PAT looking to reduce bus stops (Pittsburgh, Liberty: live, law, groceries)

[theta_sigma]

For sure. The fact that the 87 stops three times at the top of Stanton between Woodbine and Oranmore is ludicrous.

I would love to see some better functioning bus stops though. Put some railings up, make an obvious place for people to stand and queue or something. Get some better wayfinding happening. Make the remaining stops actually look like bus stops rather than just random parts of the sidewalk that people have randomly decided to mill around on.

[Enough_Already]

Originally Posted by gg

This seems pretty logical. Many stops are much too close together and people can certainly walk a block or two.

Port Authority looks to reduce number of bus stops | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Another way to shorten transit times would be to get buses out of the heart of downtown and move them to the parameter. The streets of have short blocks and are relatively narrow. The buses especially the double buses take up large parts of many blocks and regularly have trouble making turns. Moving the buses to the parameter of downtown would reduce the transit times of the buses and would greatly reduce downtown traffic gridlock. An additional benefit would be people might get a little extra exercise.

[MountainDewGuy]

PAT has yet to get the truetime system working properly, so it certainly is no surprise that eliminating bus stops is considered a project that takes 7 years to study. I wonder how much will be spent to find out that two stops 50 feet from one another are not neccessary.

I like the suggestion in the PG comments about disabled/handicap people having the option to get picked up by the bus anywhere along the route.

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by Enough_Already

Another way to shorten transit times would be to get buses out of the heart of downtown and move them to the parameter. The streets of have short blocks and are relatively narrow. The buses especially the double buses take up large parts of many blocks and regularly have trouble making turns. Moving the buses to the parameter of downtown would reduce the transit times of the buses and would greatly reduce downtown traffic gridlock. An additional benefit would be people might get a little extra exercise.

how about eliminating cars from downtown? would make more sense.

[Enough_Already]

Originally Posted by Paul2421

how about eliminating cars from downtown? would make more sense.

It makes no sense since it is in no way realistic. Also, I did not suggest eliminating buses from downtown, just moving them to the perimeter.

[Xammy]

Originally Posted by Enough_Already

It makes no sense since it is in no way realistic. Also, I did not suggest eliminating buses from downtown, just moving them to the perimeter.

Not that unrealistic, really. Lots of European cities (including the one I live in) have large parts of the city center car free. Public transit can go through in areas and there are driving streets but also large sections that are only by foot / bike. It's really great, tbh.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Paul2421

how about eliminating cars from downtown? would make more sense.

As a Postmates driver, where would I park to make food deliveries? What about the pizza guy? Floral delivery guy? Edible Arrangements delivery guy? UPS? FedEx? Wheel Deliver?

[Xammy]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

As a Postmates driver, where would I park to make food deliveries? What about the pizza guy? Floral delivery guy? Edible Arrangements delivery guy? UPS? FedEx? Wheel Deliver?

In our city (Rotterdam) delivery trucks can pull into most areas for short stops. The pizza delivery guy, etc usually use scooters so they can go mostly anywhere. This is just right in the city center / downtown area. There are streets that you can drive that cut through all the walk-only areas, it's not like you can't get into the city center at all, you just can't drive everywhere. It really works..

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Xammy

Not that unrealistic, really. Lots of European cities (including the one I live in) have large parts of the city center car free. Public transit can go through in areas and there are driving streets but also large sections that are only by foot / bike. It's really great, tbh.

That really only works in cities with robust transit systems (trams, buses, water taxis, metro, etc) though which unfortunately pittsburgh is lacking in plus the added disconnect among areas due to geographic limitations.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Xammy

In our city (Rotterdam) delivery trucks can pull into most areas for short stops. The pizza delivery guy, etc usually use scooters so they can go mostly anywhere. This is just right in the city center / downtown area. There are streets that you can drive that cut through all the walk-only areas, it's not like you can't get into the city center at all, you just can't drive everywhere. It really works..

Fair enough. I suppose this could conceivably work here in Downtown Pittsburgh, too. We'd just have to start issuing mopeds/Vespas/scooters to our delivery drivers, almost all of whom currently drive cars or vans.