Grata Guide: Roddey's transit role insight to his plans

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Grata Guide: Roddey's transit role insight to his plans

Sunday, November 07, 1999

By Joe Grata, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Jim Roddey will become one of the region's most powerful figures when he takes office Jan. 1 as Allegheny County executive under home rule.

But many people probably became aware of him when he served as Port Authority board chairman from February 1984 through December 1987, an era of reform or tumult at one of the nation's largest transit systems, depending upon your ideology.

Being chairman thrust Roddey into the limelight and media prominence for the first time since he left Atlanta in 1978 and moved to Pittsburgh.

It was a position responsible for more government money ($200 million a year) and more employees (3,000) than any other nonprofit or civic organization in which he had ever participated. Policies and decisions had -- and still have -- a major countywide impact.

I covered the authority during Roddey's chairmanship, and what happened then gives us some interesting insights into what we can expect as he assumes his latest and certainly biggest leadership role.

Roddey was named to the Port Authority by then-county Commissioner Tom Foerster, a Democrat returned to public office last week with his election to the new 15-member Allegheny County Council that Roddey will be dealing with. But while Roddey was at the authority, his voter registration was Independent, not Republican, as he's registered now.

Here are some of the more memorable moments of the Roddey era at the Port Authority.

??Playing the role of a Pied Piper, Roddey sent letters to more than 1,000 leaders of corporations, institutions and businesses, asking them to ride buses and trolleys once a week, or at least once a month. He rode transit, too, as an example for others.

??After Roddey learned the authority had more than 10,000 job applications on file, and that applicants went to state legislators or local political ward chairmen to have their applications moved to the top, the Port Authority went to an outside source to take and screen applications -- the Pennsylvania Job Service Center.

?Roddey and then PAT Executive Director William W. Millar invaded the turf of Local 85, Amalgamated Transit Union, showing up at the union's monthly meeting and going face to face with 300 members for two hours.

?Roddey ordered half of the authority-owned cars assigned for personal use by management employees to be sold. He told the people to ride buses if they needed transportation to the authority's Manchester offices.

?The Port Authority eliminated its "waterways division," which had no jurisdiction or operations connected with the rivers, except for the Three Rivers Regatta. As part of the move, the authority's rented houseboat, entertainment, food, "hospitality suite" and booze became water over the dam.

?Foreign travel was banned. Several authority board members planning to attend a transit conference in Germany canceled their reservations in a huff.

Allegheny County almost had a PAT tax instead of a RAD tax. Had Roddey's proposal for a half-cent sales tax dedicated to transit been advanced after the authority was threatened with bankruptcy, the authority wouldn't be taking 15 to 20 years to build "Stage II" of the light-rail system. Transit rails would have been running in all directions by now.

He and Millar successfully lobbied to change state law that at one time gave authority unions both the right to strike and to unilaterally force arbitration in labor disputes. The authority adopted an ethics code, consolidated ride zones and reduced fares, pared the number of outside law firms from 13 to three, established a merit-based hiring policy ...

Enough already. I just wanted to demonstrate that the Port Authority went on quite a ride for almost four years, and the driver was a rowdy Roddey.

PennDOT news brakes. Although it knew in advance that it would be reopening the Liberty Avenue on-ramp to the Fort Pitt Bridge at noon Oct. 29, PennDOT failed to notify most of the media in time for thousands of people to benefit through the Friday afternoon rush hours.

"Getting Around," which reported the Halloween trick last Sunday, wants to give the department credit for being consistent.

Although it knew in advance that the first International Adopt-a-Highway Conference in the eastern United States would open last Sunday at the Sheraton Hotel Station Square, PennDOT failed to issue a news release until Tuesday.

That's why the Blue Knights Enforcement Motorcycle Club of Allegheny County, the first group to join PennDOT's Adopt-a-Highway program, didn't receive the media attention and public recognition it deserves after gathering litter and helping beautify state roads for the past decade.

Also, PA Clean Ways, a nonprofit group that fights illegal dumping and littering, presented its Clean Highway Award to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission for keeping its 506-mile toll road system looking good, despite traffic approaching 150 million vehicles a year. Turnpike employees also swept the sand, cinders and debris off the median early this year in time for the busy summer travel season.

Kudos to the Blue Knights and the turnpike maintenance department.

Plate du jour. PG staff writer Johnna Pro spotted this Pennsylvania license plate on a sport utility vehicle: LET ITT B. Is the owner a Beatles fan?

Send your transportation questions, complaints and suggestions to Joe Grata c/o The Post-Gazette or e-mail him at jgrata@post-gazette.comPlease include address and phone number for confirmation.