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Port Authority estimates that a 35 percent service cut proposed for January would result in 31,000 to 46,000 fewer transit riders per day, further clogging up the parkways and intensifying the daily battle for scarce Downtown parking.
It also would leave riders like Keith Leggett Jr. stranded.
"I would be cut off," said Mr. Leggett, 45, of McKeesport, a regular rider of the G1 West Busway route, which is slated for elimination.
Riders like Mr. Leggett were worried and frustrated at learning Wednesday about the proposed cuts, which will be made if the authority doesn't get more state funding to fill a projected $50 million budget deficit.
The news came as no surprise to rider Mona Stuvaints, given the authority's years of financial struggles. "They've got to take money from here, here and here to make ends meet," said Ms. Stuvaints, 40, of the North Side.
PDFStill, she was unhappy about the prospect of losing the route she uses to reach Robinson Town Centre, which she said has far more shopping options than Downtown. "We won't have access to the best service if we want to go to the mall."
The service cuts and a proposed Jan. 1 fare increase were presented Wednesday at a meeting of the authority board's Planning and Development Committee.
"It's a pretty depressing story," said Wendy Stern, assistant general manager for planning and development, after she outlined the changes. Forty-eight routes would be eliminated, weekend service on other routes would be sharply curtailed and 555 of the authority's 2,755 employees would be laid off, including 350 bus drivers.
Fifty neighborhoods that currently have bus service would lose all of it, she said.
"We're talking about cuts that will be damaging to the region as a whole and devastating to certain neighborhoods," said authority CEO Steve Bland.
"Don't think you won't be impacted just because you don't ride the bus," he added. "Parking Downtown will get tougher. Congestion at certain times of the day will get worse."
The service cuts, deepest in the authority's 54-year history, would take effect Jan. 9 if the Legislature doesn't provide additional funding.
Authority officials said they have implemented more than $50 million in austerity measures in recent years, including layoffs and service cuts, and are in the midst of overhauling the entire transit system to eliminate unproductive routes and focus service where there is demand.
The January cuts wouldn't be about efficiency, Ms. Stern said. "This is cutting beyond efficiency. This is cutting into the core. The low-productivity routes have already disappeared."
"This region will be facing a catastrophe with 30,000 people scrambling to find a way to work," said Guy Mattola, the committee chair. "This is the real deal. This is scary if this happens."
"At first thought, it's obviously a disaster. If you look at it closely, it's much worse than that," said Jonathan Robison, an attorney who chairs the Allegheny County Transit Council, an advisory group. "It's the death of the Port Authority as we know it."
People who depend on transit will be forced to walk miles to work and be unable to visit their doctors or shop, he said in a telephone interview after the meeting. "When the buses do come, they'll be full to overcrowded" -- a problem that already exists on some routes.
He urged riders to contact their state senators and state representatives in an effort to head off the cuts.
A public hearing on the service cuts and fare increases will be held Aug. 19 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The authority will accept public comments on its website, www.portauthority.org, starting Wednesday through Aug. 31. Comments also may be sent by mail.
The authority board is scheduled to vote on the plan Sept. 24. Officials say the cuts can be reversed if the Legislature acts before January but noted that the agency already is incurring the costs of preparing for them, and that those costs will mount with time.
The increases that would take effect Jan. 1 would raise the Zone 1 fare to $2.25; Zone 2 to $3; and transfers to $1 -- all up 25 cents.
But Light Rail Transit riders and users of 13 suburban express bus routes would be charged a new "premium" fare of $4. The authority said its cost of providing service on those routes exceeds $4 per passenger.
The $4 fare didn't sit well with some LRT patrons.
"Insane," said Randy Bizon, 33, of the North Side, as he made his way through Wood Street station on Wednesday. He said he likely would take fewer trips.
Laronda Lewis, 38, of Allentown, said she would rather have someone pick her up by car than pay the $4 fare. She may not have a choice. One route to be eliminated in January is the Brown Line, which serves Allentown.
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