Port Authority plans to streamline and simplify its fare-collection system with the introduction of "smart card" technology that will make life easier for customers and provide the agency with a wealth of information about ridership.

Steve Bland, the Port Authority's chief executive, announced the multimillion-dollar project yesterday as part of an initiative dubbed Connect '09 that will eventually lead to a major overhaul of bus service in Allegheny County.

"I don't want to oversell people that, oh yeah, in five years you won't recognize the place. Well in five years maybe 15 percent of the place might be fundamentally changed or redeployed," Mr. Bland said. "The service between Oakland and Downtown will always be a big route. We're not looking at picking up rail tracks on the 'T' and moving them somewhere else."

Such a significant system redesign had not been done in "many, many years," Mr. Bland said. It will likely lead the agency to rethink its current hub-and-spoke system that funnels most buses into Downtown and make fundamental changes to account for shifts in population throughout the county.

One type of replacement might be a so-called trunk-and-feeder system. For example, buses that have traditionally taken riders from the South Hills to Downtown might one day stop at a light rail transit station and discharge passengers who would then take the "T." Also on the horizon might be more localized bus routes serving neighborhoods.

"What it really means is sort of a ground-up look at our entire service structure, how that service works together, how it can be made more effective," Mr. Bland said.

On hand for the announcement were state Department of Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler and James Hassinger, executive director of the 10-county Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. Both men praised the initiative.

For years, PAT has focused its planning on things such as busway projects or the North Shore Connector, Mr. Bland said.

"We haven't spent as much effort looking at the system as a whole and saying, 'Well, how do the pieces fit together? How might they fit together better?' "

Changes in demographics are driving the exhaustive look at the bus system, and while the busways, the light rail system and major bus corridors -- such as Downtown to Oakland -- will remain, everything else is fair game for change.

As an example, Mr. Bland noted the explosive growth in Cranberry and said PAT must examine its service in northern Allegheny County as a result. He also mentioned PAT's service to Pittsburgh International Airport.

"We have an airport route. You can get to the airport, but what do you do once you get there? How might we design service better for that?" Mr. Bland said.

Mr. Bland promised extensive public participation and said PAT would work with other regional transit agencies in crafting its plans.

That spirit of regional cooperation was on display in several other ways yesterday. As of June 17, when a 15 percent service cut will take place because of funding problems, PAT will allow other transit agencies to pick up passengers in Allegheny County.

Ken Zapinski, senior vice president, transportation and infrastructure for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, applauded Mr. Bland's news, particularly the willingness to cooperate with other transit agencies.

"We think these are absolutely the right steps in the right direction, and these are the sorts of moves that Port Authority should have been moving towards years ago," Mr. Zapinski said.

Mr. Bland said $34 million in federal funds available to PAT will be shared with other regional transit agencies who want to participate in buying new fare-collection equipment for buses.

That money will cover 80 percent of the agencies' costs for a smart-card system. PAT will use $6 million in state funds and some county money to make up the other 20 percent to outfit its 1,000 buses. Other agencies will be on their own to finance the remainder of their costs.

PAT will have to find a separate revenue stream to pay for smart-card technology on its 83 light rail transit vehicles, since the $34 million is earmarked for only bus-related expenses.

Smart cards -- plastic cards that can either be swiped or waved over a reader -- will provide PAT with information about how often and when people use bus routes.

PAT's current fare collection system is about 17 years old, labor intensive for drivers and provides limited information to the agency about how buses are being utilized.

New fare machines should be rolled out within a year after a contract is awarded, which should take between six and eight months.

Passengers will still be able to use cash and will likely have other payment methods at their disposal if they choose not to buy a smart card.