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As someone with some experience using PAT buses (I gave up on them for commuting to work awhile ago), i can only conclude that anyone that believes the service is acceptable has a very low bar in terms of public transit or hasn't used mass transit anywhere else much to have experienced what good transit is like.
I wouldn't say PAT is stellar or anything, but it's certainly acceptable. My routes come every 12 - 30 minutes depending on the time of day, they are tracked within a minute or two in real time on my phone, and it reliably takes 18-23 minutes each day to get me to or from work.
My only major complaint is the crowding that happens occasionally. I do consider those rides to be unacceptable, but they aren't too frequent.
Yeah, I just am not sure what the complainers want PAT to do, exactly? They are improving every thing they can with the budget they have right now – and the minor improvements have been really noticeable. I routinely take the 61s. They are clean enough – no worse than any other public transit I've been on. And I've spent more time in SF, NYC and LA the last 6 months than I have in Pittsburgh.
Also, I'd like to point out that in every city there are some areas that are better for transit, and some areas that are worse. People either move *TO* the areas with better transit or they at least know what they are getting themselves into if they don't. One of my best friends lives in Crown Heights in Brooklyn. Not easy to get around at all. It takes well over an hour for anything. He knew what he was getting into, and so do I when I go visit. I don't blame MTA for it.
There is this weird phenomenon in Pittsburgh where people move wherever they want, and then whine when there's one bus every 30 minutes. It's like, did you not do any homework? Does babby know how bus schedule works?
I wanted good transit, so I put myself within walking distance of the 86, 87, 88, 71s, and East Busway. Problem ****ing solved.
The first thing that comes to my mind is what I got in a fortune cookie the other day: Good is the enemy of better (or something to that effect). Just because PAT is acceptable to some doesn't mean there aren't serious issues for many other people. I have friends who won't take PAT because the buses are dirty, the time schedule is unreliable, the ride is very jerky and uncomfortable which leads to motion sickness, and the passengers on many routes are smelly, loud, rude, and generally low class. I would especially encourage anyone who says they are "satisfied" to take a ride downtown when the schools let their young inmates out, who then swarm onto the buses. The drivers are a toss-up. Some are very nice and helpful, while others are cocky and mean. I agree that it is sad if public transit is abandoned. The flip side is that by trying to be everything to everybody, including satisfying a unionized workforce which is less accountable to customer service, and allowing all sorts of rabble on, public transit makes itself less appealing to those who actually contribute the most to the tax/funding base, which in turn makes it less relevant to those who would rather drive.
The flip side is that by trying to be everything to everybody, including satisfying a unionized workforce which is less accountable to customer service, and allowing all sorts of rabble on, public transit makes itself less appealing to those who actually contribute the most to the tax/funding base, which in turn makes it less relevant to those who would rather drive.
So what are you saying here? Public transit should not be for everyone? They shouldn't let low income folks on the buses?
Are so many of you really advocating for EVEN more class separation in the world? Like we don't have enough of that already. Clearly there are things PAT can work on, but some of these complaints are ridiculous.
I rode the 71a from Highland Park to Oakland for many years and a weirder assortment of people assembled in one place you will never find. I used to call it the Bus of Fools. But you know what? That's called living in a diverse, open society. If you want your entire life to be insulated from people who are poor, or disabled (mentally or physically), or different races, or different walks of life, then by all means please get in your car and drive and pay out the nose for parking and Godspeed. The bus is a public service run at a loss because it is important to society as a whole that all of a city's citizens have a way to get to their jobs, their families and their healthcare providers.
I've had my problems with PAT over the decades I have used the bus to get to school and work, but someone please come put my out of my misery if I ever suggest that I'm to good to spend 25 minutes on a bus with the hoi polloi.
It sounds like the suburban people that may depend on the east/west routes (61s, 71s) are generally unhappy. The 61s are often crowded, and the A and B ARE usually dirty, and older, more uncomfortable buses.
I agree, though, that PAT can't be all things to everyone. You have to be reasonable. Perhaps management does need a kick in the butt (I will never use the once-clever now overly-used British synonym).
I am happy with bus/trolley service. But then I have contained my lifestyle to conform TO it, with choice of housing location and so on. I do not take it enough to maybe become disillusioned with it. But growing up in this city, mostly, I will say since the 1980s the bus service is vastly improved.
I always wondered if the the middle ring suburbs should not have their own flyer bus service, with four trips daily to either downtown or oakland. They could use smaller vehicles, and cater the routes to their specific needs - and alter them easily with changing conditions or demand. But then, they would have to raise taxes.
Speaking merely as a visitor who admittedly rarely needs to be somewhere on time, this city has good public transit. Pittsburgh shouldn't logically be compared with large, dense cities with extensive street grids. Even the most dense neighborhoods here are usually separated by relatively empty expanses, with the combination of hills, winding roads and winter weather an added challenge.
Sometimes the buses are late but mostly they are not. The fact is that except for breakdowns, you wouldn't have late buses without traffic delays. It's the cars, not the buses. Solving that problem requires a rework of the entire transportation system, which takes investment as everyone knows. Same old thing about people wanting to have it both ways. A big backyard and all the other amenities, and low taxes, please. If people didn't set themselves up with a long commute via car or bus, public transportation would be much more efficient. Given cheap gasoline and subsidized roads, and absent physical constraints on driving and parking, a large number of people will always be willing to pay more to live away from everyone else. If Pittsburgh is like most places in the country the people most likely to vote or make loud noises at public meetings are the older, mostly rural/suburban residents who have no vested interest in supporting the planning and investment needed to improve public transit.
I ride the bus a lot. and would like to say thank you to al the bus drivers whose routes I've had the privilege of riding. Except for two occurrences of very rude behavior, they've all been very polite and accommodating. Here are the routes: 2,4,6,8,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,26,27,28X.29,39,40 ,44,48,
51,54,56,57,58,61,64,65,71,77,81,82,83,86,87,88,91 ,93,G2,P1. And no complaints about fellow passengers, either. As for the passengers, some people do talk loudly on their phones, but you'll run into that everywhere, not just on buses. But almost all are quiet and polite. Sometimes funny stuff happens, like the time there were two passengers separated by a couple of seats talking aloud in their own separate mental realities. One of them was reciting a list of favorite foods; it was an extensive list of tasty items, and I only wished that I'd had a chance to eat before I'd gotten on. All types of people it is true. With the ability to just sit back and experience the world, it's hard to see why anyone who could use the buses would drive instead.
One of my consistent complaints about the burgh I've seen over the years here.... has been this heavy gravitation towards a Car-Culture and blatant disdain for using Public Transit (unless its for our World Class Swanky "T" System ) as being something only for the Poor and Ghetto people to use. And for some of these people to consider Public Transit it would have to give them all the benefits of driving their personal cars and do it faster, NOT even in a perfect world. Pittsburgh like every other NE city, wasn't built for everyone and the family Dog to have his/her own personal vehicle, it was build with for the use of Public Transit by a majority. Pittsburgh is not LA, Atlanta, Texas, or Carolina where you have 8 lane highways travelling in both directions out to the exurbs, (keep dreaming Gnutella). With our dysfunctional/polarized politics the US infrastructure will continue its steep decline, its safe to say things will NEVER change on a mass scale like some keep preaching for.
PAT while partly to blame for its current image in the public, does have limited means to work with for improving service. They need to find ways to increase their revenues for service expansions. They're already doing this to an extent with:
TOD
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Increasing Service on heavily overcrowded routes.
But they can still do more to bring in more revenue and attract more riders, its not hard.
Flat Fares, eliminate the Zones. Even if they need to increase them to balance out an even amount between Zone 1 and 2. I say 3$ even is a good round number, but insure fares wont increase for a considerable amount of time.
Get more people using Connect Cards, so that boarding go faster causing less wait times at stops.
All Fares pay getting on, use the Center and Back Doors for exiting like every other major city transit system.
Switch from Calendar based passes to Day based, allow people to buy their passes when its convenient for them but still receiving the full value of the pass.
Create more Crosstown Routings (I love what they did with the 75), not everything or everyone wants to go Downtown, build hubs where a number of lines connect at a central point to provide easy transfers.
Build more Suburban P&R Garages... Have massive PAT owned Garages in all 4 corners of the County with Express Service to/from Town/Oakland. Model all Garages after the SHV garage, and tie parking rates/leases into the Connect Card Fare structure.
Revamp the meaning of "Express"... The current "Flyers" are BS, they act more like Limited Stop service rather than True "Flyers". Express service should be exclusively use of Coach Style buses (Like a Greyhound, what PAT used to have).. It should offer direct NON-Stop service from its suburban destination points to Oakland and/or Downtown...No intermediate stops. People will pay premium fares for this type of service, but has to feel like a step above everything else. If local base fare would be 3$ from my suggestion then 5$ should be the Express Fare.
I rode the 71a from Highland Park to Oakland for many years and a weirder assortment of people assembled in one place you will never find. I used to call it the Bus of Fools. But you know what? That's called living in a diverse, open society. If you want your entire life to be insulated from people who are poor, or disabled (mentally or physically), or different races, or different walks of life, then by all means please get in your car and drive and pay out the nose for parking and Godspeed. The bus is a public service run at a loss because it is important to society as a whole that all of a city's citizens have a way to get to their jobs, their families and their healthcare providers.
I've had my problems with PAT over the decades I have used the bus to get to school and work, but someone please come put my out of my misery if I ever suggest that I'm to good to spend 25 minutes on a bus with the hoi polloi.
Funny how more people who drive to work are subsidizing this "diverse, open society" on PAT. Kudos to you if you have a higher tolerance for obese passengers whose fat spill over onto your lap. Or if you have some druggie coughing and wheezing behind you so that you can feel their sick breathing on the back of your neck. Or get grease all over your pants because some guy wiped grease all over the seat. Or some guy listening to rap music so loud that you can hear it from the other end of the bus. Frankly, what you're saying is that I, and those like me, should simply suck it up and enjoy the hoi polloi with an entitlement complex who treat public transit like another handout.
If you want to see the full potential of public transit, I'd say Japan is an excellent example. Sure the trains there can be crowded. But by and large they're safe, fast, on time, and the passengers are generally well-mannered. The point of public transit is to get passengers to a destination efficiently and with as little hassle as possible. Being part of a social welfare experiment on a PAT bus defeats that purpose.
Kudos to you if you have a higher tolerance for obese passengers whose fat spill over onto your lap. Or if you have some druggie coughing and wheezing behind you so that you can feel their sick breathing on the back of your neck. Or get grease all over your pants because some guy wiped grease all over the seat. Or some guy listening to rap music so loud ...
Sounds like my experiences in the waiting room of a mechanics shop.
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) as being something only for the Poor and Ghetto people to use. And for some of these people to consider Public Transit it would have to give them all the benefits of driving their personal cars and do it faster, NOT even in a perfect world. Pittsburgh like every other NE city, wasn't built for everyone and the family Dog to have his/her own personal vehicle, it was build with for the use of Public Transit by a majority. Pittsburgh is not LA, Atlanta, Texas, or Carolina where you have 8 lane highways travelling in both directions out to the exurbs, (keep dreaming Gnutella). With our dysfunctional/polarized politics the US infrastructure will continue its steep decline, its safe to say things will NEVER change on a mass scale like some keep preaching for. 
