Citizens offer input on transit cutbacks
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About 45 people attended a brainstorming session yesterday with Port Authority staff during which they suggested how the transit agency should change the methodology it will use in evaluating possible service cuts next year.
Those who attended the two-hour workshop at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown, discussed ways the authority should measure three major categories -- effectiveness, efficiency and equity -- and a number of subcategories covering such issues as cost per ride, park-n-ride lot utilization and equitable distribution of service.
The session was the second of five the authority will hold to get feedback about its new "Service Scorecard," which was drawn up under the premise of making fair decisions on bus-trolley routes by giving category scores to each from 1 to 10. The authority faces a $19.5 million deficit starting Jan. 1. Any major changes in service will not occur until June.
The workshops are the first time the agency has solicited the public's help in drawing up criteria for possible service cuts. Many of those attending yesterday's session said they appreciated the fact the authority was involving the public in the process so early. In the past, riders often complained that decisions were arbitrary and based on inaccurate information.
"We want to meet the needs of the community. We want to be fair," Steve Banta, manager of transit operations, told the group in opening remarks before the crowd broke up into four small groups for discussion.
In those groups, many of the participants showed how well-versed they are in matters of public transit, rattling off route designations while discussing "ride segments" and ridership by day and time.
The results of the scorecard, which will be adjusted based on customer input at the workshops, will be completed by the end of December.
"I think it was a very instructive session for us," authority spokesman Bob Grove said afterward. "We heard a lot of very good comments about our methodology -- some agree with it and some don't but frankly that's what we wanted to hear.
"There certainly was an appreciation of the process we're going through."
Tonight, a workshop will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Bethel Park Fire Hall, 5213 Brightwood Road, and tomorrow another will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the West View Fire Hall, 398 Perry Highway, Ross. The first workshop was Monday in Crafton and another was held last night in Wilkinsburg.
First Published November 29, 2006 12:00 am
