Democracy Has Prevailed.

July 21, 2010

Coming and Going

Whether you drive a car or take public transit in the city of Pittsburgh, there are changes afoot and they ain't pretty.

FOR DRIVERS
Via the Office of Council President Darlene M. Harris:

City Council will hold four public meetings to discuss Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s plan for leasing Pittsburgh’s parking assets and how these proposed changes will impact in the most traveled and dense neighborhoods in the City -- Downtown, South Side, Oakland and North Side. Leasing the City of Pittsburgh’s parking assets will result in increases to the cost of parking in the City-owned parking garages and meters.

Each meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., dates and locations:

Monday, July 26 – Downtown – in City Council Chambers, 5th Floor, City-County Building, enter on Grant street side

Tuesday, July 27 – South Side – Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers Headquarters -- 10 S. 19th Street at the River

Thursday, July 29 – Oakland – Pittsburgh Board of Education headquarters – 341 S. Bellefield Avenue, second floor

Monday, August 2 – North Side – Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School Cafeteria – 50 Montgomery Street – enter by the loading dock

The City Council web site is the only place you will be able to read a copy of Mayor Ravenstahl’s draft agreements for the 50 year lease of parking assets and the study commissioned by the Parking Authority to evaluate its parking garages and meters. It is www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/council , just below the photographs of all the Council members. These four meetings will be the public’s best opportunity to comment on the concession agreements before an official meeting of Council.

FOR RIDERS
Via Slag Heap:
In May, Port Authority CEO Steve Bland said potential budget woes could lead to "draconian" cuts in service. That time may be here. The Port Authority of Allegheny County plans to roll out today a proposal for system-wide cuts. If approved, the cuts would go into effect in January, and would make up for a $47.1 million shortfall.

"It's going to be drastic," says spokesman Jim Ritchie. He says the proposal will affect every route in the system and leave 55 neighborhoods with eliminated or severely reduced service.
Read it and weep here.
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3 comments:

Pgh_Knight said...

RE: The Port Authority:

Why do none of the astute political analysts here see this for the BS political move that it is?

Why have we not heard from Dan Onorato yet?

Just when everyone is all worked up, and the shi* is about to hit the fan… Dan will ride in on his white horse and release all the surplus Drink Tax money and save the day. He will try to ride that horse all the way to Harrisburg.

EdHeath said...

PK, you may be right about Onorato and whatever might be left in the drink tax fund, but what about next year?

Pittsburgh/Allegheny County has pretty good transit coverage right now, but some communities might lose bus service altogether under PAT's plan if state funding is not increased, and many more bus routes would lose Saturday and/or Sunday routes. And if funding is only found for this year, then that plan will be back next year. Which means the people who take care of mom and dad in the nursing home would have to either buy a car or lose their jobs. And it would cost that much more to keep mom and dad in that place. Maybe the workers could share mom's old Buick. Or the children can fight over who has to take mom and dad into their home.

Pgh_Knight said...

Ed: you say "whatever might be left in the drink tax fun" like it's a drop in the bucket. Let us not forget... he needed 30 mil. The tax raised 70 mil. Dan fought in the courts to keep the excess 40 mil. Lowered it to 7.5 %, but it still has to be bringing in well in excess of 30 mil. My guess is there is more than enough to cover this. It's a matter of timing.