PAT route changes in effect, indicating demand patterns (Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg: to buy, cost)

[BrianTH]

Link:

Port Authority of Allegheny County > Rider Services > Rider Alerts

Two things that stand out to me:

(1) A lot of morning and evening P2s are being converted to P1s. This is good news for us personally (the P1 is an alternate route for us, but not the P2), and in general speaks to robust demand along the East Busway extension past Wilkinsburg;

(2) The extra weekend service between South Hills Junction and the North Shore has been made official, which I gather from other sources makes it easier for them to staff without needing volunteers.

The common theme between these observations is greater use being made of relatively recent infrastructure projects (the extension of the East Busway and the NSC).

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

(1) A lot of morning and evening P2s are being converted to P1s. This is good news for us personally (the P1 is an alternate route for us, but not the P2), and in general speaks to robust demand along the East Busway extension past Wilkinsburg;

(2) The extra weekend service between South Hills Junction and the North Shore has been made official, which I gather from other sources makes it easier for them to staff without needing volunteers.

The common theme between these observations is greater use being made of relatively recent infrastructure projects (the extension of the East Busway and the NSC).

Its a bit of a cost cutting measure which doesn't indicate increased demand, if PAT is also reducing service on the 61 routes serving Swissvale, Rankin and North Braddock.


Its a lot cheaper and quicker to run a limited stop busway trip than a slower local route, even though it might not be as convenient to many of passengers- they at least still have the service at a lower cost.

[pman]

Its the sort of thing that should be done when trying to offer the best service at a given budget. Something like the bhswau is very expensive to operate and.maintain but the flip side is the incremental cost is low...and the better the utilization the greater the benefit derived. Glad to hear the t is being made permanent. You need a certain service level to be useful.hopefully someday demand will result in extended service til 2 am weekends) .

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Its a bit of a cost cutting measure which doesn't indicate increased demand, if PAT is also reducing service on the 61 routes serving Swissvale, Rankin and North Braddock.

I don't see any indications of service reductions on the 61A and 61B (just a tweak to route times on the 61A).

Incidentally, they also added a P3 (Swissvale to Oakland via the East Busway).

[stburr91]

It does seem that demand is up on the Swissvale routes. I know a number of people that have commented about how during peak hours, the buses always seem to be at, or near capacity by the time they get out of Swissvale.

[ferraris]

I was thrown off by the changes to the 15 this morning. Extending the route to the busway is interesting, but I can't fathom why they moved the stop from 7th and Penn to 7th and Liberty. At 7th and Penn you have Katz Plaza, which provides plenty of seating for those waiting. On top of that the 13, 16, and 17 did not have their stop moved from Katz. I realize those routes only overlap somewhat, but for those of us in the War Streets it was nice to have 4 options to wait for at one stop. Now I imagine seeing a 15 coming across the bridge and hustling down to Liberty so that I can be at the correct stop.

Does anybody know why the did this? It's a relatively small change, but I don't see who it benefits at all.

[pman]

Two Port Authority committees on Wednesday authorized the purchase of 40 new 60-foot articulated buses for $28 million.
...the authority will have 126 of the longer buses in its fleet, a net increase of 25 after 15 older articulated buses are taken out of service, ...The buses... are being added in an effort to ease overcrowding on some routes and reduce operating costs.

Read more: Port Authority to buy 40 new bending buses - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by pman

Read more: Port Authority to buy 40 new bending buses - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

That is good news, also that they are continuing to retire the older bending buses, the kind with the aisle that is too narrow for the passenger shifting needed on a city route. The newer bending buses seem to be far better suited for the crowded routes into and out of Oakland.

[AaronPGH]

The third door on them is a HUGE help with loading and unloading as well.

[fleetiebelle]

In a not entirely unrelated note, PAT has actually started removing the T stops in Beechview that were discontinued over the summer. There are backhoes breaking up the platforms on Broadway Ave.