image description: a large crying sad face emoji is overlaid on a photo of a person with a walker and a child sitting at a bus stop. Original image from the Post-Gazette.

The cuts are deemed “temporary” – but riders need to see a plan for service expansion because our experience is that once routes are cut, they don’t come back.

Port Authority (now “Pittsburgh Regional Transit”) typically updates its service schedules 4 times every year, but the most recent round of service changes that took effect on June 26th was not your normal service update.

The recent changes will impact 61 out of the 101 total Port Authority routes and will result in an alleged 4% decrease in the service. These changes come on the heels of the April changes, where riders lost 2% of service when 25 routes changed. This is an emergency alert for our transit service.

Ridership is on the rebound. 100,000 riders used our system every day in May. That’s 100% growth from when the pandemic struck in March 2020. Now is the time to EXPAND service and EXPAND affordable fare programs because those are the things that support current riders and bring back more riders to transit.

But unfortunately, this is not the choice that PRT is making… If there is a silver lining, it is that the agency is saying these cuts are “temporary”. However, riders don’t have any idea what that means exactly because there is no public plan for how and under what conditions service frequencies will be expanded.

Riders and residents need to see a plan because our experience is that once routes are cut, they don’t come back.

As a summary of what these changes will do to service, here’s a visual put together by PPT Member, George Barrow. See George’s original spreadsheet here:

image description: A screen capture of a spreadsheet that displays which routes lost or gained frequency during which times of day. Apologies this is not screenreader-friendly. You can see George’s original spreadsheet here.

image description: A screen capture of a spreadsheet that displays overall frequency increases/decreases during time of day. Apologies this is not screenreader-friendly. You can see George’s original spreadsheet here.

About this blog series with the @PGH_Bus_Info Hotline

PPT has been publishing this blog series on PRT’s quarterly serive updates for the past few years. Our goal is to translate what these quarterly changes will mean for riders.

The @PGH_Bus_Info Hotline is a volunteer-run twitter account that gives riders updates on Port Authority’s daily happenings. The Hotline has no official connection to the Port Authority (again, it is a volunteer-run twitter account) but the updates they provide are helpful nonetheless. The Hotline is a big supporter of PPT, and an enormous advocate for public transit. We’re thankful for their support and happy to collab on these rider resources. Follow @PGH_Bus_Info Hotline on twitter for more grassroots transit updates.

About how to read this blog

We’re starting a new layout for these blogs. We’re going to sort this long list of changes from Port Authority into three categories based on what they mean for riders; “The Good”, “The Bad (The Missed Opportunities)”, “The middle of the road… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”.

For each change you’ll see the text and link that the Port Authority uses to describe each change, this is copy/pasted from their website…

… then below this text, you’ll see this italicized text. This italicized portion are comments from the @PGH_Bus_Info Hotline and PPT on what these changes mean for riders and our system. You can check Port Authority’s website to follow these quarterly service changes.

Lets get started.

See these changes on PRT’s website: “Port Authority adjusts schedules four times a year. These changes are effective Sunday, June 26, 2022. Please look closely at the changes below, as service has been reduced on some routes based on current ridership, and to prevent some missed trips.”

The good

22-McCoy – Weekday service frequency has been increased to 40 minutes from 53 minutes throughout the day. Saturday service frequency has been increased to 40 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

We shorter headways mean riders will not have to wait as long for the next bus. Glad that there’s at least change that’s an all-around benefit to riders.

61C-McKeesport-Homestead – Sunday service frequency has been increased to 40 minutes from 45 minutes in the early morning, morning peak and late evenings.

Its a small increase in frequency, but we’ll take it. Still want to see these headways come down.

61D-Murray – Sunday service frequency has been increased to 20 minutes from 30 minutes in the middle of the day, and to 40 minutes from 45 minutes in the late evening.

For our system, 20 minute headways on a Sunday are good.

The bad (the missed opportunities) – buckle up because this is a long list

1-Freeport Road – Some weekday trip times have changed. Weekend service frequency has been reduced to 50 minutes from 45 minutes throughout the day.

The decrease is only 5 minutes, but those minutes add up. In this particular case, this change means that riders will lose three trips on Saturday, (and service will end a bit earlier), and one trip on Sunday.

2-Mount Royal – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 35 minutes from 30 minutes during peak hours, and to 70 minutes from 30-70 minutes in the early morning and late evening. Weekend frequency has been reduced to 80 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

Similar to what we we said before. 70 and 80 minute headways (the time between when buses arrive) is simply unacceptable and unusable transit.

8-Perrysville – Saturday service frequency has been reduced to 35 minutes from 30 minutes throughout the day. Some trip times have changed on Sunday.

3 fewer Saturday trips.

12-McKnight – Sunday service frequency has been reduced to 35 minutes from 30 minutes in the middle of the day and afternoon peak hours, and reduced to 50 minutes from 40 minutes in the late evening.

No denying that this is a decrease in service on all days – although the upshot is that the 12 will run a little bit later on Saturday (but at the cost of losing 3 trips during the day).

17-Shadeland – Saturday service frequency has been reduced to 60 minutes from 50 minutes throughout the day.

20-Kennedy – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 40 minutes from 30-35 minutes during peak hours, and to 60 minutes from between 35-50 minutes during off-peak hours. On Saturday, trip times have changed throughout the day, and service will operate every 50 minutes. Sunday service frequency has been increased to 50 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

24-West Park – Saturday service frequency has been reduced to 60 minutes from 45 minutes throughout the day.

28X-Airport Flyer – Weekday service frequency after 4 p.m. has been reduced to 40-50 minutes from 30 minutes.

38-Green Tree – The 38C variant will be eliminated due to low ridership. All 38C variant trips will instead become additional 38G variant trips. Please see below for a list of discontinued stops served by the 38C variant.

Riders should instead board any 38-Green Tree service on Greentree Road, or use the Covenant Church Park and Ride (also served by the 38-Green Tree). Access to Red Line light rail service is also available via the Mount Lebanon and Castle Shannon park and rides.

Inbound Discontinued Stops	Outbound Discontinued Stops
Swallow Hill Road at Greentree Road Far Side	Orchard Spring Road at Greentree Road Far Side
Swallow Hill Road at Hope Street	Orchard Spring Road at # 120
Swallow Hill Road at Robin Drive	Orchard Spring Road at Roseleaf Road # 1
Swallow Hill Road opposite Chartiers Valley School Driveway	Orchard Spring Road at #252
Swallow Hill Road at Swallow Hill Court	Orchard Spring Road at #312
Swallow Hill Road at Foxcroft Road	Orchard Spring Road opposite Blackberry Drive
Roseleaf Drive at Foxcroft Road Far Side	Orchard Spring Road at Roseleaf Road #2
Orchard Spring Road at #453	Roseleaf Drive at Foxcroft Road
Orchard Spring Road Blackberry Drive	Foxcroft Road at Swallow Hill Road
Orchard Spring Road at #313	Swallow Hill Road at Swallow Hill Place
Orchard Spring Road opposite Roseleaf Drive	Swallow Hill Road at Chartiers Valley School Driveway
Orchard Spring Road #137	Swallow Hill Road at Robin Drive
Orchard Spring Road at #29	Swallow Hill Road at Hope Street
Orchard Spring Road at Greentree Road	Swallow Hill Road at Hope Hollow Road

Additionally, weekday service frequency has been reduced to 35 minutes from 15-30 minutes throughout the day.

39-Brookline – Weekend service frequency has been reduced to 80 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

41-Bower Hill – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 60 minutes from 40 minutes in the middle of the day.

44-Knoxville – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 60 minutes from 30-45 minutes in the middle of the day and the late evening.

52L-Homeville Limited – Service frequency has been reduced to 40 minutes from 20-40 minutes during the morning peak hours, and to 30-60 minutes from 25-40 minutes during afternoon peak hours.

53-Homestead Park – Weekend service frequency has been reduced to 90 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

53L-Homestead Park Limited – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 34 minutes from 30 minutes in the early morning and peak hours; reduced to 70 minutes from 60 minutes in the middle of the day; and increased to 67 minutes from 75 minutes in the late evening.

55-Glassport – Weekday trip times have changed. Late evening service frequency has been reduced to 60-100 minutes from 60 minutes. Weekend service frequency has been reduced to 70 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

Additionally, while schedules have been updated to reflect service operating across the Jerome Street Bridge, please note that westbound buses will continue to detour across the 15th Street Bridge until construction on the Jerome Street Bridge is complete (anticipated for mid-summer).

56-Lincoln Place – Weekday trip times have changed. Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 32-63 minutes from 30-60 minutes during early morning and late evening; and increased to 42 minutes from 45 minutes in the middle of the day.

59-Mon Valley – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 70 minutes from 40 minutes in the late evening.

The Mon Valley just can’t catch a break – and they don’t have any reason to trust the Port Authority. We said this last quarter, but during the public hearings in January 2022 the Port Authority promised that any route that received increased service as part of pandemic service changes would not lose it. The 59 has service increased to 30 minutes in some parts of the day, which was amazing and helpful to these communities that have some of the highest transit ridership/lowest car ownership in Allegheny County. This promise was short lived though. Last quarter they decreased service to 40 minutes (though the upshot was that it ran nearly 24 hours (with only 80 minutes between evening and morning runs), and now the evening service is getting cut back to 70 minutes. Communities should be able to trust public institutions when they make promises.

61A-North Braddock -The long-term Fern Hollow Bridge detour will be incorporated into the schedule.

Below you will find an updated list of inbound and outbound established and discontinued stops. Please note: effective Sunday, June 26, 2022, the 61A will no longer serve the previously established stop at Kelly Ave. at Trenton Ave. Instead, it will serve Trenton Ave. at South Ave.

Additionally, Sunday service frequency has been reduced to 45 minutes from 30 minutes in the middle of the day, and to 35 minutes from 30 minutes during afternoon peak hours.

Inbound Established Stops	Outbound Established Stops
Trenton Ave at South Ave	S. Dallas at Forbes (far side)
S. Dallas at Forbes (near side)	Trenton Ave at South Ave

Inbound Discontinued Stops	Outbound Discontinued Stops
Kelly Ave at Trenton Ave (far side) (19007)	Forbes Ave at S. Dallas Ave (7130)
Kelly Ave at Peebles St (7088)	Forbes Ave opposite Briarcliff Rd (7132)
Peebles St at Forbes Ave Ext (7089)	Forbes Ave Ext at East End Ave (7133)
Forbes Ave at Celeron St	Forbes Ave Ext at Peebles St (7134)
Forbes Ave at Braddock Ave (7091)	Peebles St opposite Forbes Ave Ext (7135)
Forbes Ave at Braddock Ave (far side) (7233)	Peebles St at Kelly Ave (7136)
Forbes Ave at S. Dallas Ave (7093)	Kelly Ave at Trenton Ave
Corey Ave at Braddock Ave
7th at Braddock Ave

Disappointed to see that another quarterly change will go by and Port Authority is still not adding access to the communities this detour now serves.

61B-Braddock-Swissvale – The long-term Fern Hollow Bridge detour will be incorporated into the schedule.

Below you will find a list of inbound and outbound established and discontinued stops. Please note that these stops have not changed from the previous detour.

Sunday service frequency has been reduced to 45 minutes from 30 minutes in the middle of the day, and to 35 minutes from 30 minutes during afternoon peak hours.

Inbound Established Stops	Outbound Established Stops
Braddock Ave at Forbes Ave. Ext.	S. Dallas Ave at Forbes Ave (far side)
S. Dallas Ave at Forbes Ave	Braddock Ave at Forbes Ave (Waverly Church)

Inbound Discontinued Stops	Outbound Discontinued Stops
Forbes Ave at Braddock Ave (farside) (7233)	Forbes Ave at S. Dallas Ave (7130)
Forbes Ave at S. Dallas Ave (7093)	Forbes Ave at Briarcliff Rd (7132)
	Forbes Ave at Braddock Ave (7234)

Same as the 61A, disappointed to see that another quarterly change will go by and Port Authority is still not adding access to the communities this detour now serves.

74-Homewood-Squirrel Hill – Three weekday trips that served the now-closed Shuman Center have been removed. Pittsburgh Job Corps Center will continue to be served.

Saturday service frequency has been reduced to 90 minutes from 40 minutes in the early morning and late evening. Sunday service frequency has been reduced to 90 minutes from 60 minutes.

Even though Shuman is now closed, there are still plenty of people that need to access the VA and Job Corps or who live in Lincoln-Lemington and Larimer. Weekday service is starting later for everyone along the route, in some places it’ll be 30 minutes later and in others it’ll be up to 2-hours later. An small benefit is that Sunday service will start a little earlier, and end a little later.

77-Penn Hills – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 45 minutes from 30 minutes throughout the day. Saturday service frequency has been reduced to 65 minutes from 60 minutes during morning peak hours and in the late evening. Sunday service frequency has been reduced to 65 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

To start reducing the weekday frequency further especially during former rush hour peak periods is bad. Furthermore it is galling and saddening that weekday service will end earlier when in fact it needs to run later and the idea that crowded evening trips would combine 4 trips into 2 trips near end of service day is concerning from a safety and capacity standpoint. To add more insult to injury further reductions to weekend and especially Saturday service which had already previously been decimated is harmful to riders. Shockingly while Sunday and holidays will suck the only small rays of saving grace in the 77 for June 2022 is that Sunday 77 will start earlier and run slightly later. Unfortunately, all of the losses throughout the week do not a fair trade off make.

86-Liberty – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 40 minutes from 35 minutes in the early morning and morning peak hours, and to 45 minutes from 30 minutes in the late evening. Saturday service frequency has been reduced to 30 minutes from 20 minutes in the afternoon peak hours. Sunday service frequency has been increased to 35 minutes from 60 minutes in the early morning, morning peak hours and late evening, and reduced to 35 minutes from 30 minutes in the middle of the day and afternoon peak hours.

Saturday 86 now starts 40 minutes later and ends 70 minutes earlier. Sunday frequency increase is a positive but seemingly came at the cost of Saturday reductions. And these new schedules have the 86, 87 and 88 passing through the East End at the same time, with long spans of no service in-between.

87-Friendship – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 25 minutes from 20 minutes in the early morning and to 25 minutes from 15 minutes during peak hours.

These new schedules have the 86, 87 and 88 passing through the East End at the same time, with long spans of no service in-between.

88-Penn – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 45 minutes from 30 minutes in the early morning and late evening. Saturday service frequency has been reduced to 40 minutes from 30 minutes. Sunday service frequency has been reduced to 35 minutes from 30 minutes.

These new schedules have the 86, 87 and 88 passing through the East End at the same time, with long spans of no service in-between.

91-Butler Street – Saturday service frequency has been reduced to 40 minutes from 30-35 minutes in the early morning. Sunday service frequency has been reduced to 60 minutes from 40-50 minutes in the early morning; other trip times have changed throughout the day.

93-Lawrenceville-Hazelwood – Weekday service frequency has been increased to 20 minutes from 30 minutes during peak hours; and has been reduced to 40 minutes from 30 minutes in the early morning and middle of the day, and to 30-50 minutes from 30 minutes in the late evening.

Yes, we’re getting better frequencies during peak hours, but frequencies are tanking for all other times of the day.

G2-West Busway – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 25 minutes from 20 minutes in the late evening hours.

P1-East Busway-All Stops – Weekday service has been reduced to 12 minutes from 8-10 minutes throughout the day, and to 20 minutes from 15 minutes in the late evening.

P10-Allegheny Valley Flyer – Weekday peak service has been reduced to 25 minutes from 20 minutes.

P71-Swissvale Flyer – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 50 minutes from 30 minutes.

. Y46-Elizabeth Flyer – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 47 minutes from 45 minutes in the early morning and morning peak hours, and increased to 36 minutes from 45 minutes in the middle of the day and afternoon peak hours. Frequency in late evening has overall been reduced to 44-80 minutes from 45 minutes.

Yes, frequency increases in the middle of the day… but it decreases everywhere else. And 80-minute headways is just unusable transit.

Y49-Prospect Flyer – Weekend service frequency has been increased to 60 minutes from 70 minutes throughout the day.

Weekend service will run every hour on the hour, but we’re losing 1 trip so service will start later and end earlier.

Red Line – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 15 minutes from 10 minutes in the early morning, middle of the day, and peak hours. Weekend service has been reduced to 20 minutes from 15 minutes throughout the day.

Blue Line – On weekdays, the Blue Line will operate from the early morning to afternoon peak hours. Before and after these times, riders can board Red Line service to or from South Hills Village, or Silver Line service to or from Washington Junction.

Weekday service frequency has been increased to 15 minutes from 20 minutes during peak hours and 30 minutes during off peak hours. Weekend service frequency has been reduced to 40 minutes from 30 minutes throughout the day.

The middle of the road… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

4-Troy Hill – Weekday service frequency has been increased to 45 minutes from 60 minutes in the middle of the day. Saturday service frequency has been reduced to 70 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

Riders can appreciate the increase in service during the weekday, but the decrease to 70 minutes on the weekend is bad (this decrease will result in 4 fewer trips on Saturdays).

6-Spring Hill – Some weekday trip times have changed during morning peak hours. Weekday service frequency has been increased to 40 minutes from 50 minutes during off-peak hours. Weekend service frequency has increased to 50 minutes from 70 minutes throughout the day.

The shorter headways will mean that riders have to wait less time for a bus. But service will end 30 minutes earlier on Saturday and Sunday. That’s a tradeoff you may be willing to make if you’re not one of the people that relies on that last bus.

7-Spring Garden – Service frequency has been reduced to 70 minutes from 65 minutes during peak hours.

Riders have to wait a few minutes longer, but the service will run later into the evening.

13-Bellevue – Some weekday trip times have changed.

14-Ohio Valley – Some weekday trip times have changed. Saturday service frequency has been increased to 53 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

Port Authority increased the frequency, but they cut a trip at the end of each day.

15-Charles – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 30 minutes from 25 minutes in the early morning and peak hours, and increased to 45 minutes from 45-60 minutes during off-peak hours. On Saturday, a trip has been added in the late evening. Sunday service frequency has been increased to 40 minutes from 45 minutes throughout the day.

16-Brighton – Some weekday and Saturday trip times have changed.

29-Robinson – Due to the weight limit of a culvert on Mahoney Road near the intersection of Mahoney Road and Cliff Mine Road, buses will be unable to operate on Mahoney Road and must instead use Cliff Mine Road to travel to and from Steubenville Pike.

Please note that this routing will be a change from the current detour routing. Pittsburgh Technical College and CCAC West will continue to be served.

See below for a full list of inbound and outbound discontinued stops:

Inbound Discontinued Stops	Outbound Discontinued Stops
Steubenville Pike at Palomino Drive Far Side	Cliff Mine Road at Omslaer Steel Supplies
Steubenville Pike at Farmcrest Drive	Cliff Mine Road opposite Oak Moss Drive
Steubenville Pike at North Fayette VFD	Mahoney Road opposite Hawthorne Drive
Mahoney Road at Hawthorne Drive	Steubenville Pike opposite North Fayette VFD
Cliff Mine Road at Oak Moss Drive	Steubenville Pike opposite Farmcrest Drive
Cliff Mine Road at Omslaer Steel Supplies	Steubenville Pike opposite Palomino Drive
Cliff Mine Road at Enlow Road

Additionally, Saturday service has been increased to 50 minutes from 60 minutes, and Sunday service frequency has been reduced to 70 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

36-Banksville – Weekday service frequency has been increased to 45 minutes from 60 minutes throughout most of the day; afternoon peak service frequency has been reduced to 45 minutes from 30 minutes. Weekend service frequency has been reduced to 75 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

40-Mount Washington – Weekday service frequency has been increased to 40 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

Headways are getting shorter, but service will start 20 minutes later in the AM and will end 30 mins earlier at the end of the day.

57-Hazelwood – Weekday service frequency has been increased to 44 minutes from 45 minutes in the middle of the day; reduced to 48 minutes from 30 minutes in the afternoon peak hours; and increased to 48 minutes from 60 minutes in the late evening. Weekend service frequency has been increased to 45 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

69-Trafford – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 45 minutes from 40 minutes throughout the day. An additional stop has been added at Forbes Hospital.

Great that the route is expanded, but the expansion is for weekdays-only and will come at the cost of worse frequencies.

71-Edgewood Town Center – Some weekday trip times have changed.

75-Ellsworth – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 25 minutes from 20 minutes during the morning peak hours and in the middle of the day.

The 1st weekday morning trip runs Aprox 10 minutes earlier and the last weeknight trip begins about 15 minutes earlier.- not great. But, they eliminated the weekday “Short” trips that ended either at Bakery Square or The PGH ZOO, so now all runs will end in O’Hara on weekdays – this is good. Weekends are unchanged and short trips may still exist on weekends and holidays

81-Oak Hill – Some weekday trip times have changed. Sunday service frequency has been increased to 45 minutes from 60 minutes throughout the day.

For the weekdays, service will end 20 minutes earlier and have 1 less trip overall. Then on Sunday, the headways will be shorter and service will run 15 minutes later, but there’s one less trip overall.

83-Bedford Hill – Weekday service frequency has been reduced to 35 minutes from 15-30 minutes during peak hours. Saturday service frequency has been reduced to 40-50 minutes from 35 minutes. Sunday service frequency has been increased to 30-60 minutes from 60 minutes.

89-Garfield Commons – Some weekday trip times have changed.

G3-Moon Flyer – Some weekday trip times have changed.

G31-Bridgeville Flyer – Some weekday trip times have changed.

P2 – East Busway Short – Some weekday trip times have changed

P67-Monroeville Flyer – Some weekday trip times have changed.

Y47-Curry Flyer – Weekday service frequency has been increased to 38 minutes from 45 minutes at peak hours and reduced to 57-64 minutes from 45 minutes during off peak hours. Saturday service frequency has been increased to 60 minutes from 70 minutes throughout the day.

Silver Line – Weekday service frequency has been increased to 15 minutes from 20 minutes during peak hours. Weekend service frequency has been reduced to 40 minutes from 30 minutes throughout the day.

The results of service cuts are no mystery: ridership will not recover. PRT needs a plan for how service will be expanded because that’s the only way we’re going to get more riders on transit.

If you have stories of bad transit service in the last few months, take a minute to share it with PPT and help advocate for change.

Stay tuned for the next set of quarterly changes, expected in September of 2022

As these changes roll-out, be sure to give your feedback & suggestions by reaching out to Port Authority Customer Service by phone or over twitter:

Port Authority Customer service phone number: 412-442-2000

Hours: Weekdays 5a to 7p, Weekend + Holidays 8a to 430p

or via Twitter @PGHTransit or @PGHTransitCare

And if you want to get in touch with the volunteer-run @PGH_Bus_Info Hotline, you can give them a call at 412-759-3335 ONLY When PortAuthority Customer Service is Closed/unavailable or via Twitter anytime @PGH_BUS_INFO

The PGH Bus Info Hotline will be back on PPT’s blog in for the next set of changes. See ya then.