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...
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