The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission narrowly approved Governor Ed Rendell's plan to flex federal funding, intended for road projects, to avert deep cuts in mass transit service in the Pittsburgh region. The vote was 27-22 on the plan to shift $45 million in unspent federal funding to the Port Authority of Allegheny County.
PAT C-E-O Stephen Bland a member of the Commission, told his colleagues that the transit agency would consider spreading the money over a 2 year period to give incoming Governor Tom Corbett and the legislature until July 2012 to address a transportation funding shortfall for roads, bridges and mass transit. Bland says that could still mean some service cuts and layoffs in March but not the 35% reduction in service that was planned without the emergency funding.