I may write a book. I'll call it "How to Make Friends and Influence People at the Port Authority."

It won't be a best seller.

Not after my three-part series, published Jan. 2-4 and titled "Transit: A Price to Pay." The in-depth reports focused on wages, overtime and pensions for management and union workers, not popular issues with an agency begging Harrisburg for more money and hitting riders with fare increases and service cuts.

As you might expect, most of 60 e-mails, letters and calls expressed outrage that 37 percent of those on the payroll grossed more than $50,000 in 2003, that people can retire after 25 years with 62.5 percent of their salaries and insurance for life, and that 44 administrators are enrolled in a special pension program enabling them to "double dip."

Scott Smith: "Most private sector organizations operate under the realities of supply and demand and are willing, albeit grudgingly, to do what it takes to remain solvent and competitive. Not so with the public services sector."

Robert Weinthal: "The entire wage structure must be changed from top to bottom. The city has taken drastic cuts in order to return to fiscal responsibility. US Airways is another example."

"G.I. Joe": "Do not compare military pensions to the Port Authority pensions. After 22 years of active duty as an enlisted solider in the U.S. Army, my pension is $1,300 a month. And I pay medical coverage for my family."

Cecilia "Sis" Gavran: "I wouldn't do my husband's job for any amount of money, but I appreciate him every day for going out [as a bus driver], even working overtime as much as he can to provide for his family."

John Takac: "Somebody should direct college students to take different paths. They should go to the Pennsylvania Turnpike or Port Authority."

Tom Milczarczyk: "Don't you just love how public service employees enrich themselves at taxpayer expense? Where is the public outrage?"

Michael Knies: "One reason for the overtime you did not mention: They have to employ 5-8 percent more people than they need to cover for no-shows at work."

Harry Hohman: "Providing the best transportation at the lowest cost possible is a distant second to providing lucrative employment."

Joe Manse Jr. and Jeff Daniels: "As executive board members, we and other top officers of Local 85 have seen to it that [union] pension money was invested wisely and a great portion was only employee [not authority] contributions. [The administration] failed to fund the management pension plan and put the drag on the whole authority, using the DROP program to collect and bank their pensions while they still collect lucrative salaries."

Unknown caller: "Mr. Grata, are you jealous?"

And so on.

I've talked about the series with Port Authority CEO Paul Skoutelas. While he wasn't happy about disclosures over his own pay and perks -- a $215,000 salary in 2007, when he can walk away with a monthly pension of more than $9,000 a month and a $600,000 lump-sum payment -- he understood why I wrote the reports and why the Post-Gazette published them: That's our job.

He was more worried about the "bad timing," because the Port Authority and other transit agencies across Pennsylvania may finally be on the verge of getting what they've long sought -- an adequate, dedicated, long-term source of operating revenue that has been a need, goal and dream for the past 20 years.

A panel of state legislators, knowledgeable about being well compensated, is to visit Pittsburgh on Tuesday. They're to meet in private with authority brass and ask lots of questions about the agency's financial troubles.

While here, they could see how half of the city gets around by riding buses, especially routes used by transit dependents, students, senior citizens and the low-income workers who will clean their meeting room.

The Port Authority would appreciate the lawmakers leaving a little cash in the fare box to help make up for the shortfall out of Harrisburg.

Whatever the visitors spend, they can charge it to their state expense accounts.

Pay clarification. When Port Authority officials turned over information that I requested for the articles, they listed $22.79 as the top hourly rate for members of Local 85, Amalgamated Transit Union.

Several bus operators with seniority said that was news to them.

Upon further review, the authority offered a clarification last week. While $22.79 is the top rate, it's for mechanics. The top rate for bus and trolley operators is $21.53, making them fifth highest in the United States among similar-size systems, not fourth.

I'm glad we cleared that up.

Elsewhere. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., has opened the last four miles and five stations on a 12-mile, $715 million extension of its light-rail system. The line now serves the international airport and Mall of America.

Believe it. The United States has 3.9 million miles of highways, 5,400 public airports, 3,600 waterport terminals and 200,000 miles of freight and passenger railroad tracks.

Plate du jour. On his way to work at Pittsburgh International Airport, county police Officer Jim Wilson spotted the Pennsylvania personalized license plate VAN4NOW on a minivan in Upper St. Clair. That'll change when the owner becomes an M T NESTR.

First Published: January 16, 2005, 5:00 a.m.