Pennsylvania Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, is pitching the idea of a regional, multi-county public transit authority as Pittsburgh Regional Transit braces for a fare increase and drastic service cuts.
In a memo, Costa said he plans to introduce legislation “in the near future” to create such a transit agency.
“The Southwestern PA economy is more interconnected now than ever, with people traveling in and out of Pittsburgh to work, access services and enjoy events,” Costa wrote. “While PRT provides service within Allegheny County, there is limited connection to public transit in other Southwestern counties. Some smaller transit agencies in the region have no overlap with PRT at all.”
These issues, Costa said, aren’t new. The state legislature in 1963 created the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, a multi-county system built of smaller, existing transit authorities on the other side of the commonwealth.
“It is time to right-size our regional transportation system to meet the regional economy of the Southwestern part of the Commonwealth,” Costa said.
His legislation would encourage smaller transit agencies to consolidate with Pittsburgh Regional Transit to create a Southwestern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, which he has dubbed SWEPTA. The goal would be to create a regional authority with a larger board and representation from several counties.
But the legislation Costa plans to bring to the table would not require a merger. It would instead incentivize merging public transit functions into a single entity.
This comes as Pittsburgh Regional Transit has proposed a 25-cent fare hike and widespread service cuts. The changes would make the transit authority’s fares among the highest in the nation, eliminate the light-rail Silver Line and cut bus routes. Plans include ending all service after 11 p.m. and increasing rates for elderly and disabled passengers for the first time in more than a decade.
The cuts, which would go into effect in February 2026, would scrap service altogether for 19 municipalities and three Pittsburgh neighborhoods, Pittsburgh Regional Transit spokesperson Adam Brandolph told TribLive on Tuesday.
Local officials and residents have rallied against the proposed cuts and fare increases, which aim to fill a gaping budget deficit.
Mass transit agencies throughout Pennsylvania have experienced financial challenges, Costa said, spurring service cuts and higher fares.
“Transit agencies experiencing this can enter a ‘death spiral’ of cuts and higher fares that then decrease ridership, making it more expensive per rider to function and forcing more service cuts and higher fares and so on until bankruptcy,” Costa wrote.
While Pittsburgh Regional Transit is struggling, more than 60 smaller agencies have also said they need additional funding as covid-19 emergency funds are no longer available and ridership has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, Costa said.