PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

PAT Votes for 15% cuts
by david Friday, Mar. 30, 2007 at 7:06 PM

Port Authority Board passes service cuts.

* 15% cuts in service go into effect June 17
* ACCESS gets a $.50 increase by July 1
* service could be cut an additional 10% in September if PAT can't fill the remaining $45 million deficit.

Service cuts by route
http://www.portauthority.org/paac/portals/0/Service%20ChangesJune2007.pdf

Revised Service Plan Maps -

Weekday Service
http://www.portauthority.org/paac/portals/0/weekdaysrvcuts.pdf

Saturday Service
http://www.portauthority.org/paac/portals/0/saturdaysrvcuts.pdf

Sunday Service
http://www.portauthority.org/paac/portals/0/sundaysrvcuts.pdf

www.portauthority.org/PAAC/News/RevisedServicePlanApproved/tabid/334/Default....

dominoes are falling
by stephen donahue Saturday, Mar. 31, 2007 at 4:31 PM

Hi,
Well the dominoes are falling. Now on June 17, 2007 public transit service in Allegheny County drops another 15% then in September of 07 still another 10%. Come on, the ass holes in Harrisburg are NOT going to deal with the structural deficiencies in public transit funding. As the idiot Sen. Fontana put it for the news people, “dedicated funding is for highways.” (What does that dude smoke?)

The media has reported widely over these past few weeks about how “young professionals” (you know; the salvation of Pittsburgh) have continued to flee the area in strong numbers, especially during these past few years. No reason to stay with a poor infrastructure, overall lower wages than other places and an ever decreasing quality of life. Pittsburgh is continuing to go down the toilet and yesterday the Port Authority took our region a giant step deeper into the fecal hole.

Rhetoric by Bland about how it is time now to talk about how “we can build the system back up” is nonsense. Steve Bland has demonstrated absolutely no vision for public transit and he is a perfect fit for a state like PA that has no vision either. Ever since he got here he has apologized for the size of the system. He will turn the Port Authority into a sort of -- welfare transit agency – that does nothing more than get [some of] us to our low paying jobs.

I have not heard Steve Bland even one time talk about how important public transit is or how it benefits a region. All he has done is complain about how big the system is. He does nothing to promote the system or ridership. For my tax and fare dollar I expect a cheer leader for public transit not somebody trashing public transit.

Best of all however is when his ass kissers (PAT Board) wax on about his great “sacrifices.” Why his $180,000.00 a year salary his frozen. Hmmm, let me see, I made $7,000.00 last year so in close to 20 years I can make what this poor guy makes in one year. What a friggin joke!

Well, I wish Allegheny County many happy traffic jams. I wish the region many poor air quality days. This region is condemned to at best to mediocrity and with hired visionless people like Steve Bland and with elected ass holes like Dan Onorato (he says that public transit is a “luxury” that we can’t afford) mediocrity is the best we can hope for.

stephen donahue -- just a captive public transit rider.

Onoroto
by exiled in the suburbs Sunday, Apr. 01, 2007 at 5:49 AM

I knew Onoroto was a schmuck, but saying public transit is a "luxury"??! What a dick. I'm also wondering how long working people are going to let politricksters get away with business as usual...glad to see the riders with Save Our Transit are fighting the good fight. Perhaps we should gather up some of those people riding the busses in luxury and visit Onoroto to let him know how we feel.