The Lead

Allegheny Co. Port Authority extends free fares through March 27

By: - March 21, 2022 10:31 am

By Amanda Waltz

PITTSBURGH — The Port Authority of Allegheny County has announced that free fares on all of its vehicles will continue through this Sunday, March 27.

“As many of us have experienced over the last week, service reliability remains an ongoing issue,” Port Authority CEO Katharine Kelleman said in a statetment. “Fortunately, it has already begun to improve as more and more employees get vaccinated and become eligible to return to work.”

In addition to fully vaccinated employees being allowed to return to work, Port Authority says it anticipates that “employees who show proof that they are partially vaccinated at their upcoming disciplinary hearings will be permitted to return to work on a 30-day probationary period pending full vaccination.” More than 90% of Port Authority’s 2,600 employees are at least partially vaccinated, according to the release.

The public transit agency announced the free fare program last week, saying it had been prompted to move by driver shortages caused by demonstrations against its vaccine mandate.

Amanda Waltz is news editor of Pittsburgh City Paper, where this story first appeared.

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