BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

the 67 also will go to ccac boyce on the weekends starting in march

@pbear250, I know that. I just think CCAC North should have all day service at least on weekdays and Saturdays. Due to CCAC North being in the Perrysville Ave./Perry Hwy. corridor, I thought that extending the bus route that already services that corridor further north would be the logical way to provide service Perry Hwy. between West View and CCAC North. That will bring back highly demanded service along Perry Hwy. in Ross as well Also, 67 Service beyond Monroeville Mall on weekends would also encourage more Monroeville residents who live near the bus route to use it for errand running as well as commuting. I think the 67 should come at least every 30 minutes midday on weekdays as well to encourage more people to take advantage of it. On the downside, the extra bus service might bring in tons of young professionals seeking refuge from the high cost of living in certain city neighborhoods and drive home prices through the roof.

zzwergel: On the downside, the extra bus service might bring in tons of young professionals seeking refuge from the high cost of living in certain city neighborhoods and drive home prices through the roof. I doubt that people who drive house prices in the north hills care much for bus service.  I think we're talking serious car culture folks here.  They might even veiw it as a downside.

The FY2011 budget battle that resulted in the 35% service cut got codified into the 2013 Act 89 legislation to restrict what Port Authority could do with service. In short, no new routes, no new service. Couldn't put anything back. If they wanted to add something, they had to cut something else. So never mind that people were hanging out the windows on the P1; they could not put another bus in service. So, despite the 35% service cut, ridership stayed steady or even went up a bit at times over the last almost 10 years. Here's the problem: There has *always* been demand for Perry Hwy service. At one point, the former 13C Perry Express was one of the top routes in the system. Of course, half that rider load got off at the Ross park & ride, which is why the O1 Ross Flyer continues to be a top draw. But if PAAC wanted to run a bus up Perry Hwy, it had to use a bus that was already in service. That would be to divert some of the existing O12 runs off McKnight over to Perry. For me, specifically, that means that while I will now be able to catch an O12 at the top of the hill above my house, at Perrymont and Perry, there will be fewer O12 trips at the other end of Perrymont, at McKnight. So now I have to sit down with pen and paper and the new timetable, and figure out, depending on which minute of the morning it is, should I walk the 300 yards up to Perry, or the 0.8 mile to McKnight? And getting on downtown, I have to look harder to figure out whether I am boarding a Perry trip or a McKnight trip, and factor in weather and how much baggage I'm carrying. And this still does not help all the people who live between the Ross bus garage and Three Degree Road, in West View and Ross Twp, who actually need to get to CCAC North. They're still stranded. The better solution, in my opinion, would be to use on-road/off-road trips between Ross Garage and Pine Creek Plaza as de facto "9 Perry Highway" trips (as the route was called prior to its March 2011 death), only bypass West View Plaza that the 9 served; heck, they could have called it what it was, 11C Perry Highway, as it was known from 1964 to 2009. The buses are already there; the drivers are already getting paid to go up and down Perry, seven days a week. I don't understand. But I'll take what I can get. Side note: I knew about this in September, but was sworn to secrecy.

What about all the other increases in service like those in Milvale and Monroeville on weekends? What about urging the state legislature to repeal Act 89?

Act 89 will expire on its own after FY22 and that terrifies me. Harrisburg does not want to fund transit, so the replacement might be to further cut transit funding. And they’re not adding service. Like with the O12, they’re tweaking existing service hours and paths. If you have not read it, please read my 2010 essay, “3,600-word rant on transit funding.” http://unicycleintransit.blogspot.com/2011/12/3600-word-rant-on-transit-funding-sep-3.html Though written nearly 10 years ago, it is still a good description of the long standing issues.

Couldn't we get together a group of lobbyists so we can convince the State legislature to fund public transportation? Also, If the don't, vote whoever is responsible out of office and possibly into jail for marginalizing people who public transit is their only form of transportation.

Z, I was involved in every annual budget fight from 1993 to 2013. Read my rant, particularly the paragraph about Republicans. PA outside Allegheny County is blood red. Republicans march in lock step. We are not unseating many, if any.

What about the jail part? Doesn't this count as discrimination? Maybe it shouldn't be jail, but a big, hefty lawsuit once Trump is disposed of.

Not a snowball’s chance in hell of sending anyone to jail over a political thing. Back to transit. Overall, this development is a good thing. This resulted from PAAC CEO Kelleman looking over unmet needs voiced in the past few years and saying, yeah, we need this; Make it happen, somehow. One of many reasons I like her. She makes things happen. Good things.