Draconian. adj., harsh; extremely severe, cruel. That is the word officials of the Port Authority and Philadelphia-based Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority use when they talk about bus and rail cuts in our future.

The two transit agencies propose not only to raise the base fare to $2.50 but also to eliminate weekend service. The Port Authority also plans to shut down after 9 p.m. weekdays for extra draconian impact.

Officials say, as they did last year and in 2002, 2001, ad nauseam, the only way to head off a public disaster is for the state to come to the rescue with more money: About $100 million statewide for the 2004-05 fiscal year, which is already four months gone, and $125 million or more for the 2005-06 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

A predictable, dedicated source of state operating assistance that keeps pace with inflation, enables long-term planning and eliminates political dependency would be the proper way for lawmakers and Gov. Ed Rendell to solve the recurring financial crises.

It would create a permanent fix to the same old problems and same old threats that I'm sick of reporting and you're sick of hearing.

Pennsylvania politics don't work that way.

Is there another way?

Some people believe so.

Declare bankruptcy. If Pittsburgh and US Airways can, why not the Port Authority? It would have an opportunity to reorganize finances and cut costs with court blessing.

(Port Authority officials say the law doesn't permit them to enter into bankruptcy. What do you call it if they go belly-up?)

Eliminate management. Turn the company over to Local 85, Amalgamated Transit Union. The union carps about how management is overpaid and doesn't know what it's doing anyway.

(The authority has 306 nonrepresented administrative and management employees. Could things get any worse without them?)

Buy cars. Riders hurt most by the loss of buses and trolleys are "transit dependents," referring to people with no means of getting around other than buses and trolleys. This year's $282 million budget can put 30,000 people behind the wheel of a new Hyundai Elantra GLS.

(Buy American, you say? Surprise, Mr. and Mrs. Wal-Mart shopper. Who do you think builds our buses and light-rail vehicles?)

Flip-flop the strategy. Keep service that the authority wants to eliminate and eliminate service it wants to keep. That is, eliminate all bus-trolley service Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

(Weekday bus and trolley commuters from Monroeville, Moon, Mt. Lebanon and Marshall might get off their duffs and join the funding fight being carried out by too few people.)

Maintain current fares and service. Run the Port Authority until the money runs out. Lock the doors and deliver the keys to Harrisburg.

(Leave the decision about the future of transit to the state. That's why we pay the big bucks to elected officials.)

Cut management and union wages across the board by 10 percent. No routes would have to be eliminated and the jobs of 500 union brothers and sisters would be preserved.

(Fat chance.)

Put the authority on eBay and auction it off to the highest bidder.

(Port Authority critics could put their money where their mouths are. What's your bid?)

I've mentioned a few of these ideas to authority officials, no matter how irresponsible, convoluted and stupid they are -- the ideas, of course, not the officials.

It brought the predictable reaction: "You've gotta be kidding."

That's what 225,000 riders thought when the Port Authority announced the draconian fare hikes and service cuts.

State Transit $$$. It's not as if the state is not already doling out a big chunk of change for public transit.

In the current fiscal year, counting all sources, including reimbursement from the lottery fund for free rides to senior citizens, total state spending for transit is budgeted at $833 million.

Of that amount, $125 million is pledged for "capital assistance," used to match federal grants for improvements such as buying buses and expanding light-rail service. The remainder, or $708 million, is going for "operating assistance," such as paying salaries and buying fuel.

This year, the Port Authority's shares are $30 million for capital assistance and $155.8 million for operating assistance. The latter pays 55.2 percent of the authority's day-to-day expenses, the subsidy that dictates fares and level of service.

Hear ye, hear ye! The Port Authority has almost run out of three-minute speaking slots for the public hearings Thursday at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel about fare increases and service cuts. As of Friday, 123 had signed up.

In addition to the usual groups and individuals, representatives of financial institutions, universities, foundations and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust are to testify for the first time.

For people reluctant about public speaking, a stenographer will be available in a private room to take individual testimony during the hearing hours of 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 to 6 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.

Comments also can be e-mailed to www.ridegold.com. More than 100 people have already done so.

Also for the first time, the Port Authority has formally invited state legislators and Rendell's office to attend.

Invitations did not ask for an R.S.V.P., but it will be interesting to see who attends. Station Square has parking for state-owned cars.

Elsewhere. San Mateo, Calif.-based transit buses receive an intensive 46-item "detailing" every 5,000 or 6,000 miles, plus nightly cleanings, making them some of the cleanest buses in the country. On a typical weeknight, seven workers at the San Carlos facility clean 118 vehicles. At North Base, 10 workers clean 195 vehicles. The general manager/chief executive officer is Mike Scanlon, a former operations manager at the Port Authority.

Believe it! In 1982, the Port Authority had 2,865 employees; its buses and trolleys provided 93.4 million rides. Last year, when the authority had about 3,100 employees, its buses and trolleys provided 67.1 million rides.

Plate du jour. I recently spotted the Pennsylvania personalized license plate CUIN CT on a Lexus passing through the Liberty Tunnels. Must be a LGL BEGL.