Thoughts from the Hotel

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by pman

so judging by the Deuce which doesn't seem to be a loop in the sense I was thinking and really does seem more like the DC and charm city circulators with which I'm familiar...so perhaps we're a little less in disagreement ( I was thinking you just wanted a bus running a loop, one direction like the hop on/hop off bus tours). Still, for me, I think an incline to oakland route would be fine, north side to south side would be a separate route via downtown.

I see the confusion. I definitely would want buses running in both directions, I just meant that overall the route should connect to itself in order to maximize the combinations of destinations and starting points it can be used for, while minimizing the time spent getting there. Nobody would ride from the southside to downtown via a 45 minute tour of the east end; sure there are other southside-downtown buses, but why complicate things with extra routes if you can just close the loop and have the bus hop over to downtown before starting over again (it certainly makes more sense than sending it to bon-air to turn around like the 54). I think we're on the same page.

when you attract regular riders you reduce the required subsidy.

Exactly, I don't think we need a bus solely for tourists. It would just be one that is frequent, convenient, and easy to understand for locals and tourists alike. I think the present day 54, 64, and 75 routes are good evidence that there would be decent ridership of a loop similar to the Ultraviolet.

Originally Posted by pman

I'm also not a big fan of the fake trolleys, they don't ride well and I don't think they are particularly attractive.
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Circulator Launches East of the River Service: DCist
if you're gonna go bus, just get a sleek, new bus.
brian makes a good point, the simplified new bus route to oakland (with maps) might take care of getting to oakland. maybe the tourist line from duquesne to east liberty is extended in the summer months to the zoo.

I agree, even just naming it something unique like the Ultraviolet Loop is good enough to differentiate it from regular buses in my opinion. Newer buses would be a plus, but it could do without. To me those old time trolley looking buses make me think they will be slow and too touristy.

[wpipkins]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

There are plenty of coffee shops downtown that are open on weekends. The Crazy Mocha on Liberty, and the Starbucks in Market Square come to mind. There is also a Starbucks in the William Penn that I believe is open weekends.

All of the people complaining that "downtown is dead after 5 and on weekends" are out of touch, and probably haven't been downtown in a while. Go down to Market Square on a Sunday afternoon or evening. You will be shocked. There's way more going on downtown than on Ellsworth or Walnut.

I was in Market Square Starbucks on Wednesday evening...... Market square was packed and then Bill Clinton himself walked into starbuck with all of his secret servicemen......lol

[pman]

Originally Posted by wpipkins

I was in Market Square Starbucks on Wednesday evening...... Market square was packed and then Bill Clinton himself walked into starbuck with all of his secret servicemen......lol

this is what drives me nuts about that crazy mocha. why is it closed? (mind you, I don't love CM or starbucks and I do use the one on liberty since there isn't much choice). I'd like to see a high quality cafe/coffeeshop open on weekends downtown. I don't think that's asking too much.if it sold high quality baked goods that would be even better...not that I wouldn't like a pepperoni roll and good quality cappucino middmorning.

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

Newer buses would be a plus, but it could do without. To me those old time trolley looking buses make me think they will be slow and too touristy.

yep. the narrow body (to make it trolley like) doesn't work well for a bus either. even repainting existing buses would be fine, especially if it were for a test (whichever route or routes were selected).

[fleetiebelle]

As the OP implies, the hospitality industry could do a better job directing visitors to appropriate venues. A couple of friends were in Pittsburgh for a baseball game last summer and stayed downtown. (I was out of town, otherwise I would have met them.) Before they came I gave them a handful of suggestions of where to eat, but they ended up just asking at the hotel. The desk guy recommended that Greek restaurant on 6th (Christos?) so that's where they went and they were a bit disappointed. I was all, seriously? Of all the places downtown or on the North Shore, that's the suggestion they got from the hotel, from someone who's ostensibly supposed to have the scoop?