Erie Transit System; In Need of Work
By Maddie Wickett
Whether in the sweltering heat or freezing cold, people always seem to be standing at bus stops because they have somewhere to go. But imagine if that bus never came, or it was intermittent. That could have been the case for the Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority (EMTA) if they were either taken over by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) or if they ran out of reserve funding after the authority’s 50-year charter expired in late 2016.
A 50-Year History and A Two-Year Struggle
The county as a whole provides a large mix of rurality and urbanity, but all of EMTA’s operations are centered in downtown Erie and it has been this way since the transit authority began in 1966 under the direction of Mayor Lou Tullio.
“The original charter benefited the city more because it was constructed at a point when the city was the powerhouse in the region,” Dr. Jim Wertz, Erie Reader contributing writer and Edinboro University journalism professor, said. “It was crafted at a time when there was virtually no need for EMTA in the county.”
Although funding for the bus service comes from both federal and state governments, some of the money is also provided locally through the city of Erie and Erie County. It was the local funding that caused the nearly 2-year struggle between the city and county. Although the city signed a new 50-year charter in 2015, the county was opposed because they wanted more appointees to EMTA’s board of directors and more regionalized bus service. These two areas of concern are also heavily reliant on who foots more of the bill.
“The percentage that the city contributes to EMTA is reflective of how many board appointments they get and same with the county,” Dr. Kyle Foust, Erie County Councilman and Internship Director at Mercyhurst University, said. “It’s a five-four split now; the city is responsible for 55 percent of the local match and the county is responsible for 45 percent.”
Before the 10-year charter passed on Oct. 25, the board was split six to three in the city’s favor. Although the county gained another EMTA board appointment, many council members, including Jay Brenemen, still believe the charter accomplished very little aside from keeping the status quo.
“We thought it was a bad deal, we still think it’s a bad deal,” Andre Horton, county councilman said to Erie News Now. “I indicated to my colleagues that I’d vote with the majority, so I did.”
After a summer full of city/county disputes, a lawsuit occurred in which the city wanted to sue the County. The city wants the County to either withdraw from EMTA or agree to a municipal statement of revival, which would reactivate the old 50-year charter for a short period of time.
The 50-year charter expired on Sept. 14, but bus service still ran on reserve money. However, the authority was not allowed to accept federal funding during the time where it lacked a local charter. The case had its day in court on Fri. Nov. 7.
Erie County judge William R. Cunningham said to work it out quickly, “for the good of the community.” Erie City Mayor Joe Sinnott and County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper proposed a new 10-year charter that was unanimously passed by City Council and eventually passed by County Council with a 6–1 vote on Oct. 25, according to GoErie. ending the nearly two-year stalemate.
Changing with the Charter: City and County Politics
EMTA’s charter struggle has been out of the Erie media spotlight for roughly a month now but the question of,What’s n who can now breathe a 10-year sigh of relief.
“The 10-year charter has nearly no changes in comparison to the original 50-year charter,” Erie County Council vice chairman, Jay Breneman, said. “The key differences are the length of charter, one board seat change and a small change in the local funds paid by the two chartering governments.”
The contents of the charter were covered extensively by Erie media groups but Erie City Council feels that the hotly debated logistics of the charter are not of importance.
“You can change a board makeup in the middle of a charter. You can change bylaws in the middle of a charter,” Erie City Council president, Rob Merski, said. “The life of the charter is really irrelevant other than that it’s a mechanism to keep the organization operational.”
According to Merski, most people who live in rural Erie County have cars and the state and federal government need to provide large subsidies for busses that will only transport a limited number of people from the county into the city. He discussed a trial run of a bus that traveled to Albion but it was cut because only a small number of people rode it per week. Merski explained that in order to make bus routes practical, there needs to be a critical mass of people and a destination.
Wertz sees EMTA as an evolving entity for the county as residents need to travel to other towns in the county or to the city for employment or education.
“…Ridership in the county has increased, and the county has rightly attempted to assume the financial and governmental responsibility for that service,” Wertz said. “Many in the city are afraid of regionalism, more power being given to the county as opposed to the city…the more the city has control of, the more power they feel.”
Regionalism and larger subsidies could cause residents to consider how their tax dollars are being spent in terms of transit, and if there will be an increase. According to Merski, local colleges and universities subsidize transit solutions for their students. Although this fulfills a vital need, many residents are still concerned about their own taxes.
“The city residents really are being double-taxed for the same service because their city taxes go to EMTA and their county tax dollars are also going to EMTA,” Foust said. “We originally wanted to make this a county authority. Any business has to expand their horizons, and EMTA is no different.”
EMTA Expanding Horizons
According to Merski, all of EMTA’s newly expanded route within the last 10 years have been outside the city. Currently, the least intermittent routes are located within the “urbanized area” of Erie.
“The urbanized area for the EMTA runs from North East along the lakefront to Manchester Rd. in Fairview and as far south as Robison Rd. just past Splash Lagoon,” Mike Tann said, the executive director of EMTA. “The urbanized area is defined by the U.S. Government when it does its census every 10 years.”
One of the more recent routes outside of the “urbanized area” to make an expansion was the Edinboro route, which increased its weekday service from two to six trips into Erie. Stops at Giant Eagle the Highlands Senior Apartments and Walmart were also added.
“The Edinboro service improvements were based upon an increase in people living and working in that area, growth of retail, senior apartments being built, etc.,” Tann said. “There are quite a few people who live in Edinboro and work in downtown Erie.”
Other parts of Tann’s five-year plan include in-bus Wi-Fi, expanding routes into Edinboro or Union City, having a transit center in one of those towns, and implementing compressed natural gas instead of diesel fuel in new bus fleets.
“In the next 10 years, electric busses are going to explode in usage,” Tann said. “Being on the lake here, we provide a golden opportunity for the federal government to invest in electric-powered busses that create no noise or emissions and you can charge a bus in 10 minutes.”
While considering these big plans, finances are a concern, even for the general operations of EMTA with the city’s increased financial commitment, according to Brenemen.
“The city cannot sustain funding for a regional service,” Brenemen said. The current bond, pension and service obligations by the city will soon lead to some serious financial imbalances.”
In terms of expansion for a charter beyond the current 10-year agreement, many city and county leaders are uncertain.
“It really will be predicated on what political leadership is around at the time,” Foust said. “County Council was unified in making transformational change, and the politics of maintaining the status quo chipped away at that…”.
Perspectives of Drivers and Riders
While change can be enacted in boardrooms with executives and representatives, the stories and voices of those who traverse the city and county by public means also carry weight.
Samantha Caraballo, an Albion resident who regularly attends Voices for Independence (a local non-profit group which provides activities for those with disabilities), uses The Erie Lift for transportation. The Lift is a branch of EMTA which provides door-to-door transportation to disabled county residents and seniors who live in the city or beyond the highly-scheduled bus routes.
“At first they were on-time, but this time I waited an hour and they were late,” Caraballo said. “I don’t want to be on the bus for three hours of time just to get to Erie.”
Edinboro University student and Edinboro resident Sierra Newlon also believes there should be more options for rural Erie county residents.
“The changes I would like to see is more bus stops and not spaced out times,”Newlon said. “Students need the bus for work and resources; most of us don’t have cars or some can’t drive.”
An unnamed bus driver also explained some benefits of more busses in the Edinboro area.
“We’ve added more needed routes such as out here in Edinboro with the additional times of Route 14 to benefit the student body and Highland Village Senior Apartments.”
Life-long Erie resident Ashley Duran also believes changes could be made from the bottom up to help create a better riding experience.
“I ride (EMTA) every day,” Duran said. “I think they should improve…how often they show up. I’d like for them to be on-time.”
A Better Way: Erie has Room to Grow
All Aboard Erie (AAE), an Erie-based grass-roots group whose goals include developing mass transit systems in the tristate area, was very active during the charter stalemate and continues to be visible throughout the Erie area.
“We did raise awareness of the public, especially the fact that 30 percent of the County uses the bus,” Julie Minich, All Aboard Erie executive director, said. “I had trouble with the fact that each council would make the same comments about the other — that they were not willing to negotiate. I just never knew who was telling the truth.”
Since the beginning of their monthly meetings in 2009, AAE has worked to educate people about public transit (EMTA busses, Amtrak, and even bicycling safety in Erie). They have also been active in adding high-speed rail to Erie’s transit options, connecting the Eastern Plan (which ends in Buffalo) with the Central Plan (which starts in Cleveland).
“The main goal of AAE is to let people know that they have a choice in transportation,” Minich said. “The dream of AAE is that a person could leave their house or apartment, ride the bus to a train station…and reach their destination without having to bring a car with them. It’s all about choice, and options. We’re not anti-automobile; we’re pro-transit.”
Currently, AAE is seeking funding for a study to determine whether a high-speed rail from Erie to Pittsburgh would be effective.
Expanding the scope even further and comparing Erie’s transit options with transit systems abroad in Western Europe, it is clear that Erie could take a few lessons from Germany’s transportation systems.
Sead Medilovic is now a van driver for Edinboro University’s Office for Students with Disabilities, however he resided in Germany for several years and spent his childhood in Bosnia. According to him, transportation is much easier in parts of Europe.
“Busses and trains are well-organized and every 15 minutes you can go from city to city or town to town. Plus, subways, you have subways in bigger cities like Frankfort, Munich, and Hamburg…that will take you to any part of the town,” Medilovic said. “EMTA should be available not just for downtown, but the suburbs too.”
According to Medilovic, the United States is so bigs no connection between cities and cars are necessary.
Personal Experiences with EMTA
Since EMTA’s Edinboro route expansion in August 2016, busses come to Edinboro six times per day during the week and on Saturdays. This has increased from three times per day during the week and two times on Saturdays. The Edinboro bus route also now makes stops at Edinboro University, Walmart, Giant Eagle and Dollar General before returning to Erie. Although service to Edinboro has improved, his poor scheduling still causes Edinboro residents to plan their schedules around limited service and miss out on important events and exciting nightlife experiences that the city of Erie has to offer. It is no easier getting to important places like UPMC Hamot, the Social Security Office, or the Erie County Assistance Office, which are located within Erie County’s “urbanized area” and are most likely out of reach for the people who need them most if they live in rural Erie County.
According to a study published by the Keystone Research Center, the Erie city population in 2000 was 142,266 while the outlying areas’ population totaled 136,909, which is fairly close to that of the city. While the county’s population may be close to that of the city, they are spread throughout the rural areas while transit for them is stretched too thin. This is no fault of the hard-working drivers who try their best to accommodate the riders; the blame rests on the administration who mainly choose to serve Erie City with practical transportation.
The city of Erie and Edinboro are the only two municipalities within the county to have a population greater than 2,000 people, according to a proposal submitted to the State Board of Education by Erie County.
Similar to Edinboro, almost all of Erie County is faced with the problem of not having enough convenient mass transit. According to a map featured in the same proposal, EMTA bus routes mainly service the “Erie urbanized area” which consists of the city of Erie and adjacent municipalities such as Millcreek, Summit Township, and part of Harborcreek. That leaves out large parts of Erie County including Corry, Union City, Edinboro, Albion and Waterford, just to name a few. These “outlying areas” see some busses along their streets, but it is severely limited and highly impractical for potential riders.
The Erie Lift is just as limited and tasking once outside the urbanized Erie area. According to The Lift’s website, service is available within the “urbanized area” Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The site also claims services to be available in the “rural areas” Monday through Friday, but no times or schedules are listed.
These poor conditions greatly impacts people who depend on The Lift or regular EMTA busses for transportation to medical appointments, work, shopping, or recreation. How would it be possible for an Edinboro University student to attend a medical appointment at Hamot or an internship interview at Erie Insurance and be back in time for class without wasting an entire day on a single errand?
From start to finish, the process of riding the Lift is convoluted and cumbersome. When calling to schedule a ride, many Lift telephone operators sound rude and far from courteous or helpful. Pickup times are in half-hour increments, leaving the elderly or disabled to wait in possibly poor weather conditions for up to half an hour, if the Lift scheduling operator got the pickup information correct in the first place. As a Lift rider, I know that I can get to Erie from the Lift every weekday at 9:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. These times are only estimates, as there is a half-hour pickup window. However, the service is unreliable, as I have waited over an hour for a Lift bus to arrive and have been late to several appointments due to the overall crowdedness on Lift busses since there are so few of these in rural Erie County.
Once on the Lift bus, the time it takes to get to a destination could vary greatly. On several occasions, it has taken me close to two and a half hours to travel from Erie to Edinboro. When riding the Lift, doctor appointments turn into all-day ordeals and pickup or drop-off times and travel time duration turn into a guessing game.
If someone does not have proper change or isn’t waiting for the bus during the half-hour pickup time window, expect to pay a hefty price. I’ve paid up to $6 for a ride that was supposed to cost $2.90 and I’ve received invoices in the mail stating that I owe the Lift $2.70 and that I am blacklisted from riding until I send a check. I’ve also missed a bus in Erie and was offered the choice to pay $41 simply to return to Edinboro. The fee is also $41 if a Lift rider calls to change a destination or pickup time on the day of their scheduled ride, leaving no room for suddenly changing plans.
Along with these possibly hefty fees, riders are forced to pay their fare in change, which seems severely antiquated since very few people carry cash these days, let alone change. Every time I ride a Lift bus, I’m faced with the annoying burden of making a trip to the bank in order to withdraw cash and exchange it for rolls of quarters. Instead, EMTA should make Lift bus rides free with student IDs. For non-students, the authority should charge a fee of three dollars and allow riders to pay with their debit or credit cards and through mobile devices.
EMTA riders have enjoyed the use of the popular MyStop mobile application for roughly the past year. This app allows riders to track busses in real-time and view schedules conveniently from their mobile phones. The Lift should also incorporate this app with their services, especially because of the ever-changing schedules and lengthy time windows for pickups and drop-offs.
Erie Metropolitan Transit’s website claims the Lift is “safe, reliable, and customer friendly…”, but it is neither reliable nor customer-friendly in its limited rural services, unavailable estimated schedules, and less-than-courteous administrative staff.
Out of the 38 municipalities in Erie County, roughly three of them receive adequate bus service through EMTA and the Lift. If Erie City gains total local control over the transit authority, the County should create a separate transit authority to serve the rest of Erie County which is in desperate need of better transit. Erie County Transit Authority (ECTA) should be enacted in order to better serve county residents who depend on public transportation daily to live life and participate in society as much as people who choose to drive.
