Submitted by MrATLien t3_10l6ord in pittsburgh
Upbeat_Estimate1501 t1_j5vwtmi wrote
Fuck a duck. Okay so I'm moving there later this year and saw some posts but didn't put two and two together until right now.
As of now it depends on where you live. Some neighborhoods have great access with frequent bus service. As you stray further away from those that service the universities that tapers off. I've lived close to CMU, Shadyside, and now on outskirts of the city where I don't have the same level of access. Each move has definitely seen a reduction the further away from hotspots, relying on Uber hasn't always been great. This is a car city, and not set up for biking well. Bus is the main transit mode with the T only servicing portions of the city.
I don't see SEPTA getting THIS bad (at least not for years) but it's a gradual reduction of stops over the course of years. They hack away a few stops at a time, typically choosing which they think are used the least I think and reducing stops and spacing them out or eventually eliminating them completely.
MrATLien OP t1_j5wkden wrote
I wouldn't say SEPTA is trying to "cynically" do anything - it's not like they want to cut service. Realistically, their fares can only pay for like, 30% of their operating budget right now. That's about par for the course for big American city transit agencies. Right now because of post covid shifts in travel trends etc., that 30% has been whittled down significantly, so without PA increasing the amount they contribute to SEPTA, they'll have no choice but to cut service. I can only assume PRT is in a similar situation financially.
Upbeat_Estimate1501 t1_j5wpc7o wrote
I need to get a lot more involved in public transit activism honestly, it's been something sort of on the brain for a while I just haven't and probably will look into it after the move.
There definitely haven't been fare hikes or anything -- the opposite actually, so we can say that at least. And even the service reductions come after they've been slowly cut over time. I'd be curious to compare to what MTA or New Jersey would be doing as well.
MrATLien OP t1_j5wysu5 wrote
I hate to be pessimistic, but given the massive budget shortfalls of the vast majority of American transit agencies, the future has never looked more bleak for them. At least not in my lifetime.
There's a good chance that in 3 years or so, any transit agency that doesn't get a permanent funding source from its state will look back at 2023 even as "the good old days". Given that even a state like CA is mulling transit cuts, I'm not optimistic for PA at all.
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