getting a car next month... need some quick info (Pittsburgh: apartment, lease) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

crae09 · 02-04-2014, 08:09 AM

Good morning & thanks for taking the time to read my post/question.
I'm buying my sister's car next month.. so I'm officially going to be new to Pittsburgh driving.

We live by Shadyside hospital near Centre & Baum. My boyfriend works near Robinson mall and I work downtown. What would be the best solution as of getting to work? Should we still use public transit? Should I drive him to work then stop at a Park n Ride to get into town? I really have no intentions of paying to park downtown so I'm just trying to think of the best fix. Also, the parkway gets to be terrible during morning rush hour. I'm sure I'd run into traffic into Robinson and then again back into town.. Also, his hours are different. Sometimes he may get off of work at 3, sometimes 7. He does normally begin at 9am & so do I. I work until 5. So again, we run into rush hour again....

So, could I park at a park n ride or do I have to live in that area (Crafton or Carnegie for instance) Also, I know this sounds silly, but do I need a parking pass to park in the parking lot behind my apt? I'm not sure if my landlord charges for parking.. i could always ask but I wasnt sure if I needed a city parking pass to even park in the city.

Any tips or advice would be great. It really is appreciated!!
Enjoy your Tuesday burgh'ers!!

jay5835 · 02-04-2014, 08:18 AM

I would let him use the car. Either he can drop you off at work or you can continue to use public transportation. How far are you from the Negley stop of the East Busway? That's the quickest, easiest way to get downtown from Centre & Negley.

fleetiebelle · 02-04-2014, 08:19 AM

He should take the car and you should still take the bus. Driving him to Robinson and back during morning rush is a death wish.

crae09 · 02-04-2014, 08:26 AM

I forgot a giant piece of the puzzle that he still needs to re-take the entire permit/driving test since his license has expired in another state. Sorry for forgetting that detail!!

greg42 · 02-04-2014, 09:29 AM

He's taking the bus now right? Must be, if he has no license. I see no reason not to continue that. Given your arrangements, it would be silly to drive just because you have the car. You don't want to park downtown, you don't want to triple or quadruple your commute times just for him (do you?) and so on.

If you do drive out to Robinson then ride back on the bus, that's just going to add an hour or so to your commute. You can do this if you want, but it's pretty crazy. I wouldn't even bother back tracking to a park and ride. If you do drive to Robinson then just park there as if your boyfriend parked there, then you take the 28X bus back into town. (You can use the park and rides if you like though. The only restriction is the amount of spaces, nothing about where you live. They tend to fill up early out towards the end of the West Busway. But I see no point if you're already at Robinson Towne Center vicinity with your destination as downtown.) Maybe you do this once in a while for some reason where it might be useful, but I can't imagine doing that on a regular basis. Nuts.

More important is figuring out how to park by the apartment. Did your lease not state whether you get a parking spot or not? If not, you'll have to inquire. The lot behind your apartment may or may not be for you. If you don't have a space, or can't rent one from the landlord, then you'll have to find another way. In the residential areas there is sometimes on-street parking that requires a permit. Look for the signs. It will give a letter code as to which permit area it is. Then you contact the Pittsburgh Parking Authority to get the permit. It does cost but it isn't really prohibitive cost-wise.

Long-term your boyfriend needs to get his ass in gear for the license, then he can drive and not be stuck with the long bus commute with transfer. That's his problem though. No need for you to take it on as well. Let the bus ride be his incentive to get that done or you'll end up with that being a nasty contentious thing (i.e. he might drag his feet on the license if you start dropping him at the door of his workplace.) Heck, I don't know though, even then he might still want the bus. The West Busway does cut off some of the time. But I think the transfer probably kills the time gain. Plus, car would be more flexible after for shopping on the way home or something.

crae09 · 02-04-2014, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greg42

He's taking the bus now right? Must be, if he has no license. I see no reason not to continue that. Given your arrangements, it would be silly to drive just because you have the car. You don't want to park downtown, you don't want to triple or quadruple your commute times just for him (do you?) and so on.

If you do drive out to Robinson then ride back on the bus, that's just going to add an hour or so to your commute. You can do this if you want, but it's pretty crazy. I wouldn't even bother back tracking to a park and ride. If you do drive to Robinson then just park there as if your boyfriend parked there, then you take the 28X bus back into town. (You can use the park and rides if you like though. The only restriction is the amount of spaces, nothing about where you live. They tend to fill up early out towards the end of the West Busway. But I see no point if you're already at Robinson Towne Center vicinity with your destination as downtown.) Maybe you do this once in a while for some reason where it might be useful, but I can't imagine doing that on a regular basis. Nuts.

More important is figuring out how to park by the apartment. Did your lease not state whether you get a parking spot or not? If not, you'll have to inquire. The lot behind your apartment may or may not be for you. If you don't have a space, or can't rent one from the landlord, then you'll have to find another way. In the residential areas there is sometimes on-street parking that requires a permit. Look for the signs. It will give a letter code as to which permit area it is. Then you contact the Pittsburgh Parking Authority to get the permit. It does cost but it isn't really prohibitive cost-wise.

Long-term your boyfriend needs to get his ass in gear for the license, then he can drive and not be stuck with the long bus commute with transfer. That's his problem though. No need for you to take it on as well. Let the bus ride be his incentive to get that done or you'll end up with that being a nasty contentious thing (i.e. he might drag his feet on the license if you start dropping him at the door of his workplace.) Heck, I don't know though, even then he might still want the bus. The West Busway does cut off some of the time. But I think the transfer probably kills the time gain. Plus, car would be more flexible after for shopping on the way home or something.

thank you for your input!!! You answered very thoroughly. I just wanted to know what someone would do in the same situation and you answered very well and offered other suggestion.

Hopes · 02-04-2014, 01:15 PM

Why do you have to drive him? Unless he doesn't have a license, the person who has the easiest public transit commute takes the bus (that's you), and the other person takes the car (that's him). That's what most households in your situation would do.

ETA: I just saw he doesn't have a license. You both should continue taking public transit until he gets a license. You'll be wasting a lot of your own time if you drive him to work and take public transit from the Robinson park-n-ride. You'll waste time and money driving him to work and parking downtown.