The residents of Baldwin Borough are happy, no doubt, since service has been extended by the Port Authority following 2011 route cuts. In another four weeks the service will be restored.
With Port Authority being the sole provider of mass transit in the County, it took much organizing and lobbying to the Authority for service and with funds from Act 89, the operating costs are estimated to be $562k. If the estimated 62k rider trips are round trips, then the cost per passenger is about $18.
Of course those without bus service aren’t concerned with that right now, they are just pleased to have service back. But could there have been a similar move like the one in the North Hills in 2011 that would have brought service back more quickly? Or did anyone on the PAT board look at the PENNDOT study from five months ago and ponder what a contracted out operation would look like compared to an in-house one?
