Riders urge Pittsburgh Regional Transit to rethink bus line cuts

PITTSBURGH — Riders are calling on Pittsburgh Regional Transit to rethink its proposed bus line cuts.

A group of riders gathered outside the First Presbyterian Church in Downtown Pittsburgh on Friday morning. They say PRT’s bus line refresh will cut people off by forcing them to walk longer distances and up hills to get to fewer stops.

“The people who are making these changes... they don’t ride the bus. So if you don’t ride the bus how can you make changes that’s going to affect people?” rider Teaira Collins asked.

PRT wants to cut 14 routes and add nine new ones. Officials say the refresh will also boost the number of routes with service every 20-30 minutes.

The transportation company has gotten more than 25,000 comments on the draft so far. In a statement, PRT told Channel 11 in part that “the goal of [the] bus line refresh is to create a system that is more reliable, more frequent, and better aligned with how people travel today... this is still a draft proposal. No final decisions have been made.”

This rally occurred on the same day that PRT adopted its fiscal year 2027 operating and capital budgets, and warned that long-term funding challenges remained unsolved.

PRT’s website indicates that the bus line refresh could be implemented in 2027.

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