Port Authority of Allegheny County and its 2,100-member drivers union agree the agency must find ways to contain spending to keep buses rolling. They just disagree on how to do it.

The transit agency and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 have failed to reach an agreement on a contract. Their agreement expires Monday night.

The rift between the authority's management and its union work force is so deep that no last-minute talks were planned this weekend and officials say the dispute will drag on for months.

Meanwhile, the agency finished the year with more than a $20 million shortfall because county Chief Executive Dan Onorato is withholding a $27 million transit subsidy as leverage to influence the talks.

The two sides have not met since Monday and held no more than a dozen negotiating sessions in the past 100 days. Intervention by state mediators failed. There is no sense of urgency to resolve the impasse.

"We're going to ask the state Labor Relations Board to appoint a fact-finder," CEO Steve Bland said.