For anyone interested, pdfs of the maps TTP and MarkII posted are
here (though they’re still fairly fuzzy).
Quote:
Originally Posted by miketoronto
All excuses.
I don't have the data or inside knowledge as someone who works for Port Authority Transit. But I can tell you, they were not creative at all in restructuring transit services in Pittsburgh.
One example: Port Authority continues to send South Hills bus routes all the way into downtown, when these bus routes could feed into South Hills light rail lines, without the need to send every bus downtown. Right there you could find big savings in needing less buses to operate on a given route.
These transit systems new thinking, and planners who are willing to take a chance with different ideas and challenge the status quo.
|
That’s a good point—I’d guess they still feel the need to provide bus service along the lengths of light rail lines as a local/feeder service. Even if they didn’t want to cut those routes in entirety, they could still terminate the bus routes before they reach downtown, saving them a lot of time (and therefore money)spent in downtown traffic , although there would still be a hit due to transfer penalties.
It looks like a lot of the routes being cut are ones meandering around twisty, not-necessarily-of-high-density suburban roads—that’s a very hard market for transit to be operate efficiently in, especially in a market with only a moderately-sized downtown like Pittsburgh’s. I’m guessing most of these route sonly hung on because downtown’s so concentrated and separated by physical barriers, making it a good market for transit. Of course, no matter how strong Pittsburgh’s downtown is (I’m under the impression that, while the whole Pittsburgh renaissance has been good for the region as a whole it hasn’t necessarily strengthened the traditional CBD).
I’m also surprised that no one here’s mentioned the obvious—Pittsburgh’s economic condition may have improved, but it’s still shrinking. The Port Authority really doesn’t have any choice in this matter—it’s only natural that bus services would shrink with it. PACA should be focusing its services on the markets it serves best and the urban areas most primed for further growth and densification, not maintaining service patters that may be decades out-of-date.