When I moved to Pittsburgh toward the end of the 1980s, I lived in Shadyside, and on one of my first few dozen commutes to work, I stumbled on this incredible shortcut.

I was heading west on Centre Avenue, looking to make a right and get over to Baum Boulevard, a road I knew would get me to Bigelow Boulevard, when instead my hard right turn put me on this beautiful, traffic-free thoroughfare through the Allegheny River Valley.

Why hadn't I known about this before? I thought as I sped.

Then I saw a bus coming the other way and realized I was on the Busway. Uh-oh.

Blame that wrong turn on too little morning coffee, not enough time in the city or too much fun the night before, but there was no turning back. I zipped to work in minutes, somehow without a ticket. 'Twas a ride more joyous than anything at Kennywood.

So the other day when I read that Jim Roddey must give up his busway privileges, I felt for him. No longer can Allegheny County's former chief executive drive the Roddeymobile on busways hither and yon.

Talk about a loss. My first and only drive on the busway was more than 18 years ago and I still remember the delicious feeling as I took a wide-open road through the heart of the city. What must it be like to be cut off cold turkey from The Greatest Shortcut of Them All?

I called Mr. Roddey, related my own lone ride, and asked if I could ride it one last time with him. He said he hadn't planned on ever driving it again, given the recent flap, but would if I made it clear to readers it was my idea, not his.

He picked me up Downtown yesterday around 10 a.m. and we rode in a grand string of letters, a BMW SUV, for the Grant Street entrance to the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway, a name he suggested while on the Port Authority board in the 1980s.

He waved to a cop as he entered the dedicated road, flipped on his lights and flashers as busway rules require, and we set out for East Liberty. A tree-lined slope to our right rose gently to the Hill District, and to our left was the railroad line, and there could be no prettier day or way to zip to the East End.

Use of the busways was a lifetime courtesy he received when he left the authority board in 1987, and the King Busway can be particularly useful for a man who lives in Oakmont, but the only living ex-chairman of the Port Authority board didn't seem as upset with the loss of a 20-year privilege as I expected.

"A lot of people seem to survive without being able to drive the busway.''

He just wishes it could have ended a different way. Kevin Evanto, spokesman for county Chief Executive Dan Onorato, told the Post-Gazette last week, "We feel it's inappropriate.''

Mr. Roddey said if Mr. Onorato had picked up the phone and called to ask him to give up his privileges, he'd have done so.

Now, this Republican said mischievously, "I will ensure that he will never get to greet the president. If Hillary's elected, he can go greet her.''

As we approached the Neville Avenue entrance, the one I used in 1988, we were nearly creamed by an entering police car whose driver did not look our way until the last moment. Mr. Roddey nicely dodged the bumper and kept going. When we reached East Liberty, he turned around and we returned. After skirting the Golden Triangle, we took the Fort Pitt Bridge to the South Side and the entrance to the West Busway.

We had that five-mile, $250 million road all to ourselves. The Port Authority reports an average weekday ridership there of less than 8,500, or roughly a third of the King Busway's. The cars illegally parked along the road at the busway stops suggest a lack of parking might be part of the reason more people don't use it to dodge the confiscatory costs of gasoline and parking, but we know what they really want.

Every Pittsburgh commuter could use a lifetime pass like Mr. Roddey's.

I didn't get the full experience because the South Busway was closed yesterday.

"The scary one is the South Busway. You go under the tunnel with the streetcars. Yeah, that gets a little tight.''

Mr. Roddey's a smart guy. He always was careful about not padding the government expense account, but he has accepted that this perk, which doesn't cost the county anything, is not one that a public that spends too much time waiting for stoplights can let him keep.

It was a beaut of a perk while it lasted, but as we exited the West Busway for Carson Street, he said, "That's it. That's the last ride.''