PAAC Board Meeting October 23rd

Residents urge Port Authority to reconsider route eliminations

Residents from Garfield, Perry Highway, and Penn Hills came together to speak at a Port Authority board meeting to call for adequate bus service in their neighborhoods.

October 23, 2015

Watch more: http://www.wtae.com/news/residents-urge-port-authority-to-reconsider-route-eliminations/36008860

Read More: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2015/10/23/Groups-ask-for-restored-Port-Authority-bus-service-in-North-Hills-Penn-Hills-Pittsburgh-s-East-End/stories/201510230248

http://wesa.fm/post/pat-board-asked-increase-service-3-communities

New PPT Video

Check out our new promotional video for our online fundraising campaign!

Special thanks to Dean Mougianis for the hard work putting the video together and to Laura Weins for starring in it!

 

 

Make My Trip Count survey

The city and other partners are conducting a survey on commuting in Pittsburgh. Let’s make sure that transit riders’ voices are heard! The survey is focused on those who commute to downtown and Oakland, but everyone can take it!

Please take the survey here:

Screen shot 2015-10-07 at 4.14.32 PM

More information from Make My Trip Count:

Most days of the week, you travel to work or school. How many days? Where do you start and where are you going? Most importantly, how do you get there? We’re interested in your answers.

Make My Trip Count is a survey of Pittsburgh region commuters to figure out how Pittsburghers regularly travel to work or school – and how that commute could be improved. Whether you’re on a bus, in your car, riding a bike, using your own two feet, or traveling by other means, you’re making commute trips multiple times per day – and we’re interested in improving your options and access.

Especially if you make regular trips into Downtown, Oakland, and the North Shore, we need your input. Aggregate results will inform transportation and commute improvements across the Pittsburgh region to reduce traffic, delay, and environmental impacts.

Along with providing more complete information behind regional transportation system decision-making, this survey is also the 2015 transportation reporting mechanism for Pittsburgh 2030 District Property Partners.

Dozens of riders and supporters celebrate getting bus service to transit deserts!

Here is the media coverage from our event. Thanks to all who made the event and these campaigns such a big success!

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/9056072-74/bus-riders-authority#axzz3lGBgptCG

http://www.pghcitypaper.com/Blogh/archives/2015/09/09/two-transit-deserts-get-bus-service-back

http://wesa.fm/post/restored-service-baldwin-groveton-squelches-four-year-transit-desert


More recap of the event from us:

After being stuck in a transit desert for years, residents celebrated their inaugural rides into town this morning! Dozens of Baldwin and Groveton community members, along with Pittsburghers for Public Transit, rode the 44 Knoxville and 20 Kennedy to downtown Pittsburgh. Even more supporters joined them for a celebratory rally at 6th Ave and Wood St.

Riders spoke about all the work they had done in the past year to advocate for service in their communities, and they thanked Port Authority and elected officials for listening to their concerns. Dennis Donahoe, resident at Churchview Garden Apartments in Baldwin borough, was thrilled to get the service back and shared his pride for everyone who came together to make this happen.

Darnell Jones, a resident of Groveton Village highlighted the ways the community came together by making phone calls and writing letters and speaking at meetings. Now he and his neighbors can get to work, the doctor, school, and the grocery store.

His neighbor, Dietra Hawkins, talked about how she could now take the bus to her new job at a hospital. Before this extended bus service, she relied on others to give her a ride to the nearest bus stop nearly 2 miles away so that she could get to school at Bidwell Training Center.

Mike Harms and Tom Conroy, bus operators, discussed the ways transit workers helped on these campaigns, demonstrating the “power of the people.”

Laura Wiens of Pittsburghers for Public Transit highlighted the need for our entire region to come together for adequate and affordable public transit service

Port Authority’s schedule changes went into effect this week, which included extensions of 4 routes throughout the system.

A huge thanks to everyone who made these campaigns a success! And thanks for coming out to celebrate this morning!

 

Celebrate getting bus service to transit deserts!

After being stuck in a transit desert for years, residents are ready to ride! On Wed Sept 9th, join Baldwin and Groveton community members, along with Pittsburghers for Public Transit, as we ride the 44 Knoxville and 20 Kennedy to town. If you live in Baldwin, we’re taking the 7:25 am bus from Churchview Garden Apts (3783 Churchview Ave ext). If you live in Groveton, we’re taking the 7:30 am bus from Village Dr.

Supporters are encouraged to join us for a celebratory rally:

Wednesday Sept 9th
8:30 am
6th Ave and Wood St

We’ll hear from community members who worked hard to get their transit service back! We’ll also hear about continued campaigns for adequate and affordable transit service in Allegheny county.

Coffee and noisemakers will be provided 🙂

A link to the 44 Knoxville route and schedule is here.

A link to the 20 Kennedy route and schedule is here.

For more information about the event:
email: molly@pittsburghforpublictransit.org
call: 412-216-9659

 

Residents get ready to ride!

Groveton residents met on July 29th to learn more about the bus service that’s coming back to their community! These folks are excited their hard work paid off:

PPT and Buses for Baldwin had a booth at Baldwin’s community day on Saturday! Here we are sharing the great news about bus service coming back to Baldwin. Over 70 folks came out to a community meeting on July 22nd to celebrate the win and learn more about the route coming to their community. Residents are excited to ride!

 

Thank you to Port Authority for providing information about the bus service at the events in Groveton and Baldwin.

On Wed Sept 9th, residents from Groveton and Baldwin will ride the 20 Kennedy and 44 Knoxville and meet downtown at 9 am! For the Baldwin flier, click here. Groveton flier is forthcoming.

Tell Port Authority you want fair transit fares!

Port Authority is reviewing their fare policy in the coming months, with changes to be enacted in July of 2016. These changes could likely include a fare increase, and we are concerned about the negative impact this would have on our communities. We do not think funding should come off the backs of riders and are strongly opposed to any fare increases.
PPT is distributing these charts to riders to encourage them to indicate our need for equitable fares. Make sure you take the Port Authority survey by Sept 30, 2015. Your responses will inform their decision-making in the coming months.

 

 

Baldwin Community Meeting July 22

After over a year of hard work from Baldwin residents, bus drivers, and transit supporters, public Port Authority bus service is coming back to the community! The 44 Knoxville route has been extended into North Baldwin and will begin service on September 8th. Service will run from 530 am to midnight, every half hour. This is a huge victory for all of us who worked so hard to ensure our voices were heard! 

Please join the Buses for Baldwin committee and Pittsburghers for Public Transit for a community meeting to learn about the bus service that will come back to our neighborhoods.

WHEN: Wednesday July 22nd, 7:00-8:30 pm

WHERE: Baldwin Borough building auditorium, 3344 Churchview Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15227

Click here to read the article in the South Hills Record. 

More info about the service:

The route starts at Churchview Garden apts and runs down Churchview Ave, to Spencer, Custer, and Agnew, across Becks Run road to St Clair, through Knoxville and Beltzhoover and into town via Warrington Ave and the transit tunnel. The service will run from 530 am to midnight, every 30 mins, Monday through Friday.

We understand that this service does not meet everyone’s needs, especially those on Willett Road, and we will continue to campaign for a solution to that issue.

Questions? Call 412-216-9659