And they wonder why people are moving out of Pittsburgh!

The BBQ Pit
1

I just found out today that the bus route I rely on is probably going to be eliminated come June. For a while now, we’ve known that Port Authority is having funding problems-why, I don’t know, as their fees seem to keep going up, and they’ve been cutting routes for quite a while now.

Now, it seems, practically EVERY bus route is being eliminated-and I haven’t heard any plans to reroute others to cover these, so far. Those who have bought yearly passes, which can go up as much as $1023 for a year pass, will NOT be receiving refunds, I’ve been told.

So basically, those of us who rely on bus transportation are fucked. I work with a guy who can only work a certain shift already because of the bus problems-what’s he going to do? What about those already in the North Hills who are being screwed over, big time? They’re going to raise fares as well-so we’re basically going to be paying more for even LESS service than we get. Hard working bus drivers are going to be out of work, because Port Authority can’t get its shit together. Already, there have been laments for years that young people are leaving Pittsburgh-gee, I wonder WHY?

I will NOT give up this job-even if I have to commit grand theft auto* to get there. I know I’ll find a way, I’ve got until June-but I’m not the only one who is going to be affected, and I worry how this is going to affect my fellow bus riders. With gas prices as high as they are, and parking in Pittsburgh is a complete joke, I don’t see how many people are going to manage.

And I know that sometimes these things happen, but it still sucks and I still worry about what’s going to happen.

*[sub]This is what is known as hyperbole, just in case[/sub]

2

You could get a pretty nice moped for $1023. Then you can come and go as you please, get to where you’re going twice as fast without all the stops, and you won’t have to share a seat with any smelly weird people (unless you’re dating one.) Bonus: pedal uphill for exercise.

3

Buses are unAmerican. $1023 will buy you about 420 gallons of gas which helps the economy unlike some semi-communist bus route. That is good for about 5000 miles in an SUV. Sure, you have to buy the SUV and insurance plus some more gas but it is soooo much nicer than any bus. We didn’t build an interstate highway system second to none just so that people could opt out and keep acting like it is still 1930. If you want buses, move to Latin America or even Europe. That is where God puts all the people that really dig mass transit.

4

I thought this was going to be about Bill Cowher.

5

[QUOTE=Marley23]
I thought this was going to be about Bill Cowher.
[/QUOTE]

And no wonder the Penguins are thinking of leaving.

6

[QUOTE=Guinastasia]
Now, it seems, practically EVERY bus route is being eliminated-and I haven’t heard any plans to reroute others to cover these, so far. Those who have bought yearly passes, which can go up as much as $1023 for a year pass, will NOT be receiving refunds, I’ve been told.
[/QUOTE]

People buy yearly passes in Pittsburgh?? What happens if the passes get lost? Shortly after we moved to Chicago, my husband and I both bought monthly passes, and being dorks, we both promptly lost them. I don’t remember how much they were, something like $80.00 each. Neither of us has bought a monthly pass since. I don’t even know if they’re still offered (though I know there are 1 day passes for $5.00 and 7-day passes for $20.00). Now we buy value-added cards and add money onto the card when we need to. We never add more than $20.00 at a time. Fares here are $2.00 per ride so that lasts us a while. If we plan to do a lot of shopping requiring many train/bus rides, we use a 1-day pass.

Anyway, sorry about your bus route. That sucks. When we went apartment-hunting, we made sure we’d be close to popular 24-hour bus lines for fear of that happening to us, because we don’t have a car by choice, and by choice don’t ever want one. I fear ever having to move to a public transportation-deprived city, because I never again want to have to deal with the cost and hassle of car payments, tags, licenses, insurance, city stickers, fuel, oil, maintainence, repairs, parking and other drivers.

Whenever I start thinking about beginning to complain about Chicago’s public transportation, I think of how it was in Kansas City, and how it would be just about anywhere else outside of Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

7

And that town slogan?

Pittsburgh, it’s the PITTS!

What were they thinking?

8

Here in the DC area, Metro just proposed a batch of fare increases and service cuts (though nowhere near as severe as what you’re describing in the Pitts).

My nasty cynical mind notes that this is nicely timed to leave a big mess for a new incoming general manager who is expected to actually walk the new-broom-sweeps-clean talk, and concludes that somebody dropped a bureaucratic poison pill in his welcome banquet…

9

[QUOTE=Equipoise]
People buy yearly passes in Pittsburgh?? What happens if the passes get lost? Shortly after we moved to Chicago, my husband and I both bought monthly passes, and being dorks, we both promptly lost them. I don’t remember how much they were, something like $80.00 each. Neither of us has bought a monthly pass since. I don’t even know if they’re still offered (though I know there are 1 day passes for $5.00 and 7-day passes for $20.00). Now we buy value-added cards and add money onto the card when we need to. We never add more than $20.00 at a time. Fares here are $2.00 per ride so that lasts us a while. If we plan to do a lot of shopping requiring many train/bus rides, we use a 1-day pass.
[/QUOTE]
Depending on how much you spend every month on public transportation, I’d recommend possibly getting a Chicago Card Plus. There’s an unlimited-ride monthly pass option for $75 a month and if you lose the card, they’ll replace it. Of course, if you two spend less than $75 a month (per person, of course) on public transportation, then it wouldn’t be worth it, I guess.

I think the best thing about the card is that you don’t have to take it out of your wallet, even. Just touch it to the sensor.

[QUOTE=Equipoise]
…and how it would be just about anywhere else outside of Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco.
[/QUOTE]
Philadelphia, really? Is their system really that good?

10

Well, I can’t speak with authority to Philly’s service (even though I live in the suburbs just past the metropolitan area), but aside from regular strikes by the SEPTA worker’s union, I don’t hear all that much about it.

GUINASTASIA, my siblings all went to University of Pittsburgh for at least part of their college education, and my sister (30 year old, 31 in June) lived there until about midway through last year. This was one of the regular issues she talked about, along with a withering job market, that led to her moving back home (at least, untill she’s paid off her student loans, then she plans on moving into Philly proper). My sympathies to you, Pittsburgh’s a nice city, and it’s a shame to hear about all the problems it seems to be facing.

But hey, at least they didn’t have more deaths-by-shooting than days in the year, like Philly just did in '06 (“City of brotherly love” my ass, nice job Mayor Street!). Oh yeah, and more policemen gunned down than weeks in the year as well, double trouble!

11

You live in Pittsburgh and don’t have a car? Wow. How are you going to get to the Penguin games in Kansas City?

I don’t understand how anybody could get around in the city using only the crappy excuse for public transportation that they call PAT. Unless you, say, live in Wilkinsburg and work downtown, which would give you bus routes to the city and Monroeville for shopping.

12

Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo - all cities that have tried their hardest to kill themselves over the past 50 years, yet they all still keep limping along. They need to look to Detroit for inspiration. :frowning:

13

[QUOTE=MidnightRadio]
Depending on how much you spend every month on public transportation, I’d recommend possibly getting a Chicago Card Plus. There’s an unlimited-ride monthly pass option for $75 a month and if you lose the card, they’ll replace it. Of course, if you two spend less than $75 a month (per person, of course) on public transportation, then it wouldn’t be worth it, I guess.
[/QUOTE]

It’s a nice idea, especially just having to wave it in front of the pad, being able to add value online, and being able to replace it if it’s lost. I mainly don’t like the idea of not knowing how much is being deducted for each fare. It beeps at you, but there’s no display saying how much it just took from your card, and you have no way of knowing how much is still on your card. In any case, we have an odd lifestyle and it wouldn’t be a good value, money-wise, for us. It is a good step forward for the CTA in saving money. They need it for the Brown Line renovation (our stop was closed for 6 months!).

[QUOTE=MidnightRadio]
Philadelphia, really? Is their system really that good?
[/QUOTE]

We’ve been there several times to attend concerts, and the public transportation has always worked well for us. I couldn’t say how it is for people who live there and have to use it all the time.

14

When I was growing up there in the '70s, I lived on the North Side. I could go anywhere in the city on a bus, with at most one transfer. And it was pretty cheap, too.

As for the North Hills people, that sucks that they are losing their routes. But to be fair, if I was a bus driver I wouldn’t want to spend an afternoon on the parking lot called McKnight Road either.

15

[QUOTE=Steve MB]
Here in the DC area, Metro just proposed a batch of fare increases and service cuts (though nowhere near as severe as what you’re describing in the Pitts).
[/QUOTE]

They did? I was just going to post about how nice it was to live in a city that took public transportation seriously.

Rats. Though an increase from $1.35 each way would be churlish for me to oppose.

16

Fare increases and service cuts…!? Golly, its almost like they have less money to run the public transportation system with there.
Say, by any chance, have the Burglar-ticians in Pennsylvania been patting themselves on their backs for “cutting your taxes” for the past few years…? :smack:

17

[QUOTE=Count Blucher]
Fare increases and service cuts…!? Golly, its almost like they have less money to run the public transportation system with there.
Say, by any chance, have the Burglar-ticians in Pennsylvania been patting themselves on their backs for “cutting your taxes” for the past few years…? :smack:
[/QUOTE]
But you forget - the economy is booming! Things are great! They’ve never been better!

I’ve been pissed about our second rate public transit system for a long time, and it looks like we’ll only be moving backwards. I’d like to see the rail system expanded, and they started to do so (I don’t know if they’re going to continue to do that with the recent cuts or not), but they seem like they are persistently in the hole.

I really believe that our ability to grow and flourish as a city, to keep people living around here, and to be regarded again as one of the most livable cities, will depend on developing a much superior public transit system.

18

[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian]

I really believe that our ability to grow and flourish as a city, to keep people living around here, and to be regarded again as one of the most livable cities, will depend on developing a much superior public transit system.
[/QUOTE]

I not only agree with you, I’ll stick my neck out and say that the viability of all our cities depends upon reliable public transit systems to effectively and efficiently move our workforce to and from work. An ever-growing transit system to accomodate a growing workforce is an investment in our future.

19

I hate to tell you, that’s not why people are moving out of Pittsburgh. My mom’s family lives there, and every time we go up to see them (especially in the winter) my dad and I ask her why these people continue to live there, and she tells us, “It’s because they don’t know any better.”

20

From Sullivan’s Travels:

[discussing a prior ‘serious’ film]
Film Exec 1: It died in Pittsburgh.
Film Exec 2: Like a dog!
Sullivan: Aw, what do they know in Pittsburgh?
Film Exec 2: They know what they like.
Sullivan: If they knew what they liked, they wouldn’t live in Pittsburgh!