Car-Free life in Pittsburgh (Liberty, Bloomfield: neighborhoods, movies, school)

[Humanoid]

PAT has the most confusing transit website I've ever seen.

Its horrible, but you can call them with any questions.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Hatless Wonder

PAT has the most confusing transit website I've ever seen.

I agree ... it is a mess. A couple tips: the PDF "hand schedules" are probably the best way to get information about any given route. And the "trip planner" can sometimes be OK for recommending possible routes if you do the following: use major intersections and landmarks (by the way, hospitals are usually in the landmark list), set it to find the quickest route, allow for a little extra walking (I always put it at the maximum 1 mile), and set the number of routes to the maximum (I believe six). Then get the hand schedules for the relevant routes and figure out what they are recommending.

[pitt_transplant]

Originally Posted by Hatless Wonder

Hi! Thanks for the resposes.

It will be just Hubby and me moving (if I get the job). We do everything by bus, including hauling groceries. I want to join Zipcar once I can afford it.

PAT has the most confusing transit website I've ever seen.

I know...Use google maps. (didnt know if you saw that post I made earlier)

[pitt_transplant]

(the public transit option after getting directions from point A to point B)

[horrorlover84]

I am also doing the carfree thing (except i don't have a driver's license...never wanted one) and now i'm thinking about getting my first apartment. I am being careful and only looking for areas with good transportation. Thanks to this post i did get a few ideas (North Side, South Side, Mt. Lebanon, Bloomfield), but as i've been looking on the Post Gazette and Craigslist sites i noticed that most apartments in those areas are pretty high priced. Are there any other areas that tend to be more affordable? Also, are there some better apartment finding websites out there? I'm trying not to go above 500 a month and i need at least some of the utilities to be included. Thanks.

[fleetiebelle]

Dormont and Beechview are also on the T line, and as far as East End goes, you can get close to the East Busway in Polish Hill, Friendship, Garfield and parts of Regent Square.

You're probably going to have a hard time finding someplace decent for $500 with utilities included, though--you may want to look into finding a roommate.

[Agbor]

What is this habit with PAT buses of not opening the side doors where you
have to enter and exit thru the front door only???...Meaning if a bus is packed
especially the East End ones often you have to slide past people standing in the
asle to get off...or you have to ASK the drivers to open the back door if the
bus is packed...This irks me when buses are packed..

In New York you pay in the front and exit the side doors..I assume most other
cities operate this way too..But then Pittsburgh has to be backwards and
different...

[Blackbeauty212]

Its because Pittsburgh has a ride free zone within downtown, buses open both doors and people can exit and enter at either door...Once the bus leaves Downtown fare are required so people have to make their way to the front to Pay.....I agree Pay Enter/both door to exit is a better system.

[fleetiebelle]

I agree Pay Enter/both door to exit is a better system.

But if there's a big group of people getting on the bus (like downtown) if everyone pays as they get on it would take forever. Paying as you get off in that situation staggers the delays.

[Geeo]

They open both sets of doors downtown to get everyone on as quickly as possible and get the bus out of there. Some of those downtown and Oakland bus stops serve ten or twelve routes each.