Like the storybook "Little Engine That Could," the Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority has been fighting an uphill battle to become a more significant part of the region and attract more riders.
For decades, the Mon Valley had no local bus service between most of its communities -- only 88 Transit Lines buses operating along Route 88 to Pittsburgh.
After the authority was organized in 1985, it extended service into 21 municipalities on both sides of the Monongahela River. But its routes were few and far between, frequently changed, attracted few riders and received little marketing.
For the last three years, however, the authority has turned aggressive under new administration and board leadership. It has restructured fares, introduced low-floor buses, upgraded its Web site, provided a computerized trip planner and added park-and-ride lots.
Ridership since July 1 is up by 17.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Revenues have been on a proportionate upswing, too.
Spending has increased as well, from $3.1 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year to nearly $4.2 million for the current fiscal year -- a 35 percent jump, with almost all of the extra money coming from the state.
"We've made more advancements in the past year than we made in the past 15," said authority board Chairman Dr. Harry Miale, who represents Monongahela and is a Brownsville Area School District administrator.
"The staff has been proactive. We're doing exciting things," he said. "We haven't done everything perfectly, but we haven't been afraid to try."
Authority officials acknowledge disappointments and mistakes.
For example, the authority on Nov. 3 inaugurated a new service, called the LINK line, at the urging of a local company, Solar Power. Routes originating in Charleroi and Belle Vernon now include a stop at Solar Power's expanding plant in Rostraver.
But no Solar Power worker has yet to get on or off at the stop, according to ridership records compiled by 88 Transit Lines, the bus company that is the authority's longtime contracted carrier. Extensions of the LINK line take riders as far as Westmoreland County Community College's Youngwood campus, but have drawn only a few people so far.
"Three buses are getting beat to hell on I-70" as a result of the LINK line, said Stan Nabozny, president of 88 Transit Lines. "We're putting on 500 miles a day to carry two people per bus."
Authority marketing director Marc Roncone acknowledged ridership has been skimpy but said he expects it will pick up.
"It's a brand new route, so of course it's starting a little slow," he said.
The authority owns 28 buses, leases them to 88 Transit for $1 a year and pays the company to operate them. The company, which dropped out of the charter trip business years ago, owns no buses of its own.
However, 88 Transit officials apply the same business acumen they did when Mr. Nabozny and 11 former Greyhound bus drivers, faced with losing their jobs due to downsizing, formed the company almost a half-century ago.
They ran Mon Valley-to-Pittsburgh buses along the Route 88 corridor until the route became a local tradition. Now they provide that service for the authority under a contract awarded through competitive bidding.
"There's a difference between the government's point of view and the private bus company's point of view," said Don Burnworth, 88 Transit vice president and maintenance superintendent. He suggested the latter does a better job of watching pennies.
But the authority has a different mission than that of a privately owned, for-profit carrier, Executive Director Valerie Kissell said. Like other public transportation systems, the authority has access to local, state and federal funds that 88 Transit didn't because the bus company was privately owned.
The authority serves economically disadvantaged communities and people, many of them senior citizens, with no other transportation to grocery stores or doctors, she said. Routes that primarily serve those residents may not be the most cost-effective, she said, but "that doesn't make them any less important."
The authority also aims to entice "riders of choice" who may own or have access to a car to use attractive, reliable public transportation, she said.
"You have to look at what's best for the community. If we didn't provide bus service to Coal Center, what would the people there do?" she said. "We're also trying to persuade people to leave the car parked and lessen the congestion out there."
Consequently, the authority recently has been spending to develop modern park-and-ride lots, including a $600,000, 50-space lot opened earlier this month in Union, about two miles south of Finleyville.
It is purchasing six low-floor buses, the first of their type in its fleet.
It has relocated offices in Charleroi to a building that once served as a trolley barn, then later as a bus garage. The facility has been remodeled to accommodate expanded staff, a passenger waiting room and a bus transfer point with shelters.
It also has purchased a century-old building in the Donora Industrial Park, which will represent an investment of more than $6 million when it's remodeled and equipped for bus maintenance, repairs and storage in 2010. Plans also call for bus-washing equipment, park-and-ride spaces and offices there.
The last move doesn't sit well with Mr. Nabozny, who said the authority now pays $90,000 a year to rent 88 Transit's garage in Speers and could have bought that building for less than $1 million. But Dr. Miale said the 88 Transit building was too old and too costly to renovate.
Mr. Nabozny said he believes the authority's overall ridership figures show an increase even while local buses travel nearly empty because routes have expanded rapidly. Also, he said, special shuttle service added at California University of Pennsylvania and promotions, such as distribution of 40,000 "rub-off" cards awarding a single free ride, have been successful.
But seeing nearly empty buses on some routes that operate within communities or between municipalities is discouraging, said Olga Woodward, a Fallowfield supervisor, former Washington County recorder of deeds and eight-year member of the authority board.
"My friends complain about this all the time, and I don't know the answer," she said. "Maybe we just don't have the population.
"The jobs aren't here. Communities are strung out and difficult to serve," she said. "But we have a new staff that's wonderful and trying very hard to make good things happen."
Ms. Kissell, who was hired in February 2006, has started to prod forward an agency that many agreed had been stuck in the past. Her husband owns Edenfield Stages, a mostly private tour bus operator, and she brought 20 years of experience in the transit industry.
She's hired Mr. Roncone as the full-time marketing director; reorganized the staff; simplified a complex fare structure; contracted with a security firm to address reports of unruly riders; and made other substantial changes. Now underway: route evaluations intended to increase efficiency, lower costs and reduce travel times for riders.
" At the end of the day, we're not sure what the service will look like, but we're doing our best to provide a reliable, attractive service," Ms. Kissell said.
Her predecessor, Nancy Basile, said routes that once were a mish-mash have "improved tremendously" -- adding better connections and locations sought by riders -- now that staff has expanded and municipalities have appointed new board members with fresh perspectives.
Ms. Basile and Ms. Kissell agreed that it can be an unwieldy process for 21 board members to reach consensus on issues or actions. Those members, each representing a participating community, form one of the largest transit boards of directors in the United States.
"The board's purpose is to serve the valley as a whole and not their own community," said Ms. Basile, who was hired Nov. 1 as city transit coordinator in Washington. "I got along with everybody, but it was frustrating trying to deal with so many different personalities and dynamics."
Dr. Miale, who became board chairman in July 1, 2007, said he understands.
"Ten percent of the board does 90 percent of the work and the other 90 percent [complain]," he said. "Some people just want to stand on the side and criticize."
At a meeting in October, for instance, several board members spent more time bickering over the type of maintenance truck to buy than some entire monthly meetings have lasted.
Dr. Miale said the authority has no illusions that adding buses and park-and-ride lots will immediately spur residents to flock to public transportation.
"We're trying our best to fulfill the mission of our charter," he said. "Our heart is in the right place. If we could just get people to see how clean the buses are, how efficiently they operate ... If we could just get them to try us."
First Published: December 28, 2008, 10:00 a.m.
