Signed, sealed, delivered, -- and much richer too

This morning, the Port Authority of Allegheny County Board of Directors officially and unanimously approved the 4-year labor contract, which was
earlier overwhelmingly approved by the rank-and-flle of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85. Again, this link provides the details of this labor agreement:

http://www.post-gazette.com/downloads/20081202atu_doc.pdf

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato has indicated that, following approval of the labor contract by both the Union and the Authority, the $27 million annual county transit subsidy would be forwarded to PAT by the end of the year.

In comments at the meeting, PAT CEO Steve Bland also indicated that there would probably be a transit system fare increase by next Summer, to keep pace with inflation. Flat revenue from state and county sources, due to the ongoing recession, were also cited as reasons for the need to bring-in more revenue from the fare-box.

Here is a short article, from the on-line version of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, regarding this morning's PAT Board meeting:

http://post-gazette.com/pg/08350/935314-100.stm