Port Authority recently reached new five-year agreements with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University that will maintain the ability of students, faculty and staff at both institutions to ride Port Authority vehicles by displaying a current ID card.

Under terms of the agreements, payments to Port Authority from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University will increase 15 percent each year, increasing the projected average fare of both institutions to a level that approximates that of the entire Port Authority system.

The University of Pittsburgh, which signed its first agreement with Port Authority in 1998, accounts for approximately 5.8 million rides annually and will pay $3.887 million in the first year of the contract. Carnegie Mellon University, which signed its first agreement in 1999, accounts for approximately 1.3 million rides annually and will pay $881,000 in the first year of the contract.

The agreement must be formally reviewed within the Carnegie Mellon University community. After gathering university input, Carnegie Mellon’s Board of Trustees must approve the five-year contract. The University of Pittsburgh has signed the agreement.

“Pitt and Carnegie Mellon have been great partners in this popular program, and we are pleased to be able to continue enhancing the mobility of their students, staff and faculty while further recognizing the value of our services,” said Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Steve Bland. “These agreements provide predictable revenue streams for Port Authority and enable us to build a customer base for the future by demonstrating the convenience and reliability of public transportation.”

The new contracts may be reopened by either party once Port Authority begins to operate a new fare collection system based on “smart card” technology. Port Authority is pursuing that technology and plans to implement it within three years, thus permitting the most accurate ridership data possible.