Pittsburgh Regional Transit offering bulk transit passes in pilot program

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is accepting applications from businesses and multifamily, residential buildings for its new Bulk Pass Pilot Program, which would provide transit passes for employees or tenants at significant discounts.

The pilot would allow businesses and multifamily residential buildings that are located within a half-mile of PRT service to buy passes in bulk for their employees or tenants. Businesses and buildings must have 10 employees or units to apply.

Monthly passes cost riders $97.50, but the Bulk Pass Pilot Program would sell passes on a bulk basis for $25 a month per pass.

Applicants can apply through March 3. PRT officials said the pilot is expected to start on April 3 and run for six months.

PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph said similar bulk pass programs in other U.S. cities have helped attract and retain employees and tenants to large apartment and condo buildings. He said he expects this program to provide a boost to PRT’s ridership numbers too.

“We hope that is a win-win for all sides, whether you have a business and want to cover transit for your employees or a building owner for your tenants,” Brandolph said. “For us, it gets more people in seats, and has a positive effect on ridership figures. We see this as an opportunity for growth for everyone.”

PRT’s ridership has increased compared to 2021, but is still down well below pre-pandemic levels. Brandolph said bus ridership is up about 30% and rail is up 17% compared to 2021, but overall ridership is still 50% of pre-pandemic levels.

If implemented on a permanent scale, the pricing and regulations of bulk passes may change. The six-month pilot is meant to gauge interest, determine the appropriate pricing structure and track ridership changes among participants, according to PRT.

The bulk pass program will distribute passes through PRT’s mobile ticketing application, which Brandolph said makes it simpler for the authority to facilitate.

“We are really hopeful this will drive more people to take public transit,” he said.

The nonprofit Heinz Endowments is supporting the pilot program with a $50,000 grant. Applications are being accepted on the PRT website at www.rideprt.org/bulkpilot.