PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh area's transit agency is making plans to cut 555 of its 2,755 employees, cut routes and reduce weekend service on others if it doesn't get more state funding.

The Port Authority of Allegheny County is projecting a $47 million deficit in its current 2010-2011 budget.

About $27 million of that is directly related to a state funding cut that resulted from the federal government's rejection of a plan to make Interstate 80 a toll road.

Transit spokesman Jim Ritchie tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that a committee meeting Wednesday will map out the cuts, expected to begin in March.

Forty-eight routes will be eliminated and weekend service on 13 others will be cut.

EAST STROUDSBURG, — Students at a northeastern Pennsylvania university have approved a $118 million construction project that will raise tuition $100 for 20 years starting in 2018.Students at East Stroudsburg University voted 827-577 last week in favor of building the Keystone Center.The state will pay the bulk of the bill, but students who attend the school from 2018 to 2038 will be charged an extra $100 per semester to pay for the building.The Keystone Center will house a new library and computer center and house many other important academic departments.The school's vice president of finance and administration, Richard Staneski, tells the Stroudsburg Pocono Record that students and university staff will have a say in the building's architectural plans.

SAYRE — Hoping to ease a housing crunch, a natural gas drilling company has built a dormitory-style housing facility and training center for its workers in northern Pennsylvania.The dormitories in Athens Township, Bradford County, were built by Chesapeake Energy Corp. The complex can hold about 280 workers and includes a cafeteria, recreation center and laundry facilities.The Oklahoma City-based energy company, the largest stakeholder in the gas-rich Marcellus Shale region, plans to hold a grand opening today.A drilling boom in the Marcellus has led to a housing shortage and skyrocketing rents. Some housing advocates say lower-income residents have been priced out of the market.