Very sad to hear this, I was all for the T extension, but after reading this.... (Pittsburgh: live in, light-rail)

[pman]

Originally Posted by Drover

I've taken the L to and from Wrigley numerous times and once to Sox Park (*shudder*). I'm guessing a significantly higher percentage and certainly raw number of fans use the L to get to and from Wrigley than PNC Park -- never waited anywhere near 45 minutes for a train. I doubt Boston fans do either. So yeah, I figure this is a Pittsburgh problem for now.

that's exactly it, it's supposed to be crowded, but not because of a poor level of service, both planned and unplanned. the problem appears to have been:
not planning adequately to handle the scheduled service and so when things went awry, they were caught with their pants down. they admitted as such "it could have been handled better"
not enough scheduled service. PAT also acknowledged such when they said even if it had run according to schedule they would have been unable to meet demand.
fitzgerald has pointed out that he's "seen empty buses" which may be true and an argument can be made that if people are using special event service and not something else, that something should be what gives. it's not like he's arguing to run emptry trains just to look good. While funding doesn't grow on trees, the amount of funding required for special events should be managable for a country the size of allegheny...particularly since we're talking about weekend service where the infrastructure exists to serve commuters during the week.

[Clint.]

People should be complaining at the state level. Local leaders and PAT administration would have no problem with running plentiful routes. Maybe it's good that special event participants are inconvenienced; if they express their unhappiness to the right people something might get done if it's not always the same voices that are ignored.

[captainmidnight]

PAT used to run special event service at least on the bus operation side of the fence.
I remember they would run extra service via the Busways for Steeler home games from suburban Park and Ride Lots. I think they would run inbound/outbound trips from the Large Park and Ride on Route 51 and from Monroeville Mall. I'm not sure about the North and West parts of the county. I think those routes ran up until last year.

Regarding the T service, I am curious if running weekend service with double trains and extra trips within Downtown at certain times is a permanent move or something in response to last weekend's mess. It would make sense if they can keep this weekend service level through the summer as that is when people do more things outside..

[pman]

Originally Posted by Brookline_sylvia

People should be complaining at the state level. Local leaders and PAT administration would have no problem with running plentiful routes. Maybe it's good that special event participants are inconvenienced; if they express their unhappiness to the right people something might get done if it's not always the same voices that are ignored.

in the short run it will mean nothing at the state level, not that you shouldn't write or whatever, but if they failed to do much with a pro-transit governor....as you can see the kvetching has a much larger impact at the local level.
will the next big test be the three rivers festival?

Over the next few months, new operators will be hired and trained using money that had been allocated for other vacant positions, Mr. Bland said. Adding operators for light-rail trains would not reduce the number of bus drivers, he pledged.
Based on crowd estimates for tonight's game against the Houston Astros, Port Authority will add one of two more trains to handle additional riders. With a larger crowd expected Saturday night, as many as four more trains will serve North Side stations after the game.

Port Authority promises extra subway service this weekend - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://earlyreturns.sites.post-gazet...tunnel-traffic

this post makes the very good point that even if service runs at peak capacity, it can only serve a small number of people because it's light rail at the end of the line (the easiest way to increase capacity would be to extend the service on the other side). the set up is probably most similar to Philly which is at the end of the line as well, though that's served by a subway (of course, it's the end of a two track subway). they too have difficulties moving lots of people both because of station capacity issues and getting enough trains to the stub station. Luckily for them (not really) the subway was never completed so it doesn't go many places which undoubtedly suppresses demand, so they move around 5k people relatively seamlessly. the t is in the exact same predicament except that unlike the broad st subway, it's a light rail car.
one other option might be to pick one platform on either end and extend them to accomodate, say, four car trains (allegheny and one on the other side). dispatch the four car train as an express to that station, then dispatch a two car local right after that (note this is exactly what septa does, they send an express north, then a few minutes later, they send a local). where would the money come from? who knows, perhaps if they start making more money on parking, they can use the money to expand the platforms, which in turn, should help free up more space for parking. also, maybe shutting down the pnc stop should be considered after steelers games and having the trains run through.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by stburr91

We can raise taxes to keep PAT on life support, but I just don't see raising taxes to the point that PAT would be able to use all of its infrastructure to its full capacity.

I could see PAT eventually using its infrastructure at optimal rates (not full capacity all the time, of course, but not leaving willing passengers without service), but it would probably take Allegheny County clawing back more of its massive subsidies of rural roads.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

We couldn't fund it this year.

Right, and we are already experiencing some of the cuts due to the state funding cuts. Recall that Rendell gave PAT a one-time grant after the state cuts started, which PAT spread out over a couple years, but still had to cut a bunch of service.

Restoring their promised state funding would involve not just stopping the upcoming cuts, but also undoing that last round of cuts.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by pman

the amount of funding required for special events should be managable for a country the size of allegheny.

None of this should be a problem for a county of our size. The problem is the state is taking away a lot of money and only giving some of it back, and now they are giving even less back.

[pman]

Extra trains were to shuttle between Allegheny Station and Station Square after games this weekend, every eight to 10 minutes until the platform cleared. Every two-car train can carry 340 passengers comfortably (and maybe 500 uncomfortably). The Port Authority figures it can clear a sellout crowd at PNC Park in less than 45 minutes and a Heinz Field crowd in less than 90.

"If you cannot depend on this service,'' Mr. Bland said, "we may as well close the doors.''

Riding the new subway need not be a downer - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The subway is free only because the Steelers, Rivers Casino, the Stadium Authority and Alco Parking contributed a total of $360,000 to cover lost fares. Conspicuously absent from contributors are the Pittsburgh Pirates.

A Port Authority spokesman said on Saturday that the agency avoided widespread problems that plagued the T light-rail system last week, but many trains were still packed.

Spokesman Jim Ritchie said three extra two-car trains ran yesterday in addition to the regular routes. All routes scheduled to be in service were staffed, he said.

Last weekend, 10 of 25 scheduled drivers called in sick...Just after 6 p.m. yesterday, a packed train arrived at a North Shore station near PNC Park. One train followed within four minutes.

However, at the Gateway station, Downtown, some riders waited nearly 20 minutes to head to the North Shore

http://triblive.com/news/1684331-74/...y-gordon-north
sounds like a move in the right direction, hopefully the right service level can be found (and paid for)

[ferraris]

Yesterday I took the T from Northside station to Station Square. I got to the station at 6:50 (just before the Pirates game started), and I saw 4 double car trains drop off fans in the roughly 10 minutes it took for a train going my direction to show up. That's definitely an improvement.

[Blackbeauty212]

Look like most of the overcrowding happens within the Shuttle Zone of Allegheny and South Hills Jct.....So it looks like throwing in just a few Shuttle Trains, and making sure the Red and Blue lines run as scheduled pretty much took care of everything comfortably.