Pittsburghers for Public Transit

There should be a word for the particular kind of helpless rage that comes from waiting – in the cold, in the heat, in the rain –for a bus or train to materialize, especially if it was due several minutes ago.

People with low or moderate incomes are often the most transit-dependent—they rely on public transportation to access critical daily needs—but the least able to bear the cost. 

Transit in Allegheny County should be equitable, connected to affordable housing, a conduit for economic opportunity and a means to improve regional air quality, said riders and a coalition of organizations who presented a new mission for transit this week.

The city of Pittsburgh continues to resist calls to release its bid for Amazon’s second headquarters, or HQ2. At a protest Thursday skeptics said they worry about Amazon’s potential impact on housing, transit and existing inequities. 

A few dozen protestors gathered Thursday outside the annual P4 Conference at the David Lawrence Convention Center, where city officials and local leaders were discussing how Pittsburgh can grow and be equitable simultaneously.

After nearly a year of vocal opposition to a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan predicated on deep reductions of service to some Pittsburgh neighborhoods and the Mon Valley, the Port Authority of Allegheny County presented a new plan Thursday night to a packed hal

A Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT system has been in the works in one form or another for more than a decade in Pittsburgh. It has been hailed as a way to make public transportation more efficient and more appealing, as well as a means to support economic growth in the region.

Extending the Martin Luther King, Jr. East Busway could generate between 800 and 2,400 more daily riders in 2035, according to a feasibility report completed for the Port Authority in September by engineering firm Gannett Fleming. 

On Thursday, more than 50 public transit riders sent hundreds of postcards to state representative and Port Authority board member Dom Costa, urging him to oppose plans to possibly allow police enforcement of ticketing systems on public transit.

There’s nothing like a set of wheels when you’re in a hurry. On Thursday, the Port Authority of Allegheny County and Healthy Ride, Pittsburgh’s bikeshare network, announced a partnership to expand the available wheeled options.

Port Authority riders with a ConnectCard can now unlock a Healthy Ride bike for unlimited free 15-minute rides. Pittsburgh is the first U.S. city to offer free ride time to transit users, making it easier for people to get where they need to go, said David White, Healthy Ride’s executive director.

The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system will burden communities that most depend on public transportation with higher costs and less frequent service, according to protesters who gathered Thursday in Braddock to speak out against the plan.

Pittsburgh-area residents concerned over the possible impact of a bus rapid transit (BRT) system addressed the Port Authority Board Friday morning with complaints include feeling left out of the planning process and fears over access.

After years of initial planning and study, a route has been selected for the Port Authority of Allegheny County’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit system, or BRT. The route will connect 24 neighborhoods and serve 31,000 people.

Representatives of the Port Authority of Allegheny County are scheduled to meet soon with a group of community advocates concerned about the new fare enforcement policy for light rail riders.

The fare enforcement policy has been a point of contention between the authority and several advocacy groups including Pittsburghers for Public Transit and the Alliance for Policy Accountability, who say the policy will criminalize riders for fare evasion which could lead to fines, jail time and possibly deportation for undocumented riders.

  Nearly 40 people told the Port Authority Board of Trustees Friday that cuts in service over the years has cut them off from getting where they want to be.

In the past few years the port authority has had to decrease service which it blames on inadequate state funding. Residents in Penn Hills want an extension of the 79 route, Garfield residents want weekend service through the neighborhood and students and staff at the Community College of Allegheny County want a route taking them closer to the north campus.

Two buses pull up to the stop at 6th Avenue and Wood Street in Downtown Pittsburgh. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?

On Wednesday, they carried residents from Baldwin and Groveton Village whose residents haven't had a nearby bus stop since 2011 when the Port Authority of Allegheny County cut services to 15 percent of its users as a cost-savings measure.

The authority's expansion of both the 44 Knoxville route to Baldwin and the 20 Kennedy route to Groveton began Tuesday as part of its quarterly service adjustments.

Opposition is starting to pile up for a recently revived proposal to keep buses out of most of the Golden Triangle. 

At the behest of some business owners and a few elected officials, the Port Authority of Allegheny County has been searching for years to find a solution to the congestion caused by buses passing through the heart of downtown.

Most recently, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and City Councilman Bill Peduto proposed that routes be pushed to the edges of downtown, forcing some riders to walk a few extra blocks to get to work.