The Route 19 corridor north of West View wasn’t included in areas the Port Authority recommended for service extensions Thursday, but that doesn’t mean a lobbying group will drop its efforts.
Port Authority staff recommended the agency include $1.3 million in its 2016-17 budget for service enhancements — $600,000 for new service and $700,000 to improve existing service.
The new service would include more weekday and Sunday trips on the 79 and P17 routes, which operate in Wilkinsburg and the Lincoln Park and Mt. Carmel neighborhoods in Penn Hills. Sunday service would be added on the 89 route that services Garfield, including the Garfield Commons senior housing complex.
Administrators also called for increasing the frequency of service on the 21 Coraopolis and 41 Bower Hill routes on Sunday so buses come every 90 minutes and increasing the G2 route on the West Busway so a bus comes every 30 minutes on Saturday and Sunday. Some popular routes that have crowding problems will have additional or larger buses assigned to them.
But service on Route 19 north of West View was among more than 75 requests not recommended for approval in the agency’s budget next month despite a concerted effort by the Buses for Perry Highway Campaign. More than two dozen residents testified before the authority last fall about the need for bus service to Northland Public Library and Community College of Allegheny County’s North Campus, both in McCandless.
Pittsburghers for Public Transit also pushed unsuccessfully for extended service to the Universal neighborhood in Penn Hills.
“We at Northland Public Library are disappointed by the outcome of the efforts of the Buses for Perry Highway Campaign,” the library said in a statement. “While we understand that the Port Authority has budget limitations and can’t accommodate all service requests, there is still a need for buses on Route 19.”
The library said the group will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. June 21 at the West View Fireman’s Hall to discuss its next steps.
Molly Nichols of Pittsburghers for Public Transit called the additional service “great news” for people in those neighborhoods. She said her agency will continue to lobby state and federal officials for more money to serve the other areas.
That group and Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner asked the agency to consider using some of the $16 million in excess money from the county drink tax that is earmarked for transit needs to reinstate service in more areas.
Port Authority CEO Ellen McLean said the agency recommended improvements in areas where it expects ridership to support it. The drink tax money and a projected $10 million to $12 million surplus this year shouldn’t be used for service improvements because the agency will need that money in the future, she said.
“It’s a one-year surplus, one year only,” Ms. McLean said.
Ms. McLean called extending service “a slippery slope,” noting that the agency still is working to increase ridership in North Baldwin, RIDC Park in O’Hara, the Groveton area of Robinson and Penn State’s Greater Allegheny campus in McKeesport, areas where service was extended last year. Those routes will be reviewed next year as part of the authority’s two-year plan with new service areas.
This is the first time the authority has gone through a formal process to analyze and rank requests for service improvements. Pittsburghers for Public Transit lauded the open process but said the high number of requests shows the need for more state and federal transit funding.
Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1470.
First Published: May 19, 2016, 5:56 p.m.
Updated: May 20, 2016, 4:18 a.m.
