Port Authority of Allegheny County

Port Authority of Allegheny County (also known as the Port Authority or sometimes by its former nickname PAT, and formerly known as PATransit) is the second-largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania and the 11th-largest in the United States. When considering that its service area is the 20th largest in the U.S. in population, per person the Pittsburgh area enjoys more transit service than 9 larger metro areas. The county owned, state funded agency is based in Pittsburgh and is overseen by a CEO and a ten member board of directors, who report to the county executive.

The Port Authority's bus and light rail system covers Allegheny County. On a few of its longer-distance routes, service extends into neighboring counties such as Beaver, Washington and Westmoreland counties. Those counties also have their own transit systems, including several routes that run into downtown Pittsburgh, where riders can make connections with Port Authority service.

History

The Port Authority was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1956 to allow for creation of port facilities in the Pittsburgh area. Three years later, the state legislation was amended to allow the Port Authority to acquire privately owned transit companies that served the area. This included the Pittsburgh Railways Company and a total of thirty-two independent bus and incline operations.. Allegheny County government...
Read More