Downtown: Bus-free? (McKeesport, Swissvale, Bellevue: rich, suburban, transit)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by simetime

Call me crazy but I always believe that the well off will move closer to town while the poor and disfranchised would be forced to live in the outskirts of the county unseen and their movements wouold be controlled but limited public transportation

I was thinking more of the elderly in the suburbs who can no longer drive. The suburbs already have limited bus service. If poor people are forced to move further out, they would have a difficult time. It wouldn't be conspiracy though. PAT can't provide adequate transportation to the suburbs already.

[simetime]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I was thinking more of the elderly in the suburbs who can no longer drive. The suburbs already have limited bus service. If poor people are forced to move further out, they would have a difficult time. It wouldn't be conspiracy though. PAT can't provide adequate transportation to the suburbs already.

I forgot about the elderly Iwas thinking about putting the "undesireables" in a location where their criminal activities can be contained in a limited area

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by simetime

I forgot about the elderly Iwas thinking about putting the "undesireables" in a location where their criminal activities can be contained in a limited area

I'm not letting you pick my nursing home.

[simetime]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

I'm not letting you pick my nursing home.

No don't misunderstand me It was a disturbing thought that I really do not agree with

[pman]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

I'm on the flip side of this thing. At first it seemed annoying to me that Fitzgerald was meddling. But the fact that PAT is now rolling out real-time GPS tracking / bus arrival information came directly from him, apparently. That's a huge win because of direct action on his part. My only gripe is that it needs to happen faster!

of course it was enabled by connect card. more importantly his botched handling of bland and installing his crony from the turnpike led to loss of control to state cronies. hes also a grandstander who takes credit for things he didnt do (pat was already increasing ad revenue). that said im aure hell have his pluses and minuses over time
Bus-free Downtown Pittsburgh core on hold - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[pman]

seems like a little damage control
Shift in routes of Downtown Pittsburgh buses sought | TribLIVE

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by pman

seems like a little damage control
Shift in routes of Downtown Pittsburgh buses sought | TribLIVE

I don't know how much of a difference it would make in Pgh, but when I lived in Seattle, the bus routes did not circle endlessly from downtown to their end location and back, over and over. Instead, they pressed on from downtown to a completely other part of town. I imagine the point was to keep a better flow by having buses going into downtown, then through downtown, then out of downtown in a different direction.

I wonder if that would help here. It would mean the 61C, for example, would not, when it got downtown, cycle through town all over again on its way back to McKeesport. Instead, it would get downtown, then go over one of the bridges to the north side or south side. I wonder if this would make a difference in downtown Pgh.

Does anyone know how many more people are downtown during the day vs. in 1970?

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I wonder if that would help here. It would mean the 61C, for example, would not, when it got downtown, cycle through town all over again on its way back to McKeesport. Instead, it would get downtown, then go over one of the bridges to the north side or south side. I wonder if this would make a difference in downtown Pgh.

I don't think it would make the slightest difference downtown, but it would sure exacerbate the needless delays in getting from Squirrel Hill to Oakland or the reverse. Right now the worst thing about my commute is that bad traffic downtown or on the Homestead Grays Bridge can screw up my commute despite not needing to go near either of them. I don't think adding more sites for potential traffic jams would help anybody.

Originally Posted by jay5835

Does anyone know how many more people are downtown during the day vs. in 1970?

About the same, per Null Space.

Nullspace: Pittsburgh by day

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I wonder if that would help here. It would mean the 61C, for example, would not, when it got downtown, cycle through town all over again on its way back to McKeesport. Instead, it would get downtown, then go over one of the bridges to the north side or south side. I wonder if this would make a difference in downtown Pgh.

PAT was doing that on a few routes, not so terribly long ago. They paired the Bellevue/West View trips with the Highland Park route- for a West View to Aspinwall route.

PAT gave up on the idea, but maybe it will come back.

[pman]

so let me get this straight. shunt PAT aside, shovel millions into a parking garage that we can pretend is a positive redevelopment for the sak's building, and talk about millions more for oxford, and pretend this is how to create a "grand boulevard?" seems pretty disappointing if one thought peduto was anything different. the sak's project is garbage. rather than build apartments (what the market is demanding) they want to build a giant parking garage and then keep the proceeds that are supposed to fund pensions to pay for the parking garage. this is just more of the same cronyism. in order to make it more palatable, we'll throw in a bike lane, that's trendy.

"I want to make Smithfield Street from Station Square to the convention center a grand boulevard of Pittsburgh, bring in small shops and boutiques from all throughout Western Pennsylvania and give them a presence on a Downtown location that becomes a calling card," Mr. Peduto, the Democratic nominee for mayor and prohibitive favorite in next month's election, said in a recent interview..."You look at Smithfield now, it's worn out. The infrastructure is terrible. The bus lane is dangerous, and it's a distraction to Downtown," he said....Oxford, said the company plans to seek tax increment financing, or TIF, in redeveloping 441 Smithfield, the seven-story property that borders Forbes and Fifth avenues..."With the Piatt development happening down the street at Saks Fifth AvenueMillcraft Investments and McKnight Realty Partners are proposing a 600-space parking garage and 25,000 square feet of retail space at the former Saks property and adjoining parcels of Fifth Avenue.
The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority is asking the city to devote 75 percent of the parking taxes generated by the Saks garage for 20 years to help finance the project. That would amount to $6 million of the $35.3 million needed to build the facility...A Downtown retail task force put together by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl estimated last year that upgrading facades, sidewalks, lights and trees on Smithfield would cost $7.15 million, although $4.56 million of that was dedicated to facades

Read more: Bill Peduto wants to make Pittsburgh's Smithfield Street a 'grand boulevard' - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
so the city can't afford $3 million to fix up the streetscape? seems unlikely.