Transit for All PA Coalition Denounces State Budget that Fails to Address Mobility Needs for Pennsylvania Residents

Today transit riders, workers and advocates denounce the legislature’s abject failure to raise new revenue and pass a budget to meet the mobility needs of communities across all 67 counties in the Commonwealth. No budget is complete without addressing freedom of mobility, particularly for our older adults, people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations. Instead, this budget deal increases transportation spending by more than $100 million, none of which will be allocated towards public transit: this is an insult to the more than a million Pennsylvanians who take some form of transit to go to work, school, and medical appointments every day.

Confronted with the catastrophic costs of transit funding inaction on the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh area transit systems, the Governor, Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate had all agreed that public transit funding was a top priority in this year’s state budget negotiations. The Pennsylvania House passed five bipartisan bills that would have made meaningful progress towards funding transit. Instead, Senate Republican leadership derailed these bipartisan efforts, and SEPTA and Pittsburgh Regional Transit were forced to use their limited capital resources to fund transit operations, which delays critical accessibility and safety improvements. Almost immediately, SEPTA faced the consequences of this decision: the Federal Transportation Administration declared SEPTA’s 50-year-old Regional Rail cars an imminent fire hazard. And while legislators were dithering even on this inadequate action, 800,000 transit riders in the Philly area had to weather a month of service cuts and chaotic commutes.  

The forced transfer of capital funds to operations also did not address the mobility crisis facing smaller communities across the state. Within the next 18 months, the already austere transit system budgets in the Lehigh Valley, Lancaster, Westmoreland County, State College and more will hit their fiscal cliffs and begin cuts, harming Pennsylvania’s workers and vulnerable populations. Pennsylvania’s legislature and Governor have also entirely ignored the crisis facing our statewide shared-ride services, serving disabled and elderly populations in our most rural communities; in 2021, shared-ride programs operated at a $60 million loss in the 2020-21 fiscal year, the most recent year PennDOT’s report on the programs looked at. Costs have increased even as federal subsidies have waned, which means significant service cuts and fare increases are imminent for those with no other transportation options.

The Transit for All PA coalition has grown exponentially since the beginning of this year; we have built a movement of over 45,000 transit advocates who hail from all 253 legislative districts in Pennsylvania. We held more than 175 rallies, canvass events, and public meetings across the Commonwealth in the last 10 months, culminating in a 350 person rally and transit advocacy day in Harrisburg in June. And our coalition has proposed a commonsense transit funding solution – now the Transit for All PA legislative package championed by Senators Nikil Saval and Lindsey Williams, Representatives Jessica Benham and Aerion Abney (HB1523, HB1524, SB795, SB796) – that would raise sufficient, dedicated revenue to restore and expand mobility options for every community in Pennsylvania. 

The Pennsylvania budget has passed 135 days late; there are now only 230 days until our next state budget is due. Over the next 7 months, Transit for All PA will amplify the voices of transit riders across our Commonwealth in support of sustainable, expanded transit funding. The coalition’s message: our legislators must get back to their jobs so that PA workers can get to ours. Moreover, in 357 days, many of the leaders who negotiated today’s budget will be on the ballot, including Governor Shapiro. We intend to educate transit riders to hold the Governor and legislators accountable in their roles and at the ballot box, as we continue to work towards passing a budget that will finally move all Pennsylvanians.

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The budget is passed, but our fight for transit continues. Tell your elected officials that public transit moves their constituents and they must step up as champions:

Image Description: white text on a dark purple background reads “PPT’s Year End Transit Justice Victory Party”, with the PPT logo below. The graphic is illustrated with yellow star-shaped lights strung across the top of the frame

We’ve accomplished so much this year, all in service of new transit rider and worker power. Party down with us as we celebrate and build our visions for next year!

From Pittsburgh to Harrisburg and all across PA, 2025 has been a year of stunning growth for our movement for Transit Justice. It’s time to celebrate the love-filled community that makes it all possible—with yummy food, music, dancing, and the best company around.

Tickets to this party are offered on a sliding scale pricing basis. We suggest a $20 donation, but no one will be turned around for lack of funds.

What to expect

What, When, & Where

Friday, December 12, 2025, 6:00-9:00 PM
Hosanna House’s Wallace Event Center
805 Wallace Ace, Pittsburgh, PA, 15221

We’ll be inside at the Wallace Event Center at Wilkinsburg’s Hosanna House. We’ll have a DJ playing music, space to dance, and tables and chairs serving dinner for all those who reserve a ticket. We’ll have a brief speaking program where PPT members talk about our wins from the year, and what it means to build power with this community.

Attendees should not feel obligated to attend the entire event, so feel free to arrive and leave at times that work best for you.

Food

We will be providing a catered meal from Aladdin’s to all those who pre-register for this event. We will clearly label all major allergens on the food.

Our menu will be:

• Falafel (GF, Vegan, contains nuts), Tabouli (vegan), Hummus (GF, vegan), Baba Ghannouj (GF, vegan), Loubie Bzeit (GF, vegan)
• Hot rolled pitas with a choice of Chicken Shawarma, Chicken Curry, Aladdin’s Beef Kabob, Arayiss (Beef), or Cauliflower (vegan, contains nuts)
• Fresh salad (GF, vegan, may contain nuts)

Guests are welcome to bring a dessert to share if they wish! We just ask that they label ingredients or major allergens of anything they bring to share, so that folks can assess what is safe to eat for them.

Accessibility

The space is on the second floor, with an elevator running between floors. All spaces are accessible, including restrooms near the event space. There is consistent lighting throughout the space, which may be turned down a bit for dancing and speeches. There will likely be some loud portions of the evening, as we dance to music and have lively conversations with our neighbors.

We will be providing childcare at this event. Please indicate on your ticket form if you would like childcare for someone in your party.

Getting there

Please enter the building through the Wallace Ave. entrance, and head up to the second floor.

There is a bus stop right in front of the main entrance, serving the 67, 69, 79, P17, and P67 buses. There is also a stop 3 blocks away, which serves the 71D, 86, and P71. The venue is about a mile away from the Wilkinsburg East Busway stop.

There will be street parking available, as well as 3 parking lots at Wallace and Mill St., Wallace and Center St., and Mill St. and North Ave. All of these lots are within a block of the venue.

Volunteering

If you’re interested in volunteering, check the box at the end of the RSVP form, and an organizer will reach out to you to confirm details.

This is a community event, and we need help to make it a success! We have several volunteer shifts available for those interested in helping out. Don’t worry, you’ll still get a chance to eat, drink, and relax if you volunteer!

Volunteers may help out with:

• Set up crew: meet at the PPT office in Shadyside before the event to help pack and transport materials to the venue. Requires a vehicle and some ability to lift/move supplies using stairs.
• Check-in and welcome table: reference a spreadsheet to check guests in; record information of unregistered guests; take donations via cash/card
• Strategic plan table: explain our draft 2026 Strategic Plan to guests, and help them vote on the draft
• Food station: help guests place their desserts on the table, replace cups/utensils, check on other volunteers and bartender to make sure they’ve eaten
• Floater: check in with childcare professionals to see if they need a break; assist with miscellaneous needed tasks, such as cleaning up spills and assisting PPT staff
• Wayfinding: on standby to meet PPT members at nearby bus stops if they need someone to show them to the venue
• Photographer: take fun, engaging pictures of people at our event! Requires some mobility to move around the event space.
• Clean up crew: take down decorations, collect trash, and pack up vehicles after the party concludes

RSVP to Join Us

PPT’s new Organizing Fellowship in the South Hilltop Communities is building new leaders to grow our movement and win better transit service. Every few weeks we’re publishing interviews with our fellows with our takeaways. Here’s our first publication in the series!

In October, PPT launched a new organizing fellowship in the South Hilltop. With generous help from multiple organizations including the Hilltop Alliance, Brashear Association, Ms. Charlene Saner and Councilman Anthony Coghill’s office, PPT recruited 7 fellows from across the South Hilltop area to explore public transit access, infrastructure, financial barriers, and equitable development.

Examples of these topics include:

• Canvassing in your community to meet riders and build your base,
• Learning about bus shelter and sidewalk expansion and improvement,
• Winning improved service through Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT’s) Bus Line redesign process,
• Enrolling South Hilltop residents into the half-fare program, Allegheny Go, and advocating for a fully free program,
• Zoning/land use relationship connecting access to housing and quality transit.

So far, we have met our 7 amazing fellows in two classroom sessions. The first was an introduction to past and present PPT campaigns with special guest Teaira Collins speaking to winning weekend service on the 93, followed by a brief training on powermapping. Our second classroom session covered transit service, exploring what visionary service could look like with buses that run frequently, are accessible to all riders in the county, and run late and on weekends when we need it. We were able to compare maps of service past and present with former Program Manager of Service Planning and Schedules, Fred Mergner. We talked about the connections that people wish were easier to get to by transit from the Hilltop, including to grocery stores, church service in the Hill District, and family in Hazelwood.

Interview with our first fellow

Key Takeaways from the Hilltop Fellowship so far:

• Our newly launched fellowship in the South Hilltop aims to build transit rider power and find ways to advocate for safer, more accessible, and more reliable transit
• Our fellows identified the disconnect between PRT’s planning of service with riders’ lived experiences
• Effective rider advocacy requires overcoming feelings of powerlessness to change civic infrastructure

PPT: What are one or two things you feel like you’ve learned from the fellowship so far?

Fellow: I’ve learned more just about some of the struggles and the fights just to maintain and provide the service. Learning about the campaigns and the actions that have been taken, I didn’t really realize how many people have been involved. It’s like what we saw in the video today – neighbors just really coming together and fighting for their service. 

I grew up riding buses. Even now relying on the car a bit more, I think I have lost some of the perspective of transit issues. But I will say for myself, I would use transit more if it was more available. I honestly don’t like feeling like I have to drive a car everywhere.

It can be convenient, but it’s also a hassle, having a car. Maintaining it, getting the gas. I mean, I’d rather sit on a bus and read a book.

If I could drive a car less – and I understand a lot of people don’t have that option – but If we could get back to where we had more service I would be able to use [transit] every day. 

PPT: Earlier you said, you used to ride the bus a lot more. How has your ability to get to the places that you need to get to changed in the past few years completely? 

Fellow: Like I was saying earlier, one of the buses that I used all the time ran every 10 minutes and I’m not sure what it is now but now it’s maybe every 17-18. I was still riding it and it was definitely more like 20 minutes, which isn’t huge but that is double the time. When you’re trying to get to work or any little thing that happens if it’s late, then you’re late.

The service used to be so constant and it ran early and late. The routes were more plentiful and the service was just more frequent. It’s a lot harder now because it’s not going everywhere it used to go. It’s just taking more time, and stops have been eliminated. You used to walk a certain distance that’s even greater now. I’m fairly healthy, but I just had a medical incident recently. Another two blocks and  I’m not making it. That was one that I wasn’t even thinking about earlier, but all the stops that have been eliminated just makes it harder for people, especially if you’re limited in your ability or in any way.

PPT: What do you think PRT is missing or underestimating when they are planning reliable and safe service in the South Hilltop?

Fellow: I honestly wonder if they’re really thinking of the actual human beings that are using the service, how they’re using it. Are they thinking of actual people or just this broad idea of bus service or transit service?

I’m not sure they’re thinking about this mom with her young child that she has to get to daycare and then she has to get to work and then when she comes home, she’s stopping at the store and how that looks and where she needs. I don’t think they’re looking at the human aspect with the time frames.

I’m newer to this area but I do get the sense, the Hilltop is kind of a forgotten area a little bit. I live in Bon Air, which I know it’s very car centric. We have a bus that comes through the neighborhood and a T-stop. The bus that comes through the neighborhood is limited service – it doesn’t go downtown. The T-stop is down the hill down steps. So it’s one thing if you can get down there, but coming back up… oh my gosh.

I don’t know exactly how much ridership is within the neighborhood, but I do see people using the service. I think that was talked about being eliminated, the 54D. So I feel like we maybe are not a high priority compared to some other areas. 

PPT: If you and your neighbors wanted to come together to advocate for better transit, what do you think is an important first step and what would people need to get started to feel like they can speak up too an agency like PRT?

Fellow: I don’t know, I think it would probably be good to get out and talk to neighbors, just to gauge and see if people are happy with how it is. What are things that people would like to see happen? And then maybe, you know, if we could get a group of people together and then go figure out the next step.

Once we have a group of people and some thoughts of what the needs are then figure out who we go to from there.

PPT: You’re doing this already. You’re here!

Fellow: I’d like to actually go and meet people and talk, like to people waiting for the bus.

PPT: Foreshadowing what we have planned already! We’re gonna be doing some canvassing later. In thinking about getting folks involved, what do you feel is actually the biggest barrier to that? 

Fellow: I think for me prior to coming to this it was just not knowing where to go, who to talk to about it. I think other people may just not know what to do. A lot of us feel powerless – this is a big bureaucracy and we’re just little people and is anybody going to listen? Does anybody really care what we have to say? So we need to find that empowerment and some direction on knowing where you can be heard. 

PPT: Great. We’ll end there, but do you have anything else you want to say?

Fellow: The one thing here where you talked about safety. It ties into all the other things. When the service is more sporadic or when the stops are further apart, I think that’s a safety issue. The hours that the bus starts and stops –  if you miss that last 10 o’clock bus, where there used to be one at, you know, midnight, then you’re stranded somewhere at night. I think just reliable service, frequent service, and easy to get to stop that are lit at night are important for safety.

Community organizing gets the goods!! When a corporate property owner tried to remove important bus stops, more than 1500 riders spoke up to demand better – and won!

Besides Downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland, two of the busiest bus stops in our system are out front of the Giant Eagle and Target in Homestead. It was announced late-Summer that the corporation that owns the Waterfront (M&J Wilkow) wanted to remove those stops because of unsubstantiated claims about “safety”. When the announcement came, transit riders in the Mon Valley snapped into action. Within a week we had collected 1,500 signatures on a petition, we’d gotten the County Executive and Congressperson involved, and a solution was reached that maintained access for transit riders (and may even improve it in the future)!

On Monday, October 20th, PPT membrers and elected officials celebrated our win in style. We showed that this decision doesn’t just impact riders, but employees, transit workers, neighbors with disabilities, children, people who live in City of Pittsburgh and the Boroughs throughout the Mon Valley.

The issue of bus stop access is particularly important in the Mon Valley region because it is an area that has experienced disinvestment. Many communities in the Mon Valley face food and healthcare apartheid, and pedestrian infrastructure is often nonexistent or inaccessible. In this region, bus lines serve as crucial lifelines, connecting residents to jobs and essential needs.These problems would have been obvious if the people actually impacted had been involved in these talks and decisions from the very beginning.

While the decision to not remove the stops is a win, riders will not be pushed to the margins. We will not stand for our basic needs being cut due to deep prejudice. We want to recognize once again the incredible power of Black Women who have demonstrated longstand leadership and stood at the forefront of mobilizing (and spreading the riders petition) retail workers, neighbors, operators, elected officials, and so many to take action. We thank Rep. Summer Lee, Homestead Borough Vice President Mary Nesby, Homestead Resident Kristen Greene, Hazelwood Resident Tameeka Jones-Cuff, and Community Organizing Manager Cheryl Stephens.

See the news coverage:

• From Ed Blazina at the Pittsburgh Union Progress: Transit riders celebrate keeping bus stops at The Waterfront
• From WPXI: PRT riders celebrate decision to keep bus stops on Waterfront

Stay tuned as PPT continues to insist the Waterfront developers do right by transit riders. We belong here!

PPT’s recent Organizing Fellowship in the Mon Valley shows that when advocates skill up, they can organize their communities and win!

This year, Pittsburghers for Public Transit launched it’s first fellowship program for transit advocates in Mon Valley communities, led by staff and PPT Board facilitators. Why now, and why focus on these areas? PPT members voted as a part of our 2025 strategic plan to place additional time and resource into supporting transit riders in Mon Valley communities by sharing our learned experiences in working to win improvements to transit infrastructure (finding ways to get our sidewalks repairs, extended, restore bus shelters, and preserve stops) by educating elected officials and department leaders in the City of Pittsburgh on how they can make using transit an easier and more dignified experience. Through this program, we aimed to equip transit riders with ways to educate and activate municipal leaders to support robust policies that foster more connected communities.

PPT has worked along residents in the Mon Valley to stop service reduction on routes that are some of the highest for commuters in the state of Pennsylvania and riders have turned out to community meetings, rallies, and have made strides to not only stop changes to routes that would slash service, but make gains for weekend service and projects that would make traveling between communities and the City of Pittsburgh faster. Unfortunately, many places have not seen significant economic investments for residents over time. As a result, riders often travel far to access full-service grocery options, pharmacies, medical facilities, recreation centers, and more. Transit is more than the bus, but an essential lifeline. 

Fellows met weekly for 4 months to learn about community organizing and transit advocacy

For this program, fellows focused most of their time in Homestead, McKeesport, Duquesne, and Rankin, where they reside. Each week, we dove into a specific aspect of transit access in relation to PPT campaigns through both in-person and virtual discussions. During our in-person days in the field, we compiled a list of bus stops with high ridership numbers that would be eligible for a bus shelter. We also conducted a citizens’ audit of stops in each borough, speaking with people waiting to gather their transit service needs. Related to service, we rode the well-loved 59 Mon Valley route and chatted with riders waiting at the bus stop in North Versailles about their travel destinations and how the service frequency affected their experience. Fellows meet with a representative from the Steel Valley COG to explore how local-level policies influence street design and planning by elected officials. Additionally, we discuss the potential for equitable transit-oriented development on county-owned land in collaboration with Pittsburgh Regional Transit staff. Fellows learned about fare equity and the Allegheny Go program. We monitored the county’s enrollment progress, identifying opportunities to boost enrollment through discussions of benefits and facilitating on-the-spot enrollments. 

During our short time, our fellows and facilitators cover tremendous ground in learning about how we can make the kinds of connections we want to see for more people-focused, transit-grounded decision-making to create thriving places and spaces.

Our Mon Valley Organizing Fellowship set us up for victory on the Waterfront Bus Stop campaign – join our next Organizing Fellowship to win better transit in your community! 

When we organize, we win! – and our Mon Valley Organizing Fellowship proved that. Almost immediately after our Fellowship ended, it was announced that the property owners at the Waterfront wanted to remove the two bus stops in front of the Giant Eagle and Target. This move was a disgrace to transit riders. These two stops are some of the most used stops in the Mon Valley – serving more than 2500 riders every week! 

Organizers from the Mon Valley Organizing Fellowship snapped into action and began circulating a petition to keep the stops at the Waterfront. Their work in the fellowship helped establish a network to get the word out about opportunities to fight for improved transit. In less than a week our petition had collected 1400 signatures, and won the endorsement of US Congressperson Summer Lee! Our Organizing Fellows made the news speaking up for the bus stop. And within a week more, it was announced that County Executive Sara Innamorato had reached a deal with local leaders and the property owners to keep these bus stops!

You can be part of this Organizing Fellowship success story! Join us at our Press Conference Parade on October 20th to declare that transit riders have power. We’re here to stay at the Waterfront – and all throughout Allegheny County! RSVP here

We’ll be launching new PPT Organizing Fellowships in communities around our County (and state!) in 2026, so be sure to stay tuned for the next opportunity to sign up!

Image Description: A group of advocates stands with Pittsburgh City Councilmembers inside council chambers. They smile and hold Transit for All PA! and Week Without Driving PGH signs, as well as a large proclamation bearing the City seal.

On Sept 30th, Mayor Ed Gainey announced his proposed 2026 budget for the City of Pittsburgh, in which he has included funding for the purchase of transit passes of all downtown City employees through Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s PRTner pass.

This is a huge deal, enabling hundreds of municipal workers to be given free transit passes as an employment benefit, and making the City of Pittsburgh a leader in modeling the benefits of the program for other regional employers and institutions. Mayor Ed Gainey and City Councilwoman Barb Warwick deserve major kudos for their tireless efforts in advocating for this program!

Send a letter to your City Councilmember to show your support for this program and to ensure that this benefit is preserved and solidified in this year’s budget vote in December, 2025!

What is the PRTner Pass?

At the end of last year, Pittsburgh Regional Transit rolled out the new PRTner pass program after receiving overwhelming support through its public comment period. It enables the bulk purchase of transit fares for employers, developers and school districts to pay for passes for their constituencies at the deeply discounted rate of $28/per person monthly. 

The PRTner pass has the potential to provide low-income and working class people (renters, students, employees) across Allegheny County unlimited transit access—freedom of movement—that will both save money on their existing transit trips and incentivize more travel by transit. Moreover, it will increase the amount of dedicated operating revenue for PRT, through new transit fare payments by corporations and developers, large non-profits, school systems and now municipalities like the City of Pittsburgh.

 In our challenging political climate, it’s hard to win new revenue for restoring and expanding transit service, particularly through progressive means. The PRTner pass is a unicorn funding opportunity- growing transit equity, transit ridership, transit revenue, and sourced from corporations and major institutions! Win win win win!

And there’s massive potential for growth – at SOUND transit in Seattle, where a similar program has existed for years, more than half of the transit agency’s total revenue is generated from a bulk discount fare program like the PRTner pass.

Send a letter to your City Councilmember to show your support for the City’s purchase of transit passes for Pittsburgh City workers, and to ensure that this benefit is preserved and solidified in this year’s budget vote in December, 2025!

Send a letter in support of the PRTner Pass

To affordable fares—and beyond!

Now, the PRTner pass purchase for City employees is only the first step. It’s important that more employers and developers are incentivized to participate. That is one piece of why we have been organizing in support of the Mayor’s Housing and Zoning Code Package, which include incentives for developers and employers to mitigate their commuter impacts through PRTner pass purchases. 

This program has long been an organizing goal of riders! There is a big demand by employers, schools and developers to provide a benefit similar to the student pass programs at CMU, Pitt and Pittsburgh Public Schools. Since 2019 and the launch of our Fair Fares Platform, PPT has called for Pittsburgh Regional Transit to offer common-sense fare products (we called them “fare incentive programs”) that would increase both revenue and ridership for the agency. 

We have envisioned opportunities for large employers like UPMC to purchase passes for their workers, helping ease some of the transportation costs on our region’s healthcare staff and reducing the need for shuttles and parking lots that increase congestion and disallow more housing or commercial developments in the city. For service employees like those at Giant Eagle or janitors in the downtown office buildings, monthly transit passes could be a substantial commuter benefit, but it could also be used for all sorts of necessary trips outside of the workplace- for recreation and childcare, for grocery shopping and healthcare appointments. 

At the Giant Eagle Shakespeare site at Shady and Penn, we have organized since 2018 for bulk passes to be purchased for all renters in the future housing development, to reduce the demand for structured parking, and to increase transit usage in one of the most transit-rich corridors in the County. This demand was included in our 100 Days Transit Platform for Mayor Gainey in 2021 and our Riders Demands for the Next County Executive in 2023. And in February 2024, we made bulk discount employer fares- like this PRTner Pass proposal- a cornerstone of our goal to have elected officials play their part to fund transit at all levels, by calling on the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to purchase passes for their employees. 

We’re now seeing the fruits of that organizing- and we’re just getting started.

Image Description: An illustration of an orange and yellow bus, decked out with smiling passengers, and with its destination sign reading “future”. To its right, in front of starbursts and cartoon stripes, is black and white text reading “The Future of Transit Justice: PPT’s 2026 Strategic Plan”.

Every year, our grassroots union engages in a collaborative planning process to chart a path for our growth in the coming year. PPT’s members help us brainstorm ideas for our internal organizational development, creating goals for how we support our members and build up the PPT family. We also brainstorm ideas for campaigns we can take on to win improvements for transit riders and communities–things like making fares more affordable, improving service, or building better sidewalks and more affordable housing. 

This is an ongoing collaborative process between our membership, committees, board, and staff. This is what makes our work so special: every PPT member, whether they’ve paid dues or shown up to support us at rallies and events, has a voice in our strategic plan.

I’m a PPT member, how can I give feedback?

Below are 6 target areas we want to focus on in 2025, and some ideas for specific goals within each area. We want to hear your input on them, so please share your opinions and wisdom below.

For each of the 5 campaign topics (Fares, Service, Infrastructure, Funding, #VoteTransit), consider these questions as you give your feedback:

• What needs to be changed or added to this plan? 
• What parts feel particularly aligned with PPT? What parts get you fired up for the year to come?
• What seems most important to prioritize over the coming year? 
• How will we measure success?

All feedback is welcome–after all, you’re the expert on your own experience riding local transit!

For each step, share any thoughts you have about the listed target area and goals. If you don’t have anything to write, just write “n/a”.

Fill out this form to help us brainstorm PPT’s 2026 Strategic Plan:

Image Description: a grainy image of a bus stop outside the Target at the Waterfront development. Overlaid is black and yellow text reading “ACTION ALERT: Bus stops removed at the Waterfront”.

Update as of September 29th, 2025

Update: On September 20th, 2025, Waterfront owners reached an agreement in principle with Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato to find a long-term solution that would keep PRT service inside the Waterfront.

While no details on the deal are available, Innamorato has said that the stops outside Target and Giant Eagle will remain in service until a more specific deal is struck.

This is a short-term win generated by the advocacy of over a thousand transit riders, Waterfront shoppers, Waterfront employees, and transit operators. In just 13 days, over 1,300 people signed our petition; we also received support from from U.S. Representative Summer Lee, City Councilmember Barb Warwick, State Senator Nick Pisciottano, and ATU Local 85 President Ross Nicotero. 50 Waterfront employees signed the petition, sending a clear message that the Waterfront needs public transit in order to function.

As the County and Waterfront management work out the details of their deal, advocates need to send a strong message: The Waterfront needs transit riders, and transit riders won’t tolerate harm. Keep the bus stops where they are. Please continue to circulate this petition to your networks, and help us keep the pressure up.

Waterfront management forces major bus stop removal

There are major changes planned that will impact riders taking the 53/53L, 57, 59, 64, and 61D to and from the Waterfront in Homestead, PA. The stops they use to shop at Target and Giant Eagle will be removed.

In the next round of schedule changes on October 19, 2025, riders who rely on buses to pick them up and drop them off at stops by Target or Giant Eagle, will no longer be able to use those stops. These stops, which serve over 2,500 rider boardings per week, will be removed entirely. This change was triggered by M&J Wilkow Properties, LLC, which manages the shopping center. 

Instead, riders will have to walk or from Target, Giant Eagle, and other nearby shops, to existing stops on Amity Way (see map below). Depending on location, this could mean distance of a thousand feet, beside a sprawling parking lot and requiring riders to cross major roadways. The stops at this new location currently see less than half the weekly ridership as the existing stops at Target and Giant Eagle.

PRT previously considered relocating the stops to East Waterfront Drive (which currently see less than 1 rider a day on average), but opted for the Amity locations due to a lack of accessible drop off areas on East Waterfront. This change will likely cause some of the buses that service the Waterfront to be rerouted entirely for that portion of their journey.

Image Description: a screenshot from Google Maps of the Waterfront development. Target and Giant Eagle are marked on the map. The current bus stops, which are slated for removal, are marked in yellow. In red, across 20-30 rows of cars in a parking lot, are the new stop locations on Amity Street.

What This Could Mean For Riders?

Eliminating these stops will have a huge impact on riders and businesses both.

These bus stop changes will harm already marginalized community members: People using mobility devices like wheelchairs, walkers, and canes; other disabled folks; caregivers with kids; hourly retail workers; and shoppers carrying heavy groceries will all face a more arduous journey between their grocery stores and the bus. Riders will have to budget additional time into their trips, traveling long distances between the sidewalk or crossing through a sprawling parking lot to get to and from a stop quickly.

This will harm stores as well: shoppers may decide to make fewer trips to stores because they are physically not able to make it to and from the new stops easily.

Finally, this will add confusion to routing patterns that riders rely on to plan their trips. Adjustment to routes takes time and many riders will experience delays, confusion, and pass-ups due to not understanding changes patterns for the new inbound and outbound routes. While some buses already use the Amity stop, others will need to be rerouted entirely for their Waterfront journeys to make room for this change.

What Can You Do? 

We need your help to spread the word! Do you take any of these routes to the Waterfront? Are you an employee who takes the bus to work, a shopper, or anyone whose rider will be impacted? Take action by signing the petition asking Waterfront Management (M&J Wilkow Properties, LLC), the Boroughs of Homestead and West Homestead, and Pittsburgh Regional Transit to stop these cuts and ensure that transit riders are not displaced to the margins. 

Help us protect accessible transit at the Waterfront by signing our petition now!

Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s Board Meeting is scheduled for Friday, 9/26 at 9:30 am, and we want to make sure they hear our voices loud and clear. Register with us by Tuesday, 9/23 and we will make sure you’re signed up and prepared to speak online or in-person at the PRT Board Meeting.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) and ACCESS riders and workers are feeling temporary relief that the proposed catastrophic service cuts and fares increases are no longer scheduled for 2026. But no transit funding solution (or any budget!) has yet passed in Harrisburg, and PRT bus service continues to be unreliable and insufficient to meet our needs.

And so, while we continue to organize for NEW transit funding out of Harrisburg that serves all PA, we are calling on Pittsburgh Regional Transit to take action now to improve schedules and transit service, and to build a system worth fighting for. 

In developing your testimony for the PRT Board meeting, we urge you to share the following:

• Who are you, and why are you organizing for better transit. 

• All the work that you have done- this year, over decades, to win state funding so that we can have the transit service that we deserve. We know that just over the last 9 months, over 30,000 people have taken action with us in every single legislative district in the Commonwealth, to win a budget that funds transit for all PA. That includes multiple rallies in Pittsburgh, Philly and Lancaster, an ALL-DAY lobby day in Harrisburg, public testimony to PRT about the impact of the cuts, over 400,000 emails sent to legislators, postcard campaigns, op-eds, canvassing riders, phonebanking, petitioning with transit workers, and developing funding research and advocacy videos with us. We want Pittsburgh Regional Transit leaders to hear how you have played a key role in this fight, despite working a full time job, or raising children, or managing a disability, or however else you could have chosen to spend your time. 

• That Pittsburgh Regional Transit needs to ACT NOW to make our transit service better – more reliable, more available and more comprehensible. While we no longer have to fear the immediate threat of more service cuts and fare increases, transit service (and communication about stop changes) continues to be poor. You should share stories about your recent experience with transit service or communication about stop changes. We regularly hear about buses that are chronically late or that don’t show up, overcrowding on routes, schedules that don’t match up for a transfer, service cuts that have made a route unusable. PRT continues to make decisions about service changes everyday that affect the availability and usefulness of the system- we need them to use that power to build a system that works for us. 

Pittsburgh Regional Transit Board members and leadership need to know that even though the service cuts are on pause, their work is only just beginning. Riders deserve better transit than what we have today, and PRT has the power to deliver it – through better scheduling, by reinvesting funding that they have been squirreling away from cuts into more service, by having clear signage and communication to operators when bus stops are relocated.

Through all of our actions, we’ve shown that we’re committed to our transit system; now we need PRT to prove that they are committed to us.