PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Regional Transit has adopted a fiscal 2026 budget calling for a 35% reduction in service, layoffs of 38% of staff, a 25-cent fare increase to $3, and the elimination of service after 11 p.m.
The action on Friday, June 27, came as the PRT board faced a June 30 deadline to adopt a balanced budget or risk the loss of federal grants, the Pittsburgh Union Progress reports. It reflects the same sort of financial shortfall — $117 million, in the case of PRT — that led the Philadelphia-area Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Transportation Authority to adopt a budget with 45% service cuts [see “SEPTA board approves budget …,” Trains News Wire, June 27, 2025].
Like SEPTA, PRT is hoping the state legislature will act to address the funding crisis and avert the planned cuts. A bill that would provide $290 million for transit statewide, along with $500 million for roadway infrastructure, has passed the state House but is awaiting action by the Senate. [See “Pennsylvania House passes bill …,” News Wire, June 18, 2025.]
“This is the meeting none of us wanted to come to,” PRT CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman told the meeting “For some folks, [these cuts] make life difficult. For others, it makes life impossible. … This is a step, but not the final step. We aren’t done with this conversation, and we are not done with this fight.”
The cuts would take effect in February, but Kelleman told the board it could act as late as September to avoid the cuts. The new budget calls for eliminating one of the agency’s three light rail lines, as well as 41 bus lines and special service for events such as NFL games. [See “Pittsburgh transit agency outlines plans …,” News Wire, March 22, 2025]. It would close 12 light rail stations and leave 19 communities with no transit service at all.
