/news/27250940/detail.html
WTAE - http://www.wtae.com/news/27251486/detail.html


Photos by Dawn Jackman-Biery


From the Post-Gazette:

Nancy Downie of Delmont had never participated in a protest in all of her 58 years but Saturday she joined a Squirrel Hill march and rally by an estimated 500 like-minded opponents of impending Port Authority service cuts.

MARCH TO STOP THE CUTS! 3/19!

	FACEBOOK EVENT
Location & Time	Beacon and Murray to Forbes and Murray in Squirrel Hill at NOON
Created by:	Pittsburghers for Public Transit,
	The Port Authority plans to institute an unnecessary and devastating 15 percent service cut on March 27th. Transit riders, workers, and all those concerned about the health of our city must show Port Authority's management and the politicians that run our county and state that we won't stand for this attack against our transit system. Wisconsin and Egypt have shown us the way to fight back! WE DEMAND: More transit, not less! ... Stop the March 27th cuts! Dedicated transit funding now! No to privatization! Port Authority's workers are the heartbeat of our city, not the problem! Defend their livelihoods! Fund transit instead of bailouts, wars, and tax cuts for the ultra-rich! Please forward as widely as possible! This issue effects every person living in Allegheny County! The cuts WILL put thousands more cars on the road, so even if you drive, your daily commute will become much longer! Organized by Pittsburghers for Public Transit and ATU Local 85 www.pittsburgersforpublictransit.org Questions? Want to help? Contact: SavePGHTransit@Gmail.com

Riders, Workers Take Fight Against Service Cuts To Grant Street

County Council Asks Port Authority To Postpone Bus, Trolley Cuts
From WTAE:

PITTSBURGH -- About 75 Port Authority workers and riders gathered early Tuesday evening in front of the Allegheny County Courthouse -- where a County Council meeting was taking place -- and rallied against proposed cuts to bus and trolley service.

Protesters wanted the council to pass a resolution asking the Port Authority to spend all of its $45 million in emergency state funding by the end of the fiscal year in June, in an effort to avoid transit cuts that are scheduled to take effect March 27.

The resolution passed, but the Port Authority has not said whether it will go along with the request to shelve the cuts.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 President Pat McMahon said that the Port Authority's budget is balanced, so there is no reason for the cuts to be made.

"It will affect my ability for literally going everywhere," bus rider Katrina Kilgore said about the cuts. "It will limit my ability for going to doctor's appointments, for getting to work."

Signs at the rally included "Save Our Transit," "We Need The Bus" and "Pretend We're A Stadium -- Fund Us."

In December, then-Gov. Ed Rendell struck an agreement with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission to divert $45 million to the Port Authority on an emergency basis to head off a much larger round of service cuts.

The Port Authority has said that a new, smaller round of cuts in March will allow it to stretch the temporary funding over 18 months, rather than spending all of it by June 30.

Also, CEO Steve Bland has called for a larger dedicated source of annual state funding that the authority can count on for its budget each year.

EMERGENCY RALLY - STOP THE MARCH CUTS

Time
March 1st· 4:00 pm

Location
Allegheny County Courthouse,
436 Grant Street
Pittsburgh PA

Tomorrow Tuesday March 1, 2011 at the Allegheny County Council Meeting. Assembly will begin at 4:00 pm in front of the Allegheny County Courthouse, 436 Grant Street. Council Meeting will begin at 5:00 pm on the 4th Floor in the Gold Room. County Councilman Nick Futules from District 7 will be introducing a resolution to stop the closing of the Harmar Garage and the Unnecessary 15% service cuts. County Council has also invited Port Authority Board of Directed President Jack Brooks to testify in front of Council. We need attendance from every available person. Let our voices be heard.

Please Pass this along to your contacts!

Message from the ATU, "Come Out Tomorrow!"

Video by Marvin Bing from today's union rally downtown in solidarity with Wisconsin workers.

Pittsburgh Rally and Press Conference for Public Transportation

Time	25 February · 08:30 - 10:00
Location	Mellon Square Park Mellon Square Park. 6th & Smithfield, Pittsburgh (Downtown), PA 15219 Pittsburgh, PA
Created by:	Marvin Bing, Bryon Shane
More info	Enjoy your bus ride while it lasts because on March 27, County Executive Dan Onorato, Chief Executive Officer of the Port Authority, Chief Financial Officer Steve Bland and members of the Port Authority are slashing bus routes all over the county. This is what the Port Authority audit said in June, 2010: “At a time when the economic downturn is hurting metropolitan areas and residents across the country, these service reduction ...are occurring at the worst possible time. Service cuts, layoffs, and fare increases will result inn significant traffic congestion, adverse economic impacts on businesses across the region and the loss of an essential lifeline to many seniors, youth and the disabled.” SO HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS FOR COUNTY EXECUTIVE DAN ONORATO, STEVE BLAND, Chief Financial officer of the Port Authority and the board members: CALL OR E-MAIL THE OFFICIALS TODAY 1-Why kill jobs? Why Kill jobs with record high unemployment? 2-Why are you hurting the disabled and students, the middle class, seniors, and workers who depend on transit? 3-Cutting Bus service puts more cars on the street and increases air pollution. Why do that? 4-don’t we have enough traffic congestion already? There is $21 million available to run the system. There is no need to cut services. STOP THESE CUTS. SAVE OUR JOBS. SAVE OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, SAVE ALLEGENHY COUNTY TRANSIT. . CATCH AN EARLIER BUS ON FRIDAY FEB 25TH AND ATTEND OUR RALLY OUTSIDE THE PORT AUTHORITY BUILDING ON 345 6TH AVENUE AT 8:30 am. FREE COFFEE AND DONUTS to all to sign a petition to stop the cuts. WE WILL BE JOINED BY A SPECIAL GUEST! www.atu.org

PUBLIC TRANSIT RALLIES FRI & SAT! STOP THE BUS CUTS!

To Print these flyers for distribution:

Downtown Flyer (Friday)

Mon Valley Flyer (Saturday)

Bad deal on bonds costs Port Authority $39.2M

Thursday, February 17, 2011

By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Port Authority this week paid a bank $39.2 million to escape from a bond deal it entered seven years ago that turned out sour.

The payment to Bank of America Merrill Lynch canceled a complicated and risky transaction called an interest-rate "swaption" that the authority agreed to in 2004, partly to reap a $9.5 million upfront windfall.

The payment was part of a $263.3 million refinancing bond issue that the authority completed on Tuesday.

The cost of the payment will be spread over Port Authority budgets starting next year and continuing to 2029, adding $2.3 million in debt service expense per year, authority officials said.

Because the authority pays debt service from its capital budget, the added cost will not impact operations or require service cuts, spokesman Jim Ritchie said. But it will reduce the amount available for longer-term projects such as bridge, busway and rail reconstruction.

"It's essentially a refinancing. We're trying to get out of an arrangement that was putting us in greater financial jeopardy," he said.

The authority agreed to the swaption deal with Merrill Lynch in 2004, during the administration of CEO Paul Skoutelas. Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch in 2008.

Ellen McLean, the current chief financial officer, who joined the authority last October, said the swaption deal enabled the agency to cash in on anticipated future savings from debt refinancing. But it also exposed the authority to risks based on interest-rate fluctuation.

The collapse of the credit markets in 2008 and 2009 drove down rates and left the authority's side of the swap at a considerably lower value than what it would be paying out.

It also gave Merrill Lynch the option to convert the authority's debt to a variable interest rate starting March 1, she said. "What we knew was the volatility in the market would create such a difficulty in budgeting ... it was impossible to budget for.

"It made absolutely no sense as a public agency to take on that volatility," Ms. McLean said.

"We reached a point because of the market downturn where this clearly didn't turn out the way anybody was predicting," Mr. Ritchie said. "It does not make sense for us to continue down this path."

This week's refinancing extracted the authority from the deal and put all of its bonded debt at an average fixed interest rate of 5.29 percent.

The authority is not alone in being victimized by swap deals. Several Pennsylvania school districts and municipal governments lost big money on interest-rate swaps, deals that produced big upfront windfalls but exposed them to losses when rates fell.

State Auditor General Jack Wagner last year urged school districts to get out of such deals as quickly as possible, saying "interest-rate swaps are tantamount to gambling with taxpayer money."

Bloomberg News, reporting on the Port Authority bond issue, said it has compiled data showing that borrowers across the U.S. have paid more than $4 billion to get out of swap contracts.

Randy Woolridge, professor of finance at Penn State University, said he was unfamiliar with the circumstances of the Port Authority's deal. Generally, he said, "a lot of these [swaps] have turned bad because they're all doing the same thing. They hedged against higher interest rates and the rates went down. As a result, these things are underwater.

"Everyone thinks interest rates and stocks are always going up," he said.
If there was a bright side to the authority's action this week, it was that the three big New York agencies raised its credit rating.

Fitch assigned the bonds an AA-minus rating, up from A; Moody's assigned an A1, up from A2; and Standard & Poors gave them an A-plus, up from A.

 

Jon Schmitz: jschmitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1868. Visit "The Roundabout," the Post-Gazette's transportation blog, at post-gazette.com. Twitter: @pgtraffic.

First published on February 17, 2011 at 12:00 am

Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/11048/1126002-53.stm#ixzz1EF7cCjF4

RALLY TOMORROW FOR TRANSIT WORKERS

Our bus drivers, technicians, and other Amalgamated Transit Union workers will be having a rally tomorrow (2/15) at 4pm downtown at the County Courthouse in support of President
McMahon's address to County Council.  As many PPTers as possible
should be there!

Andrew

Next Meeting

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130184457049849

Time	19 February · 12:00 - 15:00
Location	University of Pittsburgh - Posvar Hall room 5203 Pittsburgh, PA
Created by:	Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Andrew C Wagner
More info	Really important meeting, we'll be discussing the upcoming march in Squirrel Hill on 3/19, the upcoming publication of our newsletter, and promotion for both items. Please be there!

Proposed March transit cuts to affect Oakland routes

Re-posted from Pitt's University Times:

The Port Authority of Allegheny County will cut its service by 15 percent, including some service to Oakland, beginning March 27.

The plan, approved last week by the Port Authority board, will eliminate 29 routes and cause 180 employee layoffs. The plan amends a scheduled 35 percent service cut that was set to go into effect in March, prior to a $45 million infusion of emergency state funds announced by outgoing Gov. Edward G. Rendell in December. (See Jan. 6 University Times.)

Under the revamped plan approved Jan. 12, weekday service cuts will be made on 37 routes instead of 79; 63 routes will remain unchanged. Service to about half of the ridership will be affected, Port Authority officials estimated. The new plan is expected to produce an estimated 5 percent weekday ridership loss, that is, about 12,000 fewer passenger trips each weekday. The transit company’s average weekday ridership is 240,000.

The transit company also will close its Harmar garage.

The 15 percent reduction allows the transit company to stretch the emergency funding from the commonwealth over 18 months, through June 30, 2012.

Port Authority CEO Steve Bland said at the Jan. 12 public board meeting, “We want it to be absolutely clear that this is only a temporary solution and a painful one at that. We’re going to work very aggressively with the state legislature to find a sustainable transit solution. We’ve only bought some time.”

Absent a permanent fix to the chronic budget shortfalls, Bland said the Port Authority likely will reinstitute the 35 percent service cuts approved under the previous plan, although he did not specify when such cuts might occur.

The March cuts will be the fourth phase of service reduction, which began last April, followed by cuts in June and September.

Under a five-year contract with the Port Authority that runs through June 30, 2012, Pitt is paying $5.91 million for the current fiscal year (2010-11) for free bus rides for its valid ID holders. Pitt riders account for about 6 million rides annually, according to the Port Authority.

The contract includes a re-opener clause wherein either party with 60 days’ notice prior to the end of a contract year may demand a renegotiation of the fee for the following year. Pitt is contracted to pay $6.8 million for the year July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012, an increase of 15 percent over the current year.

Eli Shorak, associate vice chancellor for Business, told the University Times, “The University’s agreement with the Port Authority does include language acknowledging that the compensation paid by the University is in consideration for a certain level and type of service. The University does plan to consult with the Port Authority regarding service modifications and the impact these may have on our riders. These discussions may also include recommended compensation adjustments if it is determined that service modifications have a significant impact on the University’s overall ridership levels.”

The contract also calls for a renegotiation of the annual fee to be triggered by the installation of “smart card” technology on all Port Authority vehicles, a process that has been slowed by technology glitches, Port Authority officials have said.

That program will change the way Pitt riders are counted, with fare boxes that scan Pitt ID cards replacing the system of drivers manually tracking the number of Pitt riders. The new system is expected to eliminate human error and catch invalid IDs, thus yielding a more accurate count of Pitt rides, Port Authority officials noted.

The University’s payment to the Port Authority is subsidized in part by the $90 per term security, safety and transportation fee that Pittsburgh campus students pay. (The balance comes from the auxiliary operations budget of the Office of Parking, Transportation and Services.)

John Fedele, Pitt associate director of news, said that students will not face an increase in fees in the near term.

“There is likely no need for student fee increases in the near future. Once Port Authority has the smart card put on all transportation, we will review this,” Fedele said.

Among the Oakland service cuts starting March 27 are:
• 42 Mt. Lebanon-Oakland bus will have weekday service eliminated (there is no weekend service on this route).
• 54C Northside-Oakland-South Side will see service increased on Saturdays and decreased on Sundays; weekday service remains unchanged.
• 58 Greenfield will have service reduced on weekdays and weekends.
• 61A East Pittsburgh-Wilkinsburg is being rerouted (ending the route sooner at the Wilkinsburg end); the 61B Braddock-Swissvale will be rerouted to serve North Braddock in lieu of the 61A.
• 65 Squirrel Hill will have service reduced on weekdays (there is no weekend service on this route).
• 67 Monroeville will have service reduced on weekdays and weekends.
• 67E Greensburg Pike will be eliminated on weekdays (there is no weekend service).
• 67J Lincoln Highway will be eliminated on weekdays (there is no weekend service).
•  69 Trafford will have service reduced on weekdays and weekends.
• 71A Negley will have service reduced on weekdays and weekends.
• 71C Point Breeze will have service reduced on weekdays and Saturdays, with no change on Sundays.
• 71D Hamilton will have service reduced on weekdays and Saturdays, with no change on Sundays.
• 75 Ellsworth will have service reduced on weekdays and eliminated on weekends.
• 81 Oak Hill will have service reduced on weekdays and weekends.
• 83 Webster will have service reduced on weekdays and weekends.
• 84B Oakland Loop will be eliminated.
• 93 Lawrenceville-Oakland will have service reduced on weekdays and eliminated on weekends.
• EBA will be renamed P1 East Busway-All Stops. Service will be reduced on weekdays and weekends.
• G Greensburg Pike Flyer will have service reduced on weekdays (there is no weekend service on this route).
• G2 West Busway-Oakland will have service to Oakland eliminated and the route will be renamed G2 West Busway-All Stops.
• P3 East Busway-Oakland will have service reduced on weekdays (there is no weekend service).
Service to Robinson Towne Center via the 28X Airport Flyer, which had been eliminated last April, will be restored.
Transit fares were raised Jan. 2 to help counter a budget shortfall for the current fiscal year, Port Authority officials said. By law the transit company must balance its budget. Passenger fares cover about a quarter of the Port Authority’s expenses.
Details of the 15 percent service reduction are available at www.portauthority.org or by calling customer service at 412/442-2000 or the TTY number, 412/231-7007.
—Peter Hart

From http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=14702

TRANSIT RALLY 1/28!

PLEASE JOIN US AS WE FIGHT THE UNNECESSARY 15% SERVICE REDUCTION APPROVED BY THE PORT AUTHORITY.

THESE CUTS WILL SHED 140 GOOD UNION JOBS, LEAVE 13,000 ALLEGHENY COUNTY CITIZENS WITHOUT SERVICE, AND PUT MORE STRAIN ON AN ALREADY STRUGGLING ECONOMY.

                                            WHERE

       345 6TH. AVE ACROSS FROM THE PORT AUTHORITY OFFICE

                                            WHEN

                   FRIDAY JANUARY 28TH 2011 8:30 AM

Bleeding Wound (re-posted)

Posted on January 12, 2011 on publictransit4pittsburgh

A cut is still a cut. No matter how big or small it is, a cut still bleeds. Right now, the public transit system in Pittsburgh is a bleeding wound. Despite the efforts by outgoing Governor Rendell to supply a band-aid to the Port Authority for this fiscal year and prevent our transit system from deteriorating even more, pressure from other elected officials, including County Executive Onorato, to stretch the supplemental funding over 18 months has made it that route cuts will still occur in March.

While many people may say to look at the positive aspects, that instead of a 35% cut we now only face a 15% cut, the result remains the same; The Pittsburgh public transit community is losing accessibility to our area. The only change to circumstances is that instead of ripping the bandage off quickly and inflicting the pain all at once, now we will have to the feel the pain slowly, each time the Port Authority continues to need to make more cuts and rips the band-aid off a little more.

According to County Executive Onorato, it was necessary to stretch the $45 million in band-aid funding  over 18 months as we could not expect our legislators in Harrisburg to find a transportation funding solution in the 6 months before the Port Authority’s fiscal year changes in July. Perhaps because he was running for Governor, Onorato fails to remember that the application to toll I-80 was denied a third time in April 2010 and the State legislature failed to take action throughout the remainder of the year. Thus the entire state transportation system has not had a secure source of funding since.

The bleeding wound that is Pittsburgh’s public transit system will not heal until our legislators put in the time needed and take action to fulfill the responsibilities of their positions as elected officials. The continuing cuts to the Port Authority are just the ramifications from the failure of Act 44. Use our links at the left to contact your legislators and tell them this issue needs to be a priority as they return to Harrisburg. Pittsburgh’s public transit community deserves action now! Subscribe to our blog or join our Facebook page to keep informed on the Port Authority and its effects on our community. Join us! Speak out! PublicTransit4Pittsburgh~Advocating for Access

Read more about the cuts approved today here:

Union opposes plan to extend transit bailout
Port Authority approves 15% transit cut

Check out today’s approved cuts on our PAT Changes page

BREAKING: Port Authority approves 15% transit cut, routes and jobs to be eliminated

From the Post Gazette today:
Port Authority approves 15% transit cut
By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PDF
See the Port Authority's service changes that take effect March 27.

The Port Authority board of directors today approved a 15 percent transit service reduction effective March 27.

Board member Jeffrey Letwin said the decision caused him "intense anguish" but said the board's job was to "save what we can."

Today's vote amended a scheduled 35 percent cut that had been scheduled for March before Gov. Ed Rendell provided $45 million in emergency funding.

Under the revised plan, 29 routes will be eliminated instead of 47. Weekday service cuts will be imposed on 37 routes instead of 79. Service to about half of the authority's riders will be unchanged.

Today's action will eliminate 270 authority positions, including 180 layoffs and closure of the Harmar garage.

Patrick McMahon, president of Local 85 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, called the action "an unnecessary mistake."

He said the board should have maintained current service levels to force the legislature to solve statewide transportation funding problems sooner rather than later.

Board members, however, said doing so posed the risk of catastrophic cuts as soon as July if the legislature didn't act.
More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.


First published on January 12, 2011 at 11:01 am