Port Authority of Allegheny County sees climbing budget, declining ridership, according to analysis

(The Center Square) – The Port Authority of Allegheny County budget for 2022 is 1.8% more than its 2021 budget, but an independent analysis shows ridership is still below pre-pandemic levels.

The Port Authority approved a $494.3 million budget and a $227.9 million capital budget that includes a $99.5 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration for its proposed Downtown-Uptown-Oakland Bus Rapid Transit project, according to a news release from the authority.

But even with the decline in ridership, the Port Authority is still hiring new employees, according to a policy brief from The Allegheny Institute.

Ridership on the transit system increased in May 2021 when compared to 2020 numbers but was down between 47% to 79% from May 2019 depending on the day and type of travel, according to the brief, written by Research Director Eric Montarti.

The biggest decline was in light rail travel, which dropped from an average of 26,514 on an average weekend to 5,465 riders from 2019 to 2021. Bus traffic on the average weekday dropped from 184,684 to 69,447 during the same time period, according to Montarti.

Despite the decline in riders, net expenses that include wages, salaries, pensions and utilities are increasing. The current analysis shows the Port Authority is adding 32 employees and only losing one maintenance position, which could be due to attrition, according to Montarti.

Also noted, the Port Authority is down $56.5 million once revenues, expenses and grants are totaled. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act is providing $40 million and the American Rescue Plan is proving the additional $16.5 million to cover the shortfall. The brief notes that another $19 million was added to the $99 million in federal funds for the Downtown to Oakland project.

“The budget notes that ‘if ridership remains at current levels, the Authority will potentially exhaust its federal stimulus funding by FY2024. … Current operating levels would be sustained in FY2024 with Deferred Revenues,’” Montarti wrote in the policy brief. “If ridership grows 50 percent above where it is currently, the federal money would last a year longer. If it grows 75 percent, two years longer. No word on what happens if ridership falls from where it is currently.”

The Port Authority may also be affected by a reduction in the allocation from the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation from $450 million to $50 million in fiscal 2022-23, Montarti wrote.

“Whatever the Legislature comes up with to replace the Turnpike money, the egregiously high costs at [the Port Authority] – as documented by Institute research, PennDOT performance reviews and [the Port Authority] annual service reports – must be taken into consideration,” Montarti wrote.

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