Port Authority of Allegheny County
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Although the Port Authority's bus and light rail system covers Allegheny County, its service also extends into neighboring Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties, which have their own transit systems, including several routes that run into downtown Pittsburgh, where riders can make connections with the Port Authority.
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[edit] History
The agency was created by legislation enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1956 to allow the planning and development of port facilities in the Pittsburgh area. In 1959 it was amended to allow the PAAC to acquire privately owned transit companies that served the area. On April 19 1963 the Board Of County Commissioners authorized the acquisition of 36 transit companies, including the Pittsburgh Railways Company, which had provided bus and streetcar service to the city of Pittsburgh since January 1902, and an incline plane company. On March 1 1964 the newly formed Port Authority Transit was unveiled.
[edit] The Port Authority/Ride Gold brand
Although Port Authority is part of the local fans folklore, its off-beat imaging is more notorious. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s the bus fleet was very recognizable with its fleet of air-conditioned GM "Fishbowls" sporting a white top with small red strip.
But by 1972 it entered what was dubbed by fans as the "Mod" era, as buses were given new paint schemes. As a result buses were painted with the color at the front and rear half (slanted to line up with the windows), while a large white portion was sandwiched in between.
In the 1980s that scheme gave way to a newer one which featured an updated version of its white with red strip look from the 1960s, but this time the red strip was larger, a black strip was painted around the window area, and the white background covered a majority of the bus exterior. That look can still be seen around the area [via the Flxible and NovaBus 'classics' series], although they are expected to be repainted and refurbished into the current "Ride Gold" look.
In 1999 Port Authority "rebranded" itself as "Ride Gold" to coincide with its 35th anniversary. Today most of Port Authority's bus fleet can be spotted on the street in various colors with a splatter of gold "G"s adorning the exterior.
More recently, Port Authority's buses have included various words and phrases repeated across the exterior, such as the words "ride" or "connect", combinations of "rockin'" and "rollin'", "ziggin'" and "zaggin'", or "here" and "there". Newer articulated buses feature extended sayings such as "Parking got you down / Don't make Faces / Hop on the bus / There's plenty of spaces", "This big shiny bus / Is really no riddle / But it sure is odd / How it bends in the middle", "Getting to work / Is no trouble / When you ride / The daily double", "There's the church / There's the steeple / And here's the bus / With all the people", and "If you're tired of all the traffic / And could use an assist / Hop aboard a bus / With a bit of a twist".
On September 21, 2006, the PAT announced that it is retiring the "Ride Gold" campaign and that the current and future bus and light rail fleet will no longer be decorated, but will follow the standard design and uniform colors of its Gillig bus fleet. The reason was due to the system's decision to return to a back-to-basics approach and to save costs on wholesale repainting and refurbishing. Even its updated website has dropped the gold "G" and is now going with the simple "PORT AUTHORITY" fonts, which will now be used on the entire and future fleets.
[edit] Routing by Number/Branch letter
Since its inception in 1964, the system has adopted a bus route system by using a number/alphabet approach to let passengers know which route number, representing the main route, and branch letter representing the destination (e.g. 46G Elizabeth) they were trying to go to. The number provides two pieces of information.
First, it roughly indicates the region served. Routes are numbered starting from the north shore of the Allegheny River (1A New Kensington), then proceeding counterclockwise around the central point of downtown Pittsburgh. Routes going west from downtown have numbers in the 20s and 30s, those going south in the 40s and 50s, and so on through the 90s, which serve the south shore of the Allegheny River. This aspect of the system was inherited from the Pittsburgh Railways Company.
Second, numbers ending in 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 or 8, and "Flyer" routes with letters only, are bus routes that serve downtown Pittsburgh. All express routes end in 3 or 8. Flyers use a stand-alone letter (e.g., B Bellevue Flyer) or a combination of letters (e.g., AVN Allegheny Valley North Flyer). Most Flyer routes operate only during peak hours on weekdays, but there are exceptions, such as the 28X Airport Flyer and LP Lincoln Park Flyer, both of which operate seven days a week.
Not all routes with the same name are always identical. There are some routes with varying extensions. For example, the 21C route has three different variations: The longest route goes all the way to The Mall at Robinson. Another variation of this route is a subset of the longest, and only goes to Steubenville Pike. The shortest variation only goes as far as Kennedy Center. Tourists should take care to board the right route by checking the signs, schedules, asking the driver, or calling the Port Authority customer service number.
Numbers ending in 4 or 9 are crosstown routes that serve the city of Pittsburgh while numbers ending in 5 or 0 are suburban crosstown or feeder routes that do not enter the city of Pittsburgh. Buses that carry a U next to the number are routes that serve a university (typically the University of Pittsburgh) and are known as "U buses".
Three digits are used for routes that cross downtown, such as 100 West Busway - All Stops via Downtown & Oakland, and 500 Highland Park - Bellevue.
A few route designations violate the convention in some way. For example, the 56U does not go downtown.
[edit] Fare structure
Port Authority uses a fare structure based on four zones (1, 1A, 2, and 3). When passing from one zone to another, the fare increases. The 1A Zone is an exception; it is a "transition zone" from Zone 1 to Zone 2. If traveling from Zone 1 to 1A or from 2 to 1A, there is no increase in fare. See http://www.portauthority.org/PAAC/FaresPasses/Fares/Zones/tabid/107/Default.aspx for zone boundaries.
Port Authority uses an "outbound" pay system for daytime transit. Fare is paid when boarding on the "outbound" part of the route; i.e., if your bus is headed INTO downtown, you pay when boarding, but if your bus is headed OUT of downtown, you pay when exiting. During the evening, this method changes on many routes to "pay when boarding" (also known as "pay enter") due to the possibility of riders trying to skip paying the fare.
The Port Authority also sells non-discounted one-use tickets, and discounted weekly, monthly and annual passes. Each carries a small discount over the previous time-based pass but for an unlimited number of trips/transfers in the set zone{s} for that time period. For example, for a zone 1 pass, the cost of a weekly is the equivalent of 9.5 one-way trips, a monthly is equivalent to 34 one-way trips, and an annual is equivalent to 377 one-way trips. An annual pass is simply a 12-month subscription to monthly passes which can be either mailed to one's home or picked up at the Downtown Service Center on Smithfield Street.
[edit] Light Rail (the "T")
- Main article: Pittsburgh Light Rail
The Port Authority operates a 25-mile light rail system called the "T," which provides service from Downtown Pittsburgh to a number of neighborhoods south of the city.
[edit] Buses
[edit] Busways
In December 1977 Port Authority unveiled its first dedicated busway, the 4.3-mile South Busway, which combined bus and LRV routes into an efficient and quicker connection between downtown Pittsburgh and the South Hills area. The Martin Luther King, Jr East Busway, which used express routes to connect downtown with nearby east side communities like Swissvale, Wilkinsburg and Monroeville followed in February 1983. On Sunday, September 10, 2000 it opened its West Busway, which provides bus service from downtown Pittsburgh to Carnegie. In 2003, the East Busway was expanded by a few miles to its current terminus in Swissvale and Rankin.
[edit] Bus fleet
As of January 2006 there were 1,207 buses in its lineup:
416 Regular high-floor transit buses (40ft versions)
- 171 NovaBus Classics (Last transit system in the United States to receive Classics)
- 2600-2770 1996
- The original 2600 was wrecked. In Atlanta, Georgia during the 1996 Olympics, some of the Nova classics were used for shuttles, fresh off the assembly line. When 2600 was wrecked, Novabus built Port Authority another one. It has some features on it that make it unique, such as different front doors, and a different wiring set up!
- 2600-2770 1996
- 245 Flxible Metros Some Metros have been decommisioned already and most probably will be gone by 2008.
Original order:
2300-2449 1993
Option order:
2450-2459 1994
2460-2496 1995
2505-2515 1994
2516-2524 1995
2541-2550 1994
2551-2560 1995
2575-2584 1994
2585-2594 1995
Differences between Flxible orders at Port Authority:
• Original order had the Luminator ODK installed in front of operator, mounted in the bulkhead. Option order had Luminator ODK relocated and was mounted to the left of operator on the electrical access door.
• Original order had vinyl blue seats installed and had single, forward facing seats on the right side of the bus. These Flxibles mark the end of an era as no other bus afterwards would be ordered with the vinyl seats or with single, forward facing seats. Option order marked the beginning of cloth seats and double, forward facing seats being standard throughout the bus at Port Authority.
• Original order had a Voith 3-speed transmission while the option order had an Allison 3-speed.
• Various minor differences; option order makes a whining sound that isn't present in original order; option order has transparent rear doors while the original order only has glass on the top; interior coach number font different; box behind operator seat on option order is smaller, thus allowing operator seat to slide back farther.
- (#):Originally ordered 150, but Flxible ceased operations, thus the gaps in the 1995 order.
- 2446 was destroyed when it rear-ended a parked 18-wheeler. 2550 and 2581 were destroyed when they crashed into each other in a January 1996 snowstorm on the East Busway. This accident resulted in the death of the operator of 2581, the termination of the operator of 2550, and many injuries, but no passengers died.
60 Regular high-floor transit buses (35-foot versions)
483 Regular low-floor transit buses (40ft versions)
- 324 Gillig Advantage Low Floors
88 Rush hour/commuter high-floor transit buses
With Neoplan Metroliner #1910 being a Repainted Coach.
With Neoplan Articulated #3059 being Repainted and #3060 in Manchester shops currently undergoing a total and complete Rehab.
160 Mid Bus Shuttle Transit Vehicles (STV)(mostly used on crosstown or feeder routes)
[edit] Bus Routes
See List of Port Authority of Allegheny County bus routes
[edit] Inclines
In addition to buses and LRVs, the system oversees the operations of two incline cablecars. The Monongahela Incline (the oldest "incline" in the U.S.) is operated by the Port Authority while the Duquesne Incline is operated by a non-profit group. Both inclines have undergone major renovations over the years.
[edit] Other services
Port Authority also operates more than 60 park & ride lots in Allegheny County.
Under the Port Authority-sponsored ACCESS program, a private contractor provides door-to-door service to elderly and disabled passengers throughout the county, seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight. All reservations are placed one day in advance.
Between 2001 and 2004, the Authority operated a "party bus": the "Ultraviolet Loop" operated on Friday and Saturday nights, serving city nightlife and university centers. [2] As of 2006 The UV Ultra Violet Route is now Discontinued, no longer In Service.
[edit] Trivia
- The Port Authority owns outright 66 Transit bridges, 11 Highway bridges and 4 tunnels [3]. It also owns and maintains three separate, limited access "interstate-like" expressways that span dozens of miles, one for a western approach, one a southern approach and one an eastern approach into the center city.
[edit] References
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[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Port Authority's official website
- Schedule and route information
- A PAT employee's collection of buses pictures and info
- Another collection of PAT bus photos
- April 2005 story on the new "hybrid" buses Pittsburgh has started to use!
- A website that details Pittsburgh's transit history
- A trip planner for the bus system at the University of Pittsburgh
- Another trip planner for the bus system, run by volunteers
- Google Transit page for Port Authority
