How Did We Get Here?

Act 89 of 2013 created a multi-modal fund to support public transit statewide. The bill sustained public transit in Pittsburgh and across Pennsylvania for a decade. In the latter years of Act 89, funding has been unable to keep up with the needs of Allegheny County.

Beginning in 2021, federal pandemic relief funding subsidized fare losses, delaying the impacts of the funding deficit.

Having exhausted federal pandemic relief funding in FY24, Pittsburgh Regional Transit is now facing a structural deficit, meaning expenses, year after year, are greater than the funding that’s brought in, and the difference becomes greater each year.

In FY25, PRT plans to address a $50 million budget deficit by dipping into its emergency reserve fund.

With a projected $100 million deficit in FY26, PRT would need a $117 million infusion of state funding – with compounding annual increases – to support current service levels for the next decade. This would allow PRT to cover expenses and account for rising costs.

Absent new funding, the only way we're able to make meaningful changes to narrow the funding gap is to cut service and increase fares.