Jan 3, 2015 6 min read

People who ride public transit in Washington County might scan the screens of their smartphones or tablets, or pages of a magazine, newspaper or the latest novel, but they’re probably not reading the spiral-bound county budget.

If they were, they might be surprised to learn in the 2015 spending plan, Washington County Transportation Authority received its first-time allocation of taxpayer dollars – $45,000 for its fixed-route Freedom Line – while Mid-Mon Valley Transit Authority was defunded.

The story behind the money trail is the transportation authority is talking consolidation with Washington City Transit, while Mid-Mon Valley is the odd one out.

Marc Roncone, executive director of Mid-Mon Valley Transit, stopped by the commissioners’ office on the seventh floor of Courthouse Square after what’s known as the “posted” budget became available to the public in November, and that’s when he learned the $15,300 he routinely requested for his agency was gone.

His immediate reaction would not have been characterized as dramatic.

“Nothing surprises me anymore,” Roncone said Friday. “It’s just the nature of the business.”

He did not get a notice from the county explaining why his agency was defunded, but he knew the only factor that changed in the past year was the Mid-Mon Valley Transit board voting not to pursue a merger with Washington County Transportation Authority and Washington City Transit.

Roncone did, however, schedule an 11th-hour meeting with the commissioners Dec. 17, just before they adopted the county’s final budget.

The commissioners’ vote did not contain the line item for bus service in and around the Mon Valley and commuter service between river communities and Pittsburgh. Roncone remains hopeful the commissioners will approve a supplemental appropriation to his agency this month.

“We’re planning on a countywide basis for parks and recreation or transportation,” said Commissioner Harlan Shober.

“There is no fixed route to and from the Mon Valley and Washington, but they do have fixed routes into Pittsburgh and Westmoreland. We have to make sure it’s right for the county. Can we make it work? Will it benefit our people?” are the questions the commissioners will consider in deciding whether to restore funding to Mid-Mon Valley Transit, Shober said.

Unlike that of Washington County, Westmoreland County’s funding of Mid-Mon Valley Transit Authority is intact, to the tune of $28,665 in operating assistance and $90,000 in “future capital assistance,” which could include vehicle purchases.

Mon Valley communities through which the bus routes pass collectively contribute about $33,000 more, and Roncone said all of these sources are needed as a state-required local match to tap into $2.5 million in funding from Pennsylvania taxpayers. The lack of Washington County’s $15,300 translates into a loss of $600,000 in state subsidy.

And while a merger with two Washington-based transit agencies won’t be part of Mid-Mon Valley Transit’s immediate future, “We’re looking at ways to make the service more sustainable,” Roncone said.

In addition to the $45,000 Washington County Transportation Authority is receiving from county coffers, Sheila Gombita, the authority’s executive director, is seeking $53,463 for a transit consolidation start-up from the Local Share Account of gambling revenue from The Meadows Racetrack & Casino

Washington County Transportation Authority, which operates the Freedom Line and Washington Rides paratransit service, is requesting local share money so her agency and Washington City Transit can move forward with their consolidation.

Gombita’s local share application points out most counties in Pennsylvania have a single organization providing fixed-route or paratransit service, so Washington County, with its three agencies, is atypical.

“This creates a more fragmented transit service throughout the county and the potential for duplication of services,” she wrote. “The financial climate has continued to become increasingly difficult for both the private and public sectors to provide services in a cost-efficient manner to a public which has become increasingly cost-conscious and increasingly demanding of improved service. This has become even more evident during a time of shrinking tax revenues and grant levels. The public transit industry has not been immune to these financial pressures.”

PennDOT’s Bureau of Public Transportation concluded in a study in 2012 that Washington County’s transportation agencies could save an estimated $650,000 in the first year of consolidation “primarily through the elimination of administrative redundancies. It projected additional savings through an analysis of service planning, maintenance facility assessment, fare analysis and contracts,” Gombita noted in her local share application.

The lease of the Washington County Transportation Authority’s offices on West Chestnut Street expires in February, and although it’s likely to take up temporary space, the authority plans to move later this year into the new intermodal transit center a few blocks away on East Chestnut Street.

Joe Thomas, former Washington city manager who has been city transit general manager only since September, said talks about consolidation have been going on for a number of years. City council serves as the governing body for Washington City Transit, and Thomas’ predecessor, Nancy Basile, got the ball rolling for the intermodal transportation center on East Chestnut Street with $886,099 in federal stimulus money that became available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The money was used to demolish the Bassettown parking garage, perform an environmental assessment, prepare the site and pay for engineering and design costs. The late U.S. Rep. John Murtha also secured a $625,000 appropriations earmark for the project. The state contributed $99,038, while local funding of $168,992 came from the sale of used transit vehicles and equipment.

“The building has been constructed and designed, and the premise has been that both agencies would occupy the space,” Thomas said recently. “Even in the absence of consolidation, we work together, both providing fixed-route service. The transportation authority is the provider for Washington City Transit (service) under the Americans with Disabilities Act. We’ll also have the ability to share staffing and equipment needs, efficiencies that will be achieved from two agencies operating in the same facility.”

In addition to a local share allocation, the transportation authority is seeking $97,864 in other funds that it has not secured.

The transportation authority received $99,729 from the Local Share Account to pay for the 2011 start-up costs associated with the Freedom Line, black and gold buses that travel each weekday between McDonald and Washington by way of Canonsburg.

“Freedom Line ridership has grown significantly,” Gombita said. “The shopping meccas seem to be the biggest draw, as well as the casino.”

Many details need to be ironed out before there is a merger between the city and county transit organizations.

“It’s not a final done deal,” Gombita said. “It’s sort of in the works. Start-up costs include rolling this out as a new entity and rebranding.”

Running the transit agencies will be occurring under one roof, “as opposed to us doing things separately,” Gombita said. “I envision seeing it be in place by July 1, 2015.”