Pittsburghers for Public Transport
August 12, 2019
Pittsburghers for Public Transit is a grassroots organization of transit riders, workers and residents who work to defend and expand public transportation in Allegheny county. One of their goals is to also bring more bus transit service to areas with only minimal service or no bus service at all.
As a rider, your first introduction to PPT is through two people - Anthony and Joshua - who gave the computerized bus service survey to riders at the library in McKeesport. We learned that there are two areas of concern regarding bus service in Allegheny County:
the McKeesport/Mon Valley area which includes: Mon Valley, Turtle Creek, North Versailles, Munhall, Braddock, Wilmer ding, Wall and West Homestead; and,
the Monroeville area which includes: Forest Hills, Pitcarin, Churchill and Edgewood.
We also learned the main purpose of PPT is to ensure safe, reliable bus transit service to all riders, such as working people the elderly, the disabled, children, students and parents.
Many people - young and old, employed or not employed - need the use of bus service every day. They can be sure of safe, well-trained bus service drivers who can get them to and from their destination safely and on time. Riders use the bus several times a week, or on multiple trips, for a daily commute and sometimes no more than once a week. As riders they want to be certain that buses will arrive in a timely fashion; the wait time should not be too long.
Why do riders use a bus? People need the bus service for commuting to work, for families to ride, medical needs, going to and from school, doing errands and going to community and social events, job centers, supermarkets, places of worship, churches, hospitals, libraries, festivals and parks.
PPT hopes to make bus transfers free. When a person boards one bus to the next, it also encourages riders to use the blue Connect cards, as of course their riders are concerned about the cost of a bus ride. It is a fact that without a transfer, riding one or two buses - sometimes perhaps even three - to and from a given destination can be very expensive.
That’s even more so if a person has a daily commute or any stops in between where someone leaves a bus and must board an additional bus. That makes it a hardship as far as money is concerned.
Perhaps a balance between fewer stops and faster service would serve the needs of everyone. Although there are other alternative of transportation such as jitneys, cars, Z-Trips, Uber, carpooling, Heritage Community Transportation, bicycling or even walking, still many people like the convenience of riding the bus transit system.
It is a vision of PPT to have good bus transit service when and wherever a new affordable housing development is being built.
Most people are familiar with Downtown as being an area for bus use, but there are seven other main areas: Homewood, the Hill District, Lawrenceville, the North Side, Penn Avenue & Liberty Avenue, Oakland, South Side, Station Square, The Waterfront, West End, and East Hills.
If you have ever ridden a bus from the Pittsburgh Transit, you undoubtedly noticed clean interiors, comfortable seating, friendly bus drivers and an occasional rider who has fallen asleep - sure in the knowledge that he or she will arrive safely to their destination. Kudos to Pittsburgh’s Public Transit. We wish you all the best in your efforts to ensure good, safe, economical bus rides for all of your riders.