The Port Authority board today approved the next step toward a possible 35 percent transit service reduction in September, authorizing a public comment period and a hearing on the cuts.

Board members said they were not in favor of the cuts but are obligated to plan for a worst-case scenario if there is no action by Gov. Tom Corbett and the Legislature to address a statewide transportation funding shortfall that includes a projected $64 million deficit for the transit agency in 2012-13.

The state funding shortfall also is projected to bring about a $100 million reduction in spending on roads and bridges in Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties this year, authority CEO Steve Bland noted.

"The comment period and public hearing are legal obligations," board vice chairman Guy Mattola said. "This is not the desired direction of this board. But faced with an ongoing shortfall in state funding, we have to plan for the worst. And this is the worst.

"Cutting 35 percent of our total service, including nearly half of the routes in our entire system, would be a crushing blow to this region's transportation network. We're not talking anymore about the difference between getting a seat on a bus or standing. We're talking about whether there's a bus to ride at all," Mr. Mattola said.

The cuts would take effect Sept. 2 and eliminate 46 of the agency's remaining 102 routes, the largest reduction in the authority's 48-year history.

Service was cut 15 percent in March.

Public comment will be accepted from Feb. 5 to March 9, and an all-day public hearing will be held Feb. 29 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Comment also will accepted about a proposed fare increase. The authority plans a 25-cent rise in the base Zone 1 fare, to $2.50, on July 1. Zone 2 rides will go up 50 cents, to $3.75. It will be the fourth fare increase in the past 4 1/2 years. The last was in January 2011.

"I'd like to emphasize that these cuts can be avoided," Mr. Bland said. "This all can be avoided simply by fixing the way Pennsylvania pays for transportation programs."

After the meeting, he took aim at a recent comment by Mr. Corbett's spokesman that the Port Authority's funding woes were a local, rather than state, problem.

"If this is a local problem, why was there an executive order creating a transportation funding commission?" he said, referring to the governor's creation of a panel that in August recommended fee increases and other revenue raising measures to address the shortage of funding for roads, bridges and transit.