Pittsburgh, PA – Port Authority is pleased to announce that effective Wednesday, August 1, 2007, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) will eliminate the peak hour restriction for persons age 65 and older, enabling senior citizens to ride transit for free at all times on weekdays, weekends and holidays.
Although senior citizens are not required to put money in the fare box, Port Authority will continue to be reimbursed for their ride courtesy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania’s Free Transit Program for Senior Citizens, which is funded by Lottery proceeds, reimburses public transit agencies throughout the Commonwealth for every ride seniors take on fixed-route public transportation. Bus, rail and incline operators track senior passengers by pressing a special button on the fare box whenever a senior citizen boards the vehicle. The annual number of senior passengers is reported to PennDOT and Port Authority is reimbursed for those rides.
Senior Citizens must still present a Senior Citizen Transit Card or a Medicare card in order to be eligible to ride free of charge. Senior Transit Card applications can be obtained at Port Authority’s Downtown Service Center at 534 Smithfield Street Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Other locations where senior citizens can obtain applications for the Senior Citizen Transit Card are available on Port Authority’s Web site, www.portauthority.org. When applying for the card, seniors must present a form of identification that displays their date of birth, such as a driver’s license or birth certificate.
With the enactment of Act 44, the new transportation funding legislation, all programs that fund public transportation in Pennsylvania, such as the Free Transit Program for Senior Citizens, are being combined and simplified into a general public transit operating assistance fund. This change facilitated the elimination of the peak hour restrictions on free service for senior citizens.
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