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Nov 19, 2008 8:24 pm US/Eastern
Riders Worried Over Possible Port Authority Strike
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
On any given weekday, at least 230,000 residents hop on board one of the Port Authority's buses or the T - 50,000 into downtown Pittsburgh - but that all could come to a screeching halt on December 1st.
And if there is a transit shutdown, it would be felt immediately.
KDKA Money Editor Jon Delano asked people at a bus stop: "How important is the bus to you?"
"It's the only way I could work in town and live in the suburbs. It's the only way," says Regina Wiechelt, of Wexford.
"It would really hurt my family. I work construction down here in town and my daughter goes to Pitt and she takes the bus every day. I take the bus every day, so I don't know what we're going to do," says Matt Mavilla, of Bellevue.
"I wouldn't know how to get here other than take the bus. I wouldn't know where to park or drive," adds Anne Daily, of McCandless.
Concerns like that have prompted local leaders to launch a new website -
KeepPittsburghMoving.Com - to help both employers and employees plan for the worst.
"Everyone is at risk when there is a disruption of transit service because if buses aren't running, the T's not running, there'll be more people in more cars," notes Mike Langley, of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.
That means congestion everywhere -- so KeepPittsburghMoving.Com has maps of parking areas, links to car pooling and ride-sharing and advice for employers on flexible work hours and letting employees work from home.
But the impact of a transit strike is more than just congestion.
"I'll be out of a job, says Kevin O'Leary, of McKees Rocks. "Because I have no way ... no way to get to work."
Nearly 40 organizations as diverse as the African American Chamber to the League of Women Voters to Habitat for Humanity signed a statement calling on transit leaders to keep the buses running.
"As a community, we want to have a voice in making sure that we're heard by the Port Authority board and by the transit union that this needs to be resolved," says Barbara McNees, of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.
And then there's another fear -- a possible transit work slow-down on Light-Up Night, coming up on November 21st.
"We're concerned and deeply disappointed if that would actually happen. I'm not a public relations guru, but I think to make folks suffer for Light-Up Night seems kind of inappropriate to me," says Mike Edwards, of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.
Any strike over the holidays will hurt, Edwards adds.
"I think that will be a real problem for downtown retailers when the entire retail market is pretty soft nationally. It's going to be a tough year anyway, and a potential strike will only make it that much worse," he said.
More Information: 
PGHTransitInfo.com
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