• October 9th, 2024
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About the Project: Bus Line Redesign is a unique opportunity to look comprehensively at all of PRT's bus routes. The study will consider where, when, and how people travel in and around the region and recommend updates to bus routes to better serve all of Allegheny County. This project was prioritized in PRT's 2021 long-range plan, NEXTransit.

Timeline:

• Winter 2023 & Spring 2024 – Phase 2: What have we learned? (Conduct market analysis, Analyze results from Phase 1 public input, and Public Engagement Round 2)
• Summer 2024 & Fall 2024 – Phase 3: How can we get there? (Conduct scenario evaluation, and Public Engagement Round 3)
• Winter 2024 & Spring 2025 – Phase 4: Finalize (Product final concepts, and Public Engagement Round 4)

Update – October 9, 2024: Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s next phase of public engagement for the Bus Line Redesign project has now started. From the kick-off last month through early 2025, PRT’s team will be attending community events and hosting their own pop-ups throughout the county to engage the public.

For the Oakland area, the next pop up event will be held on October 15 from 8am-10am at Atwood Station (3705 Fifth Avenue). You can find more scheduled events on the PRT website here. Individuals who are unable or not interested in attending an in-person event can provide input on the Draft Network by emailing the PRT team at buslineredesign@rideprt.org, submitting comments to their Customer Service team by calling 412-442-2000, and/or posting a comment directly on the Draft Network 1.0 map found online. All of the engagement options are outlined here.

 

Update – April 2024: The project team is now working to incorporate input and analysis from Phases 1 and 2 of the project to develop new proposals for the bus network. A draft of these proposals is expected to be reviewed through extensive public engagement this fall. You can review the presentation from the April 16 public meeting summarizing input as well as reports in the Documents and Links section on the PRT Bus Line Redesign project microsite here.

As of May 7, 2024, documents available on the site include the following, and the public can still leave questions, comments, and feedback about the study via a comment form on the project microsite.

• Bus Line Redesign Project Fact Sheet
• Public Engagement Summary for Phase 1
• State of the System Existing Conditions Report
• Transit Market Study

Public Meeting Recap: Video Recording (from the public meeting held virtually on April 16, 2024)

Additional public meeting recordings and event history can be viewed from the PRT Bus Line Redesign microsite's project archive here. Please note that materials on this page are provided for reference purposes only and may not represent current proposals from PRT.

Project Goals:

We have reviewed everything we heard from you in round one and a few key themes have emerged:

• Key Destinations: Improve service to the Airport and Oakland from throughout the region.
• Neighborhoods: Inter-neighborhood connections (outside of Downtown) need to be improved.
• Variety of Trip Types: People use transit as much for shopping and recreation as for work.
• Busways and Rail: Better utilize fixed guideways by improving frequency, connections, and wayfinding.
• Reliability: Improve frequency and reliability which are lacking in today’s system.
• Longer Walks: Slight preference for longer walks to routes that are more frequent and provide access to more places.

Existing Conditions

Background: The study will consider where, when, and who people travel in and around the region, and recommend updates to bus routes to better serve all of Allegheny County.

"Many of the bus routes in our region date back several decades, and in many cases don’t serve the Allegheny County of today. In 2021, we completed our 25-year long-range plan, NEXTransit. The public told us one of our top priorities should be to design an updated bus network that better serves our communities, especially our most transit dependent riders. The global pandemic that began in 2020 has profoundly changed the way people go about their lives. Our network is still designed to take people to and from downtown Pittsburgh, but traditional commuting patterns have changed significantly. Meanwhile, the system lacks service that links neighborhoods together, and certain areas of the county have no access to transit."

You can also Take the Travel Survey on the website right now. Data gathered from the survey on how you get around Allegheny County will help PRT better plan bus routes and frequency. According to the NEXTransit website, "the most important part of Bus Line Redesign is your input. This survey is one way we will gather public input and translate that into how and where we redesign a bus network that works for all of us. The survey should take approximately five minutes to complete. All responses will remain confidential unless you choose to leave your contact information for a prize drawing."

Public Meetings History:

To learn about project goals, status/timing, and to give input about how you utilize the PRT bus network and how it can better serve the region, the first two public meetings related to the comprehensive rethinking of PRT bus routes were held virtually via Zoom in Aprkl 2024 and November 2023. Registered attendees could also call to join by phone. In 2023, virtual public meetings were held:

• Tuesday, April 16 via Zoom
• Tuesday, November 14 via Zoom
• Thursday, November 16 via Zoom

Meetings were held virtually using Zoom, but registered attendees could also call-in by dialing 1-305-224-1968 and inputting the appropriate Zoom Meeting ID.

There have also been five "in-person pop-up tent" events throughout the month of November in various locations including: Sto-Rox Public Library and Lawrenceville Farmers Market on 11/14, North Park Boathouse on 11/16, Carnegie Holiday Farmers Market on 11/19, and West Mifflin Light Up Night on 11/30. Visit the PRT Bus Line Redesign project microsite for more details.

Source: Pittsburgh Regional Transit (This page was last updated using source content from the PRT Bus Line Redesign project microsite as of October 9, 2024, and May 8 2024, though some content may also be from orignial source material dated November 2023, as well.)