Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority nixes merger

Local transit success used to be measured one rider at a time, Marc Roncone said.

“It used to be with this agency that if there was one person on the bus and we were getting them where they wanted to be, we were successful,” the Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority executive director said.

“Those days of one or two people on a bus are going away.”

Looking ahead, eliminating inefficient runs will take precedent over expanding transit service, Roncone said in the aftermath of the authority board's decision to reject a proposed merger with two Washington County transit agencies.

The MMVTA – which serves 21 Valley municipalities – voted 10–6 Thursday to reject a proposed merger with Washington County Transportation, also known as Washington County Rides, and the City of Washington Transit Authority.

Board member Christopher Carroll of New Eagle made the motion for the merger and voted yes. Colleague Ken Scheponik of Charleroi provided a second but voted against the action.

Others voting yes were Thomas Caudill of Monongahela, Sandy Davis of Roscoe, Michael Deenihan of Dunlevy, Frank Kennedy of Elco and Olga Woodward of Fallowfield Township.

The following also voted no: Mark Brown of Fayette City, Joseph Karbowsky of Allenport, Sherie Koontz of North Belle Vernon, Edmund Martin of Belle Vernon, Thomas Monack of Speers, Fred Naccarato of Monessen, Rik Pankiewicz of Carroll Township, Robert Petty of Stockdale, Ronald Sotta of Washington Township, Joe Villella of North Charleroi and Dr. Lorraine Vitchoff of California.

In the proposed merger, each authority would have had three representatives on the nine-member board.

Roncone said Washington County Rides and the City of Washington Transit Authority would have contributed to a combined agency from double to quadruple the assets of Mid Mon Valley.

Roncone said those who rejected the merger were seeking more control on the proposed board.

According to Roncone, state law requires a local match for transit agencies of 15 percent.

But the local match makes up just $33,000 of MMVTA's $4.2 million budget. State and federal money brings more than $3.1 million.

The merger would have included a direct obligation from Washington County government.

“The 21 communities are never going to be able to come up with $380,000,” Roncone said Mid Mon Valley's share.

“It's a challenge to come up with a dedicated source of revenue. Right now, the dedicated source is the 21 communities. Washington and Westmoreland counties, thankfully, support us year after year, but that is discretionary at best.”

Although the MMVTA is slowly increasing its local match each year, Roncone said it would take 30 years for the local agency to meet that state requirement. And that is just for operating expenses. The local authority has no reserve fund.

Now that the merger is out, Roncone said the MMVTA will concentrate on providing as much service as it has been with the revenue it has.

“There is no foreseeable opportunity for growth,” Roncone said. “Without the merger, there is no new dedicated local revenue source for (new) fixed route services.”

Roncone said the MMVTA will not create any new runs unless it can be assured that the run will be full.

“We will have to replace empty buses with full ones,” Roncone said.

“We may be running a bus (now) with one or two people on it, and they may need that bus to get to work. But that will have to change.”

Chris Buckley is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-684-2642 or cbuckley@tribweb.com.