A discussion item for the Finance Committee of the Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) board last week was an amendment to the funding agreement PRT has with the Stadium Authority of the City of Pittsburgh. The agreement ensures rides from the North Side Trolley Station are part of PRT’s “free fare zone.”
Ever since the North Shore Connector light-rail extension opened for business in March 2012 its stations have been included in the “free fare zone.” At the outset, sponsorship agreements were in place for both stations. Since 2015, only the Stadium Authority-PRT agreement has been extended. Due to COVID’s effect on ridership and parking, the two most recent agreements (here and here) were for $265,000 in annual payments but have contained provisions where the Stadium Authority payment is based on garage and lot utilization.
Comments from the meeting minutes of the Stadium Authority board indicate that part of the federal COVID aid dollars that PRT received ($502.4 million total) have covered the cost of keeping the stations in the “free fare zone.” This is because parking utilization targets were not met. Based on the presentation to the PRT Finance Committee the agreement will be extended another year with parking utilization provisions which likely means PRT will use COVID money.
When those dollars are spent, does it fall back on the Stadium Authority to come up with the money? It likely depends on if there are similar parking thresholds in the coming extension amendment. The Stadium Authority is to be in existence for another 25 years, so maybe it is in for the long-term with the agreement. Or is the hope that proposed new state money will be used to pay for free fares?
For certain, just as PRT ridership has fallen as a result of COVID and changing work patterns, so, too, has ridership in the “free fare zone.” PRT audits show rides in the zone totaled 748,699 in fiscal year (FY) 2022-23. That’s up from 183,798 in FY 2020-21 but well below the over 2 million mark reached in FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19.
It has been 12 years since rides on the light-rail extension to-and-from Downtown have been at no cost to the riders. It’s time that changes.
