Port Authority Fourth of July Service Details

Pittsburgh, PA -- Port Authority's bus, T and Customer Service outlets will operate on the following schedules through the Fourth of July holiday:

• Friday, July 2: Bus and T service will run on regular weekday schedules, and Port Authority's Downtown Service Center on Smithfield Street will be open its regular weekday hours, 8 am to 5 pm. The Customer Service phone line will hold its regular weekday hours, 6 am to 7 pm, and the Authority's Twitter feed (@PGHtransit) will be staffed 8 am to 4 pm.

  
  

• Saturday, July 3: Bus and T service will run on regular Saturday schedules. The Downtown Service Center will be closed and the Customer Service phone line will hold Saturday hours, 8 am to 4:30 pm. The Authority's Twitter feed will not be staffed.

  
  

• Sunday, July 4: Bus and T service will run on holiday schedules. The Downtown Service Center will be closed and the Customer Service phone line will hold holiday hours, 8 am to 4:30 pm. Additionally, the T will run with two-car trains throughout the day and Port Authority will help relieve Mon Incline traffic following the fireworks display Downtown by operating a bus shuttle between the incline’s stations. The Authority's Twitter feed will not be staffed.

  
  
• Monday, July 5: Bus and T service will run on regular weekday schedules, but the Downtown Service Center will remain closed (reopening Tuesday, July 6). The Customer Service phone line will hold its regular weekday hours, 6 am to 7 pm. The Authority's Twitter feed will not be staffed (regular staffing will resume Tuesday, July 6).

For more details call Customer Service at (412) 442-2000 or for TTY, (412) 231-7007.

East Busway Rebuilding Begins This Week

Starting this week, Port Authority of Allegheny County will begin rebuilding nearly seven miles of the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway.

This week, contractors will begin raising drainage inlets on the shoulder of the busway. Work will be conducted on weekdays during daylight hours, approximately 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., opposite the dominant flow of traffic during peak periods. This work should not affect bus traffic during the week of June 28.

During the week of July 5, intermittent single-lane closures of up to 2,000 feet may occur. During those times, flaggers will be stationed on the busway to let alternating traffic through during the closure. Related delays are expected to be limited in nature. Work will begin at the Downtown end of the busway and move east to Wilkinsburg.

Inlet work is expected to last through July 12, at which time paving will begin. More extensive delays or detours may occur at this time. More details on the second phase will be released prior to the start of work.

Other East Busway improvements will include barrier and guide rail repair, and improvement to sidewalks and curb-cuts.

The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010, and will help prevent wear-and-tear on the approximately 800 buses that use the busway everyday as well as create a much smoother commute for the busway's 25,000 daily riders. This project will span the length of the original busway, which opened in 1983. The easternmost section between Wilkinsburg and Swissvale stations does not need to be rebuilt, having opened in 2003.

The rebuilding project will cost $7.5 M dollars and is included in Port Authority's FY2010 capital budget, which ensures annual maintenance needs are met and the Authority's system is kept in a state of good repair.

Port Authority Board Adopts FY2011 Budget.

Today, Port Authority's Board of Directors adopted a $330 million operating budget for its Fiscal Year 2011 that projects a $47.1 million revenue shortfall.

The budget assumes the Pennsylvania Legislature will address its funding shortfall that has created the projected Port Authority deficit.

"We're not asking for a bailout—we simply want the State Legislature to adopt a measure that sustains a reliable funding source—not only for Port Authority, but for public transit statewide," said CEO Steve Bland at today's Board meeting. Read more remarks from Steve Bland.

To read the official news release announcing the budget adoption, click here. To read remarks from Board vice-chairman Guy Mattola, click here.

A PDF presentation on the FY2011 budget is also available on our website.

September Service Adjustments for West Busway

Port Authority will continue to adjust service along the West Busway to better meet ridership demands.

In June, Port Authority added extra service and lifted stop restrictions to provide increased service along the West Busway. More adjustments will go into effect on Sunday, September 5:

• G1 West Busway-All Stops will be renamed G1 West Busway-Robinson. The route will operate between the Mall at Robinson and Downtown Pittsburgh via the West Busway between Bell and Sheraden stations. All stops between Bell and Sheraden will be pick-up and discharge both inbound and outbound.
  
  
• G2 West Busway-Oakland will continue to use the designation G2 West Busway-Oakland, but will serve all West Busway stops between Carnegie and Sheraden stations. This restores direct service between Carnegie and Oakland. All West Busway stops will be pick-up and discharge both inbound and outbound. In Oakland, service on Bellefield, Forbes and Craft avenues will be discontinued. Instead, the G2 will continue down Fifth Avenue to Downtown using the Boulevard of the Allies, Crosstown and 7th Avenue Ramp.

Other routes that serve the West Busway include the weekday-only G3 Moon Flyer, which serves stops between Bell and Sheraden, offering pick-up and discharge inbound, and pick-up only outbound. The 28X Airport Flyer and a new route, the weekday-only G31 Bridgeville Flyer, will use the same busway stop restrictions as the G3 Moon Flyer. In June, stop restrictions on the 28X were lifted as a temporary measure to alleviate crowding on other routes.

Riders will see service along the West Busway every four to eight minutes during peak periods, every 10 to 15 minutes midday and every 15 to 20 minutes early morning and in the evening.

County Council Hearing on Port Authority Budget

Allegheny County Council will hold a public hearing on Port Authority's budget on Tuesday, June 29 at 5 p.m. in the Gold Room, 4th floor of the Allegheny County Courthouse in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Individuals wishing to speak may register in a number of ways:

• Online through the County Council's website by clicking here.
• By emailing rtc@county.allegheny.pa.us
• In person at Room 119 of the Courthouse
• By phone at 412-350-6490

Speakers must register no later than 24 hours prior to the scheduled start of the hearing. Each registered speaker will be allotted a maximum of three minutes.

Written testimony will be accepted through 5:00 p.m. on July 2, 2010.

Click here to view the notice of public hearing.

FY2011 Budget Presentation Posted Online

A PDF presentation about Port Authority’s proposed FY2011 budget is now available online by clicking here.

Please note that this is not the official FY2011 budget, which has not yet been voted on by the Board of Directors. The budget will be voted on by the Board at its next meeting on Friday, June 25 at 9:30 a.m.

The FY2010 budget – which is the current budget – is available on our website by clicking here.

Port Authority posts publicly available financial documents – including budget information and audits – on its website, www.portauthority.org. To view, select “Company Info” in the navigation bar, then select “Financials.”

Route Changes & Other Important Information

Starting this Sunday, 26 Port Authority bus routes will change in the second round of our Transit Development Plan (TDP). If you haven't already checked for your route or schedule, you may do so by clicking here.

There are some other things happening this weekend that will also impact riders:

• Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13: Downtown detours for Pride Weekend
  About 45 Port Authority bus routes will be detoured in Downtown Pittsburgh at various points throughout the weekend due to street closures for PrideFest, Pride in the Streets and a Pride Awareness March. Only certain bus stops will be served during this time.
  
  Please click here to view a detailed detour brochure.
  
  
  
• Sunday, June 13: Schedule adjustments on 25 routes
  Port Authority undertakes schedule adjustments four times per year to improve service. This process is independent of TDP-related changes. However, some of the routes that will be adjusted on Sunday are routes that changed during round one of the TDP implementation in April -- including the lifting of stop restrictions on the G2 and the addition of more peak trips on the G1.
  
  Also, certain routes will see adjustments to support the June TDP changes -- like rerouting on 77A/B to support the 86A/B changes impacting Homewood and East Liberty.
  
  To view all schedule adjustments, please click here.
  
  
  
• Monday, June 14: Long-term Downtown detours lifted on 24 routes
  On Monday, 24 bus routes will return to their original Downtown routing due to end of two construction detours that have been in place for several years. These include routes returning to inbound Fifth Avenue as well as routes returning to Penn Avenue at Fifth Avenue extension. The only exception are 61-series and 71-series routes -- they will not return to inbound Fifth Avenue and will continue using inbound Sixth Avenue and outbound Fifth Avenue.
  
  To view all affected routes, please click here.
  
  

We encourage all riders to check all links to see if their routes are impacted.

If you have an urgent question about your route, please call Customer Service at 412-442-2000, or for TTY call 412-231-7007. Customer Service hours are 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekends. We will not be answering questions about these detours/changes via this blog this weekend.

West Busway Service Adjustments for June 13

Service adjustments for several bus routes that serve the West Busway will go into effect June 13.

Port Authority will adjust these routes to better meet ridership demands:

• 28X Airport Flyer: All West Busway stop restrictions are removed. Inbound buses will serve Stop C and outbound buses will use Stop A.

• G1 West Busway-All Stops: Six additional a.m. and six additional p.m. weekday peak trips will be added.

• G2 West Busway-Oakland: Stop restrictions on the West Busway and in Oakland will be removed. All stops listed in the route’s schedule will be served.

Additionally, the West Busway will be served by the new G3 Moon Flyer route (formerly 28K Moon Express). The G3 will pick up and discharge riders at all inbound busway stops between Bell and Sheraden; outbound service between Sheraden and Bell will be pick-up only. The G3 will not serve the Carnegie Station.

Further adjustments to improve West Busway service are planned to occur in the next round of route changes in September. We will detail those following the June 13 changes.

Twenty-two other routes will also undergo quarterly schedule adjustments. For details on these adjustments or Transit Development Plan-related changes, visit www.portauthority.org or call Customer Service at (412) 442-2000 or for TTY, (412) 231-7007.

Public Hearing on Transit Funding in Monroeville June 18

The House Transportation Committee will hold a public hearing on Pennsylvania’s transportation funding crisis on Friday, June 18 at 11 a.m. at Gateway High School in Monroeville.

This hearing is one of seven scheduled throughout Pennsylvania and will focus on transportation issues in Allegheny, Beaver, Lawrence, Westmoreland, Washington, Greene and Fayette counties (PennDOT districts 11 and 12).

House Transportation Committee chairmen Rep. Joseph F. Markosek, D-25, and Rep. Richard A. Geist, R-79, are holding the hearings to provide a public forum for discussing Pennsylvania’s funding crisis and to collect feedback on ways to develop sustainable funding solutions for public transit, highways and bridges.

To register to testify at the hearing, call or email Amanda Wolfe at Rep. Markosek’s office at 717-783-1012 or awolfe@pahouse.net with your name, contact information and, if applicable, your title and the organization you represent.

It is requested that testimony also be submitted in writing by noon on June 15, 2010 to ensure that it is included in the official hearing transcript.

Those who require additional preparation time may bring 50 copies of testimonial materials to the hearing.

Equipment for PowerPoint presentations will be available at the hearing – please specify in your registration if you plan to provide a presentation. PowerPoint documents should also be emailed prior to the hearing.

Those who are unable to attend the hearing may still submit testimony for the public record. Testimony may be emailed to awolfe@pahouse.net or mailed to Amanda Wolfe at the following address:

Hon. Joseph F. Markosek
314 Irvis Office Building
PO Box 202025
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2025

For information on transit to the hearing, please use our Trip Planner, or for paratransit service call ACCESS at 412-562-5353.

For more details on the hearing, please call or email Amanda Wolfe at Rep. Markosek’s office at 717-783-1012 or awolfe@pahouse.net.