The first meeting of the Port Authority is convened on January 17. 1959 Act is amended to include provision of the exclusive right to engage in the business of owning, operating and maintaining an integrated transportation system. The Commissioners request PAT to find out the cost of acquiring all the existing transit properties. 1963 Public hearings on the transit acquisition are held in April in Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg, McKeesport, Tarentum and Carnegie. 1964 John Dameron is appointed as general manager of the authority.
Debt service is supposed to be paid from operating revenues.
The first PAT board has representatives from Westomoreland, Washington, Armstrong and Beaver counties. Consolidation of the work rules and union contracts of the 33 companies is completed, using the Pittsburgh Railways union contract as a guide. No union members lose and benefits. 1967 Last streetcar lines in East End are replaced by buses. Since fare box revenue is inadequate to pay for both debt service and operating expenses, PAT enacts the first of several fare increases, each resulting in a ridership loss.