Riders rally to save Pittsburgh Regional Transit from drastic cuts

Nicolas Penailillo, 33, danced and cheered on the corner of West Liberty and Biltmore Avenue as red Pittsburgh Regional Transit buses rolled by. A Dormont resident of two years, he called public transit one of his favorite parts of Pittsburgh — but said that could soon change.

“I just love it,” he said. “It breaks my heart to hear people say, ‘Oh yeah, the first thing we’ve gotta cut is transit.’ ”

Penailillo was among roughly 50 people rallying at 4:30 p.m. Monday near the Dormont Junction T station in support of long-term funding for Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

The rally follows a March proposal from PRT for widespread service cuts resulting from a $100 million budget deficit next year and insufficient state aid. The outlined cuts would eliminate the light-rail Silver Line and 41 of roughly 100 bus routes, in addition to a 25-cent fare increase.

Allegheny County Councilman Dan Grzybek, D-Bethel Park, said the public gathering was to call on the state Senate to include public transit as a priority while negotiating the budget.

“Right now, we stand to lose the vast majority of our public transit in the South Hills, and a majority of the bus routes throughout Dormont and Mt. Lebanon stand to be cut. The entire Silver Line in Bethel Park and South Park stand to be cut. So public transit will be absolutely decimated if we don’t get the funding that we need in Harrisburg,” Grzybek said.

Judy Delestienne, of Mt. Lebanon, said that while she does not use public transportation often, she worries for community members who are reliant on it.

“Public transportation is an economic driver, and I believe that we need to fund it, regardless of the middle of the state and rural areas that don’t have systems like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. But we have lots of people who rely on it, underprivileged people. People with low incomes can’t afford any other means of transportation to get to jobs,” Delestienne said.

Like Penailillo, who said he used public transportation to get to work, Mary Jo and Phil Bondi of Scott Township also rely on public transit for everyday tasks such as visiting family, getting to the bank and attending festivities Downtown.

If the proposed cuts go through, the Bondis said their circle will end up getting a lot smaller because they simply won’t be able to get anywhere.

“We already have a huge worker shortage. Why would we actively choose to make that even worse? A lot of our seniors, they don’t drive anymore. They need public transit to get their doctor’s appointments, to see their families, to get their groceries,” Grzybek said.

Dormont Councilwoman Jen Mazzocco said that while the budget becomes finalized, she encourages people to call and email against the cuts.

“The budget’s not done yet,” she said. “[Then] they’ll know that it’s very important to people all over the region.”