Submitted by ndpeter t3_1185oqe in pittsburgh
Comments
sebileis t1_j9hovdc wrote
Good. Now keep the pressure on PRT to quit worsening service under the guise of BRT "improvements" and maybe actually make an effort to noticeably improve transit in the region. When NEXTransit was underway the planners called it a chance for Pittsburgh to have "world-class transit"...cutting service to some of the most underprivileged communities and calling a few cans of red paint "rapid transit" is not "world-class" to me.
StormFreak t1_j9gkkln wrote
Good news for Swissvale. Obviously these cuts could come back on the table, but this is a good start.
ndpeter OP t1_j9ff9pp wrote
lennyj17 t1_j9h0d4b wrote
P3 going downtown, just made no sense to me…. It’s not needed not from a Busway perspective or Oakland, and making people from beyond Wilkinsburg transfer????? Who was this benefiting?
kaitb1103 t1_j9h25j3 wrote
Actually, I think it would significantly help ease congestion on P1’s by going downtown. Right now, P1’s are so crowded every single bus that they really need help decongesting them (at least, they’re super crowded in the morning).
lennyj17 t1_j9h2pu5 wrote
No ones going to take that longer detour through Oakland on the P3… They will still crowd onto P1 P2. I remember when they tried to stop P2s from entering downtown, it served no purpose but make P1 that more crowded….
Heads at PRT couldnt be more “I work for transit, but damn if you ever catch me riding the bus” out of touch people.
kaitb1103 t1_j9h31dw wrote
See- I would 😅😂 I’m in Point breeze north and I regularly wait for a non crowded P2 versus a P1…..like every day.
I’d do the same with a P3. But plan my day accordingly so I’m not late for work.
lennyj17 t1_j9huu7n wrote
You should demand more P1/P2s then, not be forced to take an extra 15-20 min detour through Oakland and Uptown. And I venture to say most people would not be willing to take that detour you are, you in the minority.
P1/P2 Downtown P3 Oakland
Simple, nobody gets confused.
mikeyHustle t1_j9hmxlb wrote
Also catching at Homewood Station, hard agree
sebileis t1_j9hp3yb wrote
The East Busway before COVID was pretty much at-capacity and seems to be back to if not past that point now. The most practical thing they could do is convert the busway to light rail (there are even tracks that terminate at Penn Station and connect to Steel Plaza that were built for this exact purpose) but given the staunch anti-rail attitude at PRT we'll probably never see that happen.
lennyj17 t1_j9huyp6 wrote
Or just run more P1/P2s seems like the cheaper solution.
sebileis t1_j9hv7eh wrote
I think you missed the part about the busway itself being at-capacity. If you run too many more buses than they currently do particularly during rush hour you’re going to have bus bunching issues like we currently see on the Pittsburgh-Oakland corridor. Contrary to what many people in this sub wish to believe there does come a point where buses, even articulated ones, are no longer the most efficient solution.
lennyj17 t1_j9hvj9h wrote
Busway is nowhere near capacity… come on now… PAT had nearly 40 routes utilizing the Busway at Rush Hour back in the 90s, there aren’t even half that many routes today…. Commuter express buses have been slashed to the bare bone.
sebileis t1_j9hvnnq wrote
Okay, enjoy your gas guzzlers then!
lennyj17 t1_j9hxmbv wrote
Electric transition remember.
sebileis t1_j9hxuh9 wrote
Yeah, to battery buses that crap out after a few months using rare earth metals that require insane carbon emissions to mine. Definitely the most sustainable option! /s
If you’re gonna have such a hard-on for buses you can at least admit trolleybuses are a better option if they want to be serious about electrification. But they aren’t, and you won’t, so here we are.
oak-hearted t1_j9i01ck wrote
I've never seen the busway itself that busy, pre or post-COVID.
PublicCommenter t1_j9hedi6 wrote
So changes they weren't going to be made until 2025 will still not be made... Until 2025. Got it. Cool.
Perplexed-Owl t1_j9i5kre wrote
Hey, I’m late to the game and don’t really know the backstory- I just moved here in January. Will this spell the end of the countercurrent busses on Fifth through Oakland?
ndpeter OP t1_j9jfiba wrote
Yes. But, the plan is to better manage and streamline the bus trips between Oakland and down town. Currently we have so many busses heading downtown via Oakland that you might have noticed when you're on one that it gets bunched up. This can result in the whole pack getting slowed down because the first in line gets more and more crowded and takes longer to board and offload passengers. All the buses outbound will now travel up a dedicated lane on a Forbes.
PublicCommenter t1_j9hvfv5 wrote
I saw some vagrant post something about making the Busway into light rail. What a joke. They're more likely to convert the rail into Busway. The rail system would be cheaper to operate and more efficient as a Busway.
RepeatedFailure t1_j9nsly1 wrote
I assume you're talking about college students, which make up 30K+ people in the city. Even when they move out, they'll be replaced by more people who's interests are similar, so I wouldn't discount all of their opinions. That said, even light rail is dumb expensive in the US and I think people get way too optimistic with imaginary transit maps. The busway would be easy routing for light rail, but it isn't where more transit is needed. Building a busway in the south hills would not be cheaper than maintaining the rail and rolling stock
SxS_XB t1_j9fm2af wrote
This is not Mission Accomplished. The pressure is just off for now.