I took a "U" bus in the late 2000s, so they weren't as old. But the biggest difference is the U bus (at least the one I took) was only during rush hour, the "O" routes are all day.
This is a great breakdown, and a lot of it sounds really positive! That being said, I'd worry that using "O" as a route prefix would leave infrequent riders seeing it as a zero and getting caught up in some confusing conversations...
It could be confusing for even frequent riders as there are already O lines in the network. I believe they are just commuter routes but I could be wrong
Oooh where did you move to??? Also getting rid of that mall diversion for the airport route is a freaking godsend. Thanks for the great video, it really gave me a good view of the changes happening in Pittsburgh from someone that lives on the other side of the state in Philadelphia!
Also now in SEPTA territory, but lived in PAT (now PRT) territory for my college years and that loop to Ikea when I was on a very crowded bus during university holidays was the worst!
Still wish they extended the T to the airport, and Oakland for that matter. I will acknowledge the bus ways did tend to be faster routes than the T, but maybe have who engineered the West Philly trolleys make new T cars as those things fly in the tunnel and frequently pass the heavy rail MFL trains.
@@tekFishyextending the T to Oakland and the airport are definitely musts. That half-baked BRT route to Oakland really should just be the precursor to a light rail conversion
Some of the hilly neighborhoods are losing service or are forcing people to walk through hilly terrain to catch as bus. Examples are the 58, 27, Y45, and especially the 44; those are no gos. However, there are some good things about this, especially the return of the U routes and connections to neighborhood hubs. Some of the new connector routes such as Carnegie to Brentwood and Avalon to Ross are interesting. The Mon Valley is getting a huge blowup, so we'll see what commuters have to say. Doubling service in Penn Hills is a good thing. This spells the end of the 54C which is effectively being split into 3 routes. Redirecting the 71D to the South Side is silly (should've been a PRTX route) while combining parts of the 91, 93, and 81 is nonsensical. In some cases, it's better to have a faster commute to downtown or Oakland than to connect neighborhoods.
I found my mobility master plan for Pittsburgh that I had created. In this situation, I would’ve made a light rail from downtown to the university and Carnegie Mellon through the hill district and down to McKeesport. A redesigned bus network would do well around that.
oooh. This is really good. Orienting the system less towards a hodge-podge of light rail and buses and turning it into a cohesive, interconnected Metro System. I hope this comes with a revamp of the PRT maps as well.
Extend the T to Farragut TC and restore full service to Union, then add the Brown Line back, but is Library-Union via Mt Lebanon and Station Square. Blue joins Brown at Union. The Allentown Branch remains for deviation purposes as it has been. Unrelated but the Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus-Pittsburgh train should use the Three Rivers name
It was rail for the majority of its history. It’s a small segment of the formerly 4-tracked Pennsylvania Railroad main line. It was reduced to 2 tracks and the extra space was converted to the busway by the city in the 80’s.
@@michaelfrank1048 The busway part should have tracks put in just the the Mt. Washington transit tunnel. that way buses can continue to use it as an express route, while light rail can use the more fixed route with greater capacity and smoother rides.
I wonder if PRT saw what SEPTA was doing, or if they made that decision on their own. SEPTA should be implementing their bus redesign soon, i think. SEPTA put emphasis on frequency, and also includes micro transit, which will be on demand service. I think one of the more interesting changes will be the addition of a frequent route in the KoP/Norristown area.
Pittsburgh can easily be the San Francisco of the East Coast! I mean streetcars, light rail, BRT and buses! Same type of architecture. Oh and they both have an Oakland!
1- sad panda that you left. but best wishes for “yinz” in philly! 2- i am cautiously optimistic about it all. The changes make a lot of sense- especially the renaming and the changes to the east and west busway naming and the 28x. I’m concerned about the micro transit- is this even funded- and the university lines real viability in its new form. also, still worried about the library leg of the silver line.
Very nice video! I live in Steubenville, Ohio, and very frequently ride transit due to long-distance driving disabilities. The SVRTA operates several daily-except-Sunday trips from Downtown Steubenville, connects with Weirton Transit in West Virginia, and then ends at the IKEA in Robinson. Elimination of the 28X stop at IKEA , which I find useful to visit Downtown Pittsburgh, Point State Park and possibly the Airport, would inconvenience me. The 24, 28X, and 29 all currently travel between IKEA and Downtown Pittsburgh, with different routing and stops Downtown. They all take approximately the same time travelling between the two stops, but a guaranteed connection is needed between SVRTA and the Pittsburgh International Airport, Downtown Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Greyhound Station and the Pittsburgh Amtrak Station. Downtown Pittsburgh is 38 miles from Downtown Steubenville, and it takes approx. 2 hours by bus, each way. Visiting Point State Park is definitely on my to-do list, because my anxiety and stress go way down when visiting there, compared to living in Steubenville. I'm very glad PRT is updating their bus system, although I heard they needed to because of budget cuts. Thank you, Mr. Classy for all the content!
O-buses are basically a revival of the U-buses from the 80s and early 90s
I took a "U" bus in the late 2000s, so they weren't as old. But the biggest difference is the U bus (at least the one I took) was only during rush hour, the "O" routes are all day.
The route numbering is so WMATA-like. I do like the PRT Port Authority system. 61-C to Kennywood every time I’m there.
More Pittsburgh content!!!
This is a great breakdown, and a lot of it sounds really positive! That being said, I'd worry that using "O" as a route prefix would leave infrequent riders seeing it as a zero and getting caught up in some confusing conversations...
Yeah, I kinda wondered about that too.
Maybe us K for OaKland. While stupid as the K is a very pronounced letter in oak I think is good enough.
It could be confusing for even frequent riders as there are already O lines in the network. I believe they are just commuter routes but I could be wrong
Oooh where did you move to??? Also getting rid of that mall diversion for the airport route is a freaking godsend. Thanks for the great video, it really gave me a good view of the changes happening in Pittsburgh from someone that lives on the other side of the state in Philadelphia!
Also now in SEPTA territory, but lived in PAT (now PRT) territory for my college years and that loop to Ikea when I was on a very crowded bus during university holidays was the worst!
Still wish they extended the T to the airport, and Oakland for that matter. I will acknowledge the bus ways did tend to be faster routes than the T, but maybe have who engineered the West Philly trolleys make new T cars as those things fly in the tunnel and frequently pass the heavy rail MFL trains.
@@tekFishyextending the T to Oakland and the airport are definitely musts. That half-baked BRT route to Oakland really should just be the precursor to a light rail conversion
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Some of the hilly neighborhoods are losing service or are forcing people to walk through hilly terrain to catch as bus. Examples are the 58, 27, Y45, and especially the 44; those are no gos.
However, there are some good things about this, especially the return of the U routes and connections to neighborhood hubs. Some of the new connector routes such as Carnegie to Brentwood and Avalon to Ross are interesting. The Mon Valley is getting a huge blowup, so we'll see what commuters have to say. Doubling service in Penn Hills is a good thing.
This spells the end of the 54C which is effectively being split into 3 routes. Redirecting the 71D to the South Side is silly (should've been a PRTX route) while combining parts of the 91, 93, and 81 is nonsensical. In some cases, it's better to have a faster commute to downtown or Oakland than to connect neighborhoods.
I found my mobility master plan for Pittsburgh that I had created. In this situation, I would’ve made a light rail from downtown to the university and Carnegie Mellon through the hill district and down to McKeesport. A redesigned bus network would do well around that.
We really need more bus manufacturers in the US. Every American bus looks the exact same :(
oooh. This is really good. Orienting the system less towards a hodge-podge of light rail and buses and turning it into a cohesive, interconnected Metro System. I hope this comes with a revamp of the PRT maps as well.
Extend the T to Farragut TC and restore full service to Union, then add the Brown Line back, but is Library-Union via Mt Lebanon and Station Square. Blue joins Brown at Union. The Allentown Branch remains for deviation purposes as it has been. Unrelated but the Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus-Pittsburgh train should use the Three Rivers name
I didn’t realize how much of a bus city Pittsburgh is. Great that they are making these improvements!
East Busway should be rail.
It was rail for the majority of its history. It’s a small segment of the formerly 4-tracked Pennsylvania Railroad main line. It was reduced to 2 tracks and the extra space was converted to the busway by the city in the 80’s.
@@michaelfrank1048 The busway part should have tracks put in just the the Mt. Washington transit tunnel. that way buses can continue to use it as an express route, while light rail can use the more fixed route with greater capacity and smoother rides.
NooooOooOooo. Come back to Pittsburgh!
I wonder if PRT saw what SEPTA was doing, or if they made that decision on their own. SEPTA should be implementing their bus redesign soon, i think. SEPTA put emphasis on frequency, and also includes micro transit, which will be on demand service. I think one of the more interesting changes will be the addition of a frequent route in the KoP/Norristown area.
Pittsburgh can easily be the San Francisco of the East Coast! I mean streetcars, light rail, BRT and buses! Same type of architecture.
Oh and they both have an Oakland!
Should they build a central busway or light rail for Oakland-Pittsburgh trips?
YES, or a subway!
1- sad panda that you left. but best wishes for “yinz” in philly!
2- i am cautiously optimistic about it all. The changes make a lot of sense- especially the renaming and the changes to the east and west busway naming and the 28x. I’m concerned about the micro transit- is this even funded- and the university lines real viability in its new form. also, still worried about the library leg of the silver line.
Very nice video! I live in Steubenville, Ohio, and very frequently ride transit due to long-distance driving disabilities. The SVRTA operates several daily-except-Sunday trips from Downtown Steubenville, connects with Weirton Transit in West Virginia, and then ends at the IKEA in Robinson. Elimination of the 28X stop at IKEA , which I find useful to visit Downtown Pittsburgh, Point State Park and possibly the Airport, would inconvenience me. The 24, 28X, and 29 all currently travel between IKEA and Downtown Pittsburgh, with different routing and stops Downtown. They all take approximately the same time travelling between the two stops, but a guaranteed connection is needed between SVRTA and the Pittsburgh International Airport, Downtown Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Greyhound Station and the Pittsburgh Amtrak Station. Downtown Pittsburgh is 38 miles from Downtown Steubenville, and it takes approx. 2 hours by bus, each way. Visiting Point State Park is definitely on my to-do list, because my anxiety and stress go way down when visiting there, compared to living in Steubenville. I'm very glad PRT is updating their bus system, although I heard they needed to because of budget cuts. Thank you, Mr. Classy for all the content!
PRT also desperately needs new LRVs to replace the 40-year old rolling stock.
WHY DIDNT THEY CONVEWRT THE EAST BUSWAY TO RAIL
And you went to Europe without informing me??
Brilliant video though.
You mean flat-pack furniture isn't on your mind when you're travelling? \m/
not now caleb im editing
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How would the buses on Fifth Avenue change?
Be rebranded into D buses?
May I ask where is your new base? And did you graduate graduate school
Philly, and no, still working on it :)
@@ClassyWhale Welcome to Philly!
is the 1 line wonders contest over?
@@Trainsaregreat365 nope, deadline is 10/15 and results will be announced 10/24
@@ClassyWhale nice i could have done better but i thought the deadline is 9/30
First