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Pittsburgh City Council

City employees may receive prepaid bus passes.

Written by Amy Whipple

The city may conduct a one-year pilot program in which it would pay for employees' Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) transit passes.

The PRTner PASS allows employers to purchase reduced-price bus passes. If council adopts the pilot program, the city will pay $28 per month the transit passes for each full-time employee under 65. The catch: employees must work Downtown to participate.

“If we expanded it beyond specific strategic locations, the cost would jump up really fast,” said Chief Financial Officer Patrick Cornell, “and we’re not sure who would actually be using the pass to get to work.”

Cornell estimated the pilot program will cost approximately $275,000 for 750 qualifying employees. He said the city will also continue to offer transit subsidies to other city employees. Those cover about half the cost of monthly passes.

The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University have long offered free bus passes to employees, which Council Member Deb Gross of Highland Park called a point of jealousy.

Other council members also liked the idea of offering the benefit and reducing car congestion Downtown. Council Member Theresa Kail-Smith of Westwood, however, expressed concern about the already-short 2026 proposed budget.

 The passes will be placed on the legislative agenda.

Connections to this story

Topics:
Transit & Transportation
Governments:
Pittsburgh City Council
Public meetings:
City Council · December 2, 2025
Sources:
Resolution 2025-2504 — providing for an agreement or agreements with Pittsburgh Regional Transit to allow the City to participate in the…

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