Transit buses run normally after Westmoreland operations takeover

By Rich Cholodofsky

Trib Total Media

Lisa Snow drove the Westmoreland County Transit Authority’s 4F bus to and from Pittsburgh on Thursday, the same route she’s operated over the past few years.

There were no differences in how and where the bus traveled, but for Snow and her passengers, it was the start of a new era. For the first time since the transit authority was created in the 1970s, it served as its own bus operator and service provider.

“Everybody is positive about it,” Snow said after unloading passengers at the authority’s Greensburg transit center following her afternoon run from Pittsburgh. “There was mismanagement, and I think the transit authority will do a better job.”

Buses on commuter and local trips operated on routes and schedules that have been in place for several years. Door-to-door shared-ride trips as part of the authority’s Go Westmoreland paratransit programs saw no service interruptions nor system alterations as part of the agency’s takeover of operations.

Officials said the move became necessary after unsuccessful attempts to renegotiate the agency’s five-year, $39.5 million contract, signed in May 2018, with National Express Transit Inc. to operate both the bus and paratransit programs. 

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