PAT route changes in March (Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg: taxes, buses, moving)

[raubre]

Looks like possibly good news for my 61A.

"* Starred routes will see partial changes in March 2010. Full Rapid Bus Service will be instituted at a later date.
Routes that have an effective date listed TBD are yet to be determined...." (The 61A is one of these routes.)

They also changed the map to what the route is now. Now it's a matter of when the Rapid Bus goes into full swing. Hopefully now that won't be until after my lease is up. (Which is fall)

[fleetiebelle]

New fareboxes to debut on Port Authority buses

The new generation of fareboxes, which will start showing up on buses in the coming weeks, won't take socks OR bogus money. In fact, the boxes, like vending machines, will be a bit picky about what they swallow.


The new boxes will start appearing on bus routes operating out of the Ross garage in the next few weeks. They will be put on buses that use the East Liberty garage, including East Busway routes, starting in March, according to the plan.

[BrianTH]

Some more details from the article:

Questionable currency is either rejected or displayed on a small screen for the bus driver to examine.

In a demonstration last week, authority personnel fed the box some counterfeit bills that had turned up in cash collections from the old fareboxes. Each time, the new farebox rejected the bills.

The box seemed tolerant of bills that were a bit worn and wrinkled or had small folds at the corners.

When the authority started testing the boxes last summer, they were rejecting one of every five bills fed to them, causing some apprehension. After adjustments to make them more tolerant, the machines' rejection rate fell to 1.2 percent.

Mr. Ritchie acknowledged that the new system will take some getting used to. Drivers will use their judgment in situations where riders only have dollar bills that look like they've been through several machine washings.

"We're going to rely on them to make the best decisions in those situations," he said.

I've always assumed they could tweak the sensitivity of these things, and with the sensitivity turned down plus the driver review (which I suspect will result in a lot of rubber-stamping in close cases), it seems they are erring on the side of allowing payment. Which is fine for now, although I actually wouldn't mind if they got pickier once the Smart Card system is fully operational.

[captainmidnight]

I can't wait to use the SmartCard and being able to refill it online and not have to keep buying passes. Hopefully there are no problems reading SmartCards. I can see people who have always buying passes being confused and complaining about the new system. You have to change sometimes and this change is for the better. It will be a lot better holding on to one card instead of a new pass every week or month.

Looks like we will finally get a interactive system map and mobile device friendly web site information.

[BrianTH]

I've used Smart Cards before (most notably for my daily commute in DC a couple years ago), and the technology works great in my experience. There will undoubtedly be some initial resistance, but it will quickly become obvious how much more convenient it is.

[Blackbeauty212]

Too be honest PAT should stop accepting Cash aboard the buses when the Smartcards are introduced to keep passenger flow moving. You wont even need to take the Smartcards out of your purse or wallet, just tap and go. LOVE IT.

If they continue to accept cash they should make it a disadvantage by imposing a surcharge say of 75 cents to the cash fare, and NO Transfers given with Cash fares.

but they also need to allow for refilling ONLINE, and with KIOSK's placed in Convenient locations. Allow Seniors to continue to show their medicare cards for fare instead of giving them smart card.

[captainmidnight]

Article in the Trib from last Friday: Port Authority plans dozens of route changes - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The day after Port Authority's unionized bus and trolley operators pick which routes they want to drive, 22 bus routes will get improved or increased service, 23 routes will be discontinued, 12 will be maintained or get minor changes, two will get partial changes until more routes are tweaked in June, and one route will be added.

I found that interesting. Has the drivers union always had those decisions?

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by bmantz65

I found that interesting. Has the drivers union always had those decisions?

Yes. Drivers get to pick routes according to seniority.

[captainmidnight]

Route changes have been pushed back to April 4th: Port Authority postpones bus route changes

The drivers got bad information on the routes and ended picking up ones they didn't want. Oops. Now they have to pick again. I hope they triple check the information they are giving the public next month.

[allanPgh]

I am very excited to see the Port Authority finally moving towards the 21st Century: SmartTrip (or the equivalent) and restructuring the routes. Next they need to really get moving on finalizing the Spine Line, light rail connection to the airport, and commuter rail to Greensburg (in conjunction with Westmoreland Transit) and along the Allegheny River corridor.

I know it takes time but every once in a while there is a good source of funding that comes along and it stinks to be left out while so many other transit authorities have projects lined up to go.