Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) boss Katharine Kelleman was back at it last week in a newspaper commentary, imploring state policy makers to “invest” evermore taxpayer dollars into the failed paradigm that is public transit.
She argued, poorly, that a population- and job growth-stagnant Greater Pittsburgh has all the “assets” in place to grow. She offered the chamber of commerce boiler plate litany of “a world-class health care system, top-tier universities, rich cultural life, championship sports, relatively affordable housing and some of the best natural beauty of any U.S. city.”
But even with all that, Pittsburgh has experienced quite stagnant population and employment growth for decades.
Oh, but only if PRT had adequate funding to deliver people to and from those “assets,” PRT could deliver the transportation infrastructure to tie everything together, she claims.
Kelleman goes on to detail the steps PRT has taken to right-size its operations post-pandemic but injects the standard transit-head caveat:
“But even the most efficient transit system can’t outrun a structural funding gap. Cost containment is important, but slashing expenses without regard for service impact is a false economy.”
But so, too, is constantly bellying up to the bar of public subsidies to bail out a public transit system that long has been badly broken and, to a great extent, a bottomless money pit.
Talk about public transit insanity that perverts the “public” in “public policy.” Kelleman and her brethren would rather sit in their “Give Us More Money!” box than break out of it and push for a truly new public transit paradigm.
So, what might be part of this new paradigm? Here are just two ideas, courtesy of the Reason Foundation:
As historical experience with transit subsidies has shown, advancing transit efficiency is not a simple question of additional funding. Making better use of existing resources must be prioritized to avoid counterproductive subsidy policies that merely deepen and prolong transit’s productivity crisis. Two strategies to advance transit productivity show particular promise:
- Competitive contracting: Under public-private partnerships, transit agencies can contract out transit service provision to private firms. The agency would serve as the coordinating and oversight entity, developing performance requirements and ensuring private partners adhere to those requirements embedded in their contracts. A 2017 study estimated that contracting out bus service in the United States could reduce operating costs by 30 percent.
- Transit vehicle automation: Urban rail transit is increasingly automated outside the United States. A 2023 study comparing rail lines in the United States and fully automated lines abroad estimated automation could potentially reduce U.S. operating costs by 46 percent. In addition to rail transit automation, numerous companies are developing automated road vehicles. One rubber-tire automated transit company that is developing two projects in California claims it can reduce operating costs by approximately 80 percent compared to average costs faced by conventional transit systems.
Of course, all of this, as are most other potential public transit operational advances, are easier proposed than done. Think primarily of the organized labor hurdle that the federal government long ago sanctioned and steadfastly defends.
Additionally, public transit scholars detail how zoning reforms that allow for more housing (and not the canard that is market-perverting “affordable housing”) can attract more people to the urban core and better correct what has become a problem of overcapacity in public transit seats.
PRT’s Kelleman says we are at “a moment of decision” for public transit. “We know what needs to be done. We’ve built the plans. We have the vision. Now we need the will to act.
“Let’s stop asking Pittsburghers to settle for less. Let’s deliver the transit system our region needs and deserves,” Kelleman says.
If only Kelleman and other public transit CEOs would take their own advice, break out of their same-old, same-old box and work toward real reform.
Until that happens, public transit in Pittsburgh and nationwide is doomed.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
