Erstwhile Almanac contributor Officer Jim notes that a number of newspapers, commenting on the Port Authority's ongoing disintegration, have argued that the transit agency should be dissolved. The Tribune-Review and its more cultured cousin, the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, have been among the loudest and most vocal proponents of privatizing PAT.
I'm not arguing that the Port Authority is perfect --- or even sustainable. But I don't think privatization is a magic cure-all. In fact, even if private companies wanted to take over the Port Authority (I'm not convinced they do), it's not clear that we'd save any money or get better service.
In 1993, the British government privatized British Railways.
Private Eye and other British magazines have documented the aftermath; while some things have improved (there are more trains being run), efficiency and reliability have gone down, and government subsidies to the private operators (adjusted for inflation) are more than double what the government paid to operate British Railways.
Under those conditions, privatization starts to sound a lot like corporate welfare, and not a good deal for Allegheny County or Pennsylvania taxpayers.
. . .
Port Authority was not created in a vacuum, or because local government wanted to muscle private companies out of the transit business, as the Trib has claimed.
Public transit in Allegheny County was run by private enterprise until 1964. For the most part, it was a mess, and private companies wanted out.
By the early 1960s, the biggest transit operator in the county, Pittsburgh Railways, was perpetually flirting with bankruptcy and was dropping bus and trolley routes on a regular basis. Other, smaller companies like Penn Transit in McKeesport, Ridge Lines in Port Vue, or Bamford Motor Coach in Homestead ran local inter-community service with varying degrees of success.
Some bus companies kept ridership high by keeping fares low; that prevented them from investing any money in maintenance or improvements. A few provided good service, but others were lousy, with buses that ran on no published timetables. Each had different fare structures and policies. There was some coordination of schedules and stops between different companies, but it was a hit-and-miss proposition.
Many of these transit companies started as shoe-string operations, and when automobiles became cheap in the 1920s, their already thin profit margins began to erode. West Penn Railways, a subsidiary of West Penn Power, dropped its McKeesport service way back in 1938.
I don't work for a fancy think-tank, but it sure sounds like private companies didn't necessarily do a good job running public transit in Western Pennsylvania.
. . .
Transit works best in densely packed metropolitan areas. Arguably much of Allegheny County has never been heavily developed; even in the glory days of the steel industry, urban areas like McKeesport and Clairton were separated by rural or "ruburbian" communities like Lincoln Borough and Mifflin Township (now West Mifflin borough). After World War II, the growth of suburbs like North Versailles and Pleasant Hills only spread people out even further.
But there are a few places where transit might truly make a profit --- the corridor from Squirrel Hill to Downtown Pittsburgh, for instance, is consistently busy.
The creation of Port Authority allowed profitable, heavily-traveled routes to subsidize less-traveled, money-losing routes. As a public agency, Port Authority also was able to issue municipal bonds, unlike privately-run transit companies.
. . .
Remember The Public Good?: If some bus routes have low ridership, why not discontinue them and just keep the profitable routes? Well, there's something called "the public good."
There are people in North Versailles or Glassport or Jefferson Hills who can't afford a car and need the bus to get to work, shopping, church and other activities. Telling them "move someplace else" isn't much of an option. Many are on fixed incomes and can't afford to move.
The Trib's editorial board has argued on more than one occasion that it would be cheaper to give them free cars than to subsidize public transit. Maybe they're being facetious; I sure hope so.
If someone can't afford to buy a car, they can't afford the upkeep, either; even if they could, we'd be dumping thousands of additional cars onto local roads, which requires more police, roads, and maintenance personnel. That only shifts the tax burden from one part of the public sector to another. (Never mind the environmental impact those cars would create.)
On the other hand, if you cancel the buses without any alternative, a lot of people are going to wind back up on unemployment or welfare. Again, we just shift the tax burden around; we don't reduce it.
Finally, I seriously doubt that any private company would want to take over bus service to Glassport or Clairton without hefty public subsidies to support the operations. Once again, that doesn't solve the transit funding problem --- it just moves the money around.
. . .
Start Over: Arguably, Port Authority needs to be ripped apart and put back together from scratch:
There's live music today at the Renzie Park bandshell, starting at noon, and the fireworks go off at sundown. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket.
Before the fireworks and after the hot dogs, you may want to read the story behind John Trumbull's 1817 painting "The Declaration of Independence."
Or read a meditation on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence by E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post.
And keep an eye out for tigers wearing powdered wigs.
You're watching Tube City Almanac. Portions of today's broadcast are electronically transcribed for reproduction at this more convenient time.
We'll be back after these brief commercial messages:
UPDATE: Hooray! I just saw Bonnijean Adams' story in today's Daily News ... it looks like Wilmerding is on the right track!
Wilmerding Renewed Inc. is going to put its own museum in the Castle, and the planning is already underway. That makes part of this Almanac obsolete, but I'm glad!
Visit WRI's website if you'd like to contact them and help.
. . .
The board of directors of the George Westinghouse Foundation last week voted to move the George Westinghouse Museum from the historic "Castle" in Wilmerding to the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh History Center in the Strip District.
It leaves the "Castle" --- the former Westinghouse Air Brake Co. general office building, where Westinghouse himself once had an office --- without its most important tenant, and Wilmerding without its only "touristy" attraction.
Stories in the Tribune-Review and Post-Gazette focused on the positives for the History Center. Only Bonnijean Adams' story in last week's Daily News mentioned the impact to Wilmerding, where community activists like Henry Slaczka fought hard to keep the museum.
It's a bitter disappointment for a proud and close-knit town.
From a cold-blooded business perspective, the move makes sense --- hundreds of people visited Wilmerding each year to see the Westinghouse collection, but hundreds of thousands of people are visiting the History Center already.
On the other hand, the Westinghouse materials are arguably going to be lost in the History Center. They're one tiny drop in a big bucket.
And the Westinghouse Museum meant a lot more in a little community like Wilmerding than it ever will to Pittsburgh's Strip District.
. . .
This is the second thumb-in-the-eye that a Westinghouse-related entity has given the Turtle Creek Valley this year. The more important one was Westinghouse Electric's decision to close its Churchill and Monroeville offices and relocate to Cranberry Township.
(Editor's note: No thought was ever given to, say, Keystone Commons in East Pittsburgh. You know, where there are all of those empty buildings that used to be Westinghouse's headquarters?)
You are on an archived page of Tube City Almanac.
Click the banner to return to the front page; or click here to visit Tube City Online.
Published weekdays (usually), except holidays (and when we have something better to do) at McKeesport, Pa., by Tube City Online LLC, P.O. Box 94, McKeesport, Pa. 15134.
Opinions expressed here are those of the individual authors, and do not necessarily represent those of any organization. No warranty is given or implied for the information and opinions contained herein; the reader uses that information at his or her peril.
Except where noted, all contents are copyright © 2003-2008 Tube City Online LLC, a limited-liability company chartered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. No content from Tube City Online may be reproduced in whole or part in any digital or print publication without express permission, except that short excerpts may be used with attribution in commentary or for critical purposes.
Tube City Online is edited by Jason Togyer, member National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, American Radio Relay League and National Radio Club.
Also, objects in Tube City Online may be closer than they appear. If Tube City Online is swallowed, seek professional help immediately. Stop use of Tube City Online if condition persists or worsens. Tube City Online is produced in a facility that also includes Peanuts. Do not expose Tube City Online to open flames and keep it out of the reach of children. Do not back up, as severe tire damage may result. Not responsible for lost or stolen articles. Tube City Online is still not a significant source of saturated fats or Minnesota Fats.
