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[bradjl2009]

Well, PAT has decided to go with a flat fare. Hopefully this encourages more use of the system among people in the suburbs who commute Downtown, though I doubt it will be as much as they think.

Port Authority plans to offer flat fare of $2.50 for Connectcard users | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

Well, PAT has decided to go with a flat fare. Hopefully this encourages more use of the system among people in the suburbs who commute Downtown, though I doubt it will be as much as they think.

Port Authority plans to offer flat fare of $2.50 for Connectcard users | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This is good news for the poorer demographic currently living in the 2 and 3 zone areas. Hopefully ridership will increase as a result of this change.

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

Well, PAT has decided to go with a flat fare. Hopefully this encourages more use of the system among people in the suburbs who commute Downtown, though I doubt it will be as much as they think.

Port Authority plans to offer flat fare of $2.50 for Connectcard users | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

One thing that should happen is P&R users should fan out now providing more spaces at later hours in the current Zone 1 P&Rs. I heard this was the main issue with Wilkinsburg, too many from Penn Hills, Monroeville driving all the way to Wilkinsburg just to save on Fare.

The P1/P2 however are going to still need to find away to allow Boarding with Center and Rear Doors at Burlington and the Steel Building downtown. Having everyone Pay Enter on these 2 routes will cause huge delays even if 100% of the riders use ConnectCards. There's just too much Volume during the PM Rush Hour at these 2 stops.

[JayDiFiore]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

One thing that should happen is P&R users should fan out now providing more spaces at later hours in the current Zone 1 P&Rs. I heard this was the main issue with Wilkinsburg, too many from Penn Hills, Monroeville driving all the way to Wilkinsburg just to save on Fare.

The P1/P2 however are going to still need to find away to allow Boarding with Center and Rear Doors at Burlington and the Steel Building downtown. Having everyone Pay Enter on these 2 routes will cause huge delays even if 100% of the riders use ConnectCards. There's just too much Volume during the PM Rush Hour at these 2 stops.

Both very good points. It'll be very interesting to see the results on both of these fronts.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

One thing that should happen is P&R users should fan out now providing more spaces at later hours in the current Zone 1 P&Rs. I heard this was the main issue with Wilkinsburg, too many from Penn Hills, Monroeville driving all the way to Wilkinsburg just to save on Fare.

The P1/P2 however are going to still need to find away to allow Boarding with Center and Rear Doors at Burlington and the Steel Building downtown. Having everyone Pay Enter on these 2 routes will cause huge delays even if 100% of the riders use ConnectCards. There's just too much Volume during the PM Rush Hour at these 2 stops.

I'm guessing they're assuming the vast majority of people will use a ConnectCard, but still as an occasional bus user, I know it's going to be ridiculous and and hold the buses up a bit during rush hour having everyone pay when they're in Downtown.

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

I'm guessing they're assuming the vast majority of people will use a ConnectCard, but still as an occasional bus user, I know it's going to be ridiculous and and hold the buses up a bit during rush hour having everyone pay when they're in Downtown.

if 99.9% people gravitate towards ConnectCards and we learn to have them ready, or somewhere easily accessible to tap, most routes won't experience that much of a delay, if any. I have mine in a pocket on my purse, I just put my purse up to the reader and keep it moving.

But the P1/P2 carry such heavy loads at the Rush, even with the speed of having everyone using a ConnectCard will still cause delays if everyone is forced to board at the front. Tuesday I went into Town at 7:30 everyone that boarded at Negley used a connectcard (YAY!) but it still took around 2 solid mins to load everyone from the front, and Negley Station inbound (when there's no delay or gaps) is nowhere near the volume of the Burlington stop at 5pm.

[Geeo]

I agree. While the idea of pay as you enter when getting on downtown will work most of the time, there are some heavy routes where it will still cause a delay.

The reason it was always pay exit when leaving downtown town was to get people on and clear the sidewalks as fast as possible, since during rush hour there are tons of people and buses lined up waiting to get to the stop.

[Pughnose]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

2.) Change the Pass Structure from Calendar-base (Week, Monthly, Year) to Day-based structure (1-day, 7-day, 30-day, 365-day) this allows people to buy their passes when its convenient for them and they still get the full value of their pass. This also cuts down on the Rush at the end of the Week/Month of people Bull Rushing the PAT center Downtown with lines coming out the door onto Smithfield with people trying to buy their Next Week/Month Pass.

Problem with this is that you'd have to buy your pass exactly on the day your previous pass expired, to avoid overlap or a gap in coverage, right? (I am assuming that you can add a May pass before the last day of April, but since my card contains cash not a pass, I'm not sure.)

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

Well, PAT has decided to go with a flat fare. Hopefully this encourages more use of the system among people in the suburbs who commute Downtown, though I doubt it will be as much as they think.

Port Authority plans to offer flat fare of $2.50 for Connectcard users | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Odd that I can't seem to find an actual announcement or press release online from the PAT committee, maybe it's in the meeting minutes or something. I was wondering if they were still planning to charge $2 for new cards.

[Geeo]

It's in the P-G story. They reduced the cost of the Connect Card to $1.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

One thing that should happen is P&R users should fan out now providing more spaces at later hours in the current Zone 1 P&Rs. I heard this was the main issue with Wilkinsburg, too many from Penn Hills, Monroeville driving all the way to Wilkinsburg just to save on Fare.

The P1/P2 however are going to still need to find away to allow Boarding with Center and Rear Doors at Burlington and the Steel Building downtown. Having everyone Pay Enter on these 2 routes will cause huge delays even if 100% of the riders use ConnectCards. There's just too much Volume during the PM Rush Hour at these 2 stops.

The P1 and P2 allows downtown commuters to board using all doors during the evening rush. It has always been this way. The problem is you have 15 to 20 people paying to exit at the Shadyside, East Liberty and Wilkinsburg stations. The only time you have to pay as you enter in downtown is after 7:00 pm.