Port Authority Changes in april

[BrianTH]

So conceptually, I have begun dividing my vision for Pittsburgh public transit into two parts: the commuter part, and the local/circulator part. The commuter part should be T and buses, and maybe heavy rail if we get around to commuter rail. But for the local/circulator part, I am fine with using a bunch of different technologies in addition: non-T streetcars, aerial trams, automatic people movers, inclines, escalators . . . whatever works in the many different situations we have on a local level.

Incidentally, I think the plan for the Strip/Lawrenceville is going to include a streetcar. That will just be a "vision", but I could see the powers-that-be getting behind it, and if starts there then I could see it being expanded to some other applications near Downtown. The real key for all of this will likely be if they can form public-private partnerships and then get federal funding on top.

[Impala26]

So with the map I made "idealizing" a streetcar route I sort of did what you said Brian by connecting what would basically be two different loops through a Downtown route via Liberty, Stanwix, and a new Wabash Bridge.

South Side and Strip District Streetcar

However, on a much more practical level, there is absolutely no reason why two separate loops serving Station Square to the South Side Works and Downtown to the Strip/Lawrenceville/Bloomfield/Beyond. The easiest way to probably do this would be to use/repair existing trolley tracks embedded in the pavement when possible.

Certainly for the cost of the North Shore Connector each of these two streetcar loops could be built. Even though the Port Authority would refusing building an entire new mode like this, I think that given enough of a public movement/demand for such a system, leaders would have to consider it. I honestly think the argument "well, just use the buses in the same" doesn't work. I think buses, at least in this city in how they're advertised, have major barriers towards tourists and out of towners because of their noise and confusion of routes/where they stop. The argument is simple: it's pretty easy to figure out where a train on tracks goes within a city. And it also helps that these vehicles are cleaner and relatively quieter than buses as well.

I'm hoping I can discuss these and other issues/ideas in my meeting with the Allegheny County Transit Council (ACTC), a independent board of people who are transit users discussing transit issues. I'm more than ready to get a movement started about alternate transit in Pittsburgh, and I definitely think this city with it's already fairly established base of transit users would support new modes of useful transit like a modern streetcar. I was riding my bike the other day along Warrington Ave in Beltzhoover right beside the tracks and a pleasant surprise indeed was seeing a T train coming in the opposite direction. It was as I waved going past it and the conductor rang its friendly bell back at me that I was immediately overcome with the pleasant thought of how Pittsburgh would be a truly wonderful place with fun interactions like this. A bus can't do that, all it can do is honk its car-like horn and deafen you with a blast of its large noxious diesel engine.

I'm not here to say the days of the automobile are over, but I think America's honeymoon with them certainly is, and it's time to look for new creative, useful, and more fun ways of getting around.

[BrianTH]

I definitely agree Pittsburgh residents will likely quickly take to any reasonable transit options. I also think Pittsburgh has a real opportunity to get ahead of the curve on these issues with some smart targeted investments. We're already a more transit-oriented city than most people realize, so if you toss in some highly-visible projects (that make sense), it could be part of our new emerging branding as a rejuvenated, eco-friendly, high-tech city.

But I do think it is likely we will need to use a private-public partnership model. If it is all public, the dollars will be too scarce, and there will continue to be suburbs-versus-city politics that kill a lot of worthy projects.

[fleetiebelle]

Man throws legal block to detour Pittsburgh buses

The noise from buses idling outside his home was too much for a Mount Washington man, so he started blocking them.
Legally.


Frustrated that his complaints to Port Authority went unheeded, George Janusz of Sweetbriar Street said he parked his car to prevent buses from turning around on the dead-end street.


After having to send tow trucks down the steep road to rescue its buses, the authority imposed a detour, taking the 41E Mount Washington route off of Sweetbriar Street.



But solving one problem created another, and now the authority is hearing from residents of the Sweetbriar Place senior citizens high-rise who must hike up a hill to Grandview Avenue to catch their buses.

Freedom fighter or typical Pittsburgher?