The hov might as well be a busway to the north. The Castle Shannon Station at Willow Avenue. I've been taking this light rail for years now and it really is a pretty nice little system. Our light rail cars service 27 stations, utilizing 26.2 miles of track from the South Hills to the North Side. i understand buses are for the poors but it is more efficient. Expansion of Link Light Rail was already approved in Sound Transit’s Proposition 1, November 2008. The feds don't do that anymore. The … However, some services merge onto the conventional rail network for direct, rapid services to … Washington, recently discussed a plan to extend the T with a group including Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh Councilman Bill Peduto, whom Fitzgerald supports in the mayoral race, and several development officials. Before you get "on board" so to speak. After repeated added costs, the extension cost $523.4 million and took five and a half years to build, the Post-Gazette reported at the time. That talk ended when runaway costs and delays soured the public's perception of what became a $517 million project. Expansion of Pittsburgh's light-rail system to Oakland remains far off. The North Shore Connector is a light-rail extension opened in 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Stage Three of Pittsburgh Light Rail redevelopment project began in 2004, with plans for a link to the North Shore. PITTSBURGH — A year after opening the North Shore Connector, elected officials are talking with engineers about again extending Port Authority of Allegheny County's light-rail system. Incline Our inclines not only offer expansive views of the city, but provide a quick and convenient way to scale Mt. A PennDOT study in 2015 put the cost of a high-speed passenger rail connection between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh — the much slower leg of the Pittsburgh to Philadelphia journey — at anywhere from $1.5 billion to $38 billion. © 2020 Cox Media Group. log in to manage your profile and account. The first one is the subway, which runs underground through the city’s downtown, while the second one, the light rail runs through the southern neighborhoods. As befitted a city of Pittsburgh’s wealth and prominence, the streetcar system was everywhere in the first half of the 20th century. At present, expansion of the light rail system is a tough nut to crack. The rail yard extended to a spot near the present-day Lebanon Shops along Mount Lebanon Boulevard. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. By linking the Light Rail North line into the General Robinson Garage/North Shore T Station, this is a way for Port Authority to justify calling it a multi-modal center. Creagh, Shaler's township engineer, said Fitzgerald invited them to make the presentation. Not to mention all the political boondoggles and opportunities for things to not work at all well, Plus it would take decades BTW. I'm a big proponent of public transit, but as others have said, light rail rarely pencils out. As projects advance through the process, updated profiles will be posted on the Current Projects page. Simply put, there needs to be a much greater usage of a light rail line for it to be comparable in cost to operating a bus on a busway. does wonders in the north, east and west of the city. Creagh said the project could alleviate traffic congestion and spur development in growing North Hills communities while revitalizing areas of Pittsburgh's East Allegheny neighborhood. Roughly 28,000 people ride the Pittsburgh area’s light-rail system every day, which is operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County. Past discussion proposed extending a line along Route 65 and crossing the Ohio River en route to the airport, Fitzgerald said. And with the cost to extend just about anywhere in the billions of dollars, there is very little political will locally or statewide to raise the revenue, because that means taxes. Envision Downtown director Sean Luther gives a presentation on public transportation to city planners, transit officials and community developers. Washington. By comparison, South Hills communities along the T are home to about 115,000 people, or more than 2,900 people per square mile. (One big factor is the Federal Regs make it much harder and costly than it needs to be)There it is relatively easy to build light rail lines too ( flat and straight) I just think here the costs alone would make it prohibitive. Light rail is proven technology, and would be ideal for Pittsburgh, which basically grew up around the trolley system. Jake Haulk, president of Castle Shannon-based Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, thinks the light-rail extensions would be warranted if the North Hills were more densely populated, airport traffic was booming and more federal transportation funding was available. We do have a pretty good busway system, with busways to the east, south and west. The Port Authority of Allegheny County, the largest transit agency in southwestern Pennsylvania, provides public transportation services throughout Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Creagh said the engineers based cost estimates on those for several recently proposed light-rail projects, ranging from $65 million per mile for one in Phoenix to $100 million per mile for one in Seattle. Personally I think we need to start making these rural fucks, or even worse rich suburbanites pay for their own fucking local police. “I think it's something we have to at least take a look at,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who organized a recent meeting with engineering consultants to discuss an extension. A North Hills extension would run from the Allegheny Station near Heinz Field to Cranberry, roughly following the path of Interstates 279 and 79, Creagh said. I know the above will be unpopular, but those statements are incontrovertibly true. In the city center, trains run in street. Though the federal government provides money for transit capital projects, staffers for U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, and Keith Rothfus, R-Sewickley, said the congressmen did not participate in the meeting. Pittsburgh has too many hills and rivers to expand light rail through most neighborhoods. I feel that Pittsburgh is over dependent on buses for areas that light rail could handle, and I want to do my part to push for such changes. Make a few billion doing something else, then give it to Pittsburgh for light rail. Census data show the region's population dropped about 3 percent since 2000. Which as I see it the Port Authority has room for some improvement for sure. The future of … Press J to jump to the feed. He said officials would investigate whether it's possible to use any of the projected $500 million the county Airport Authority will get from natural-gas drilling at Pittsburgh International to develop a transit line to the airport. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. Nationally, light-rail ridership rose 4.5 percent last year, APTA said. SLC and Denver are basically in valleys so they can sprawl easily and have a nice grid system of roads. Seattle's Central Link light rail between Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport opened July 2009, with the South Lake Union Streetcar already open (1.3 miles) in downtown Seattle. I'm guessing the communities that OP is wanting to expand to are of lesser density than where the Red Line goes through, so the cost to operate would be even higher in those cases. I’ve learned from cities like Philadelphia, St. Louis and Boston that a regional rail system makes commuting easier and cheaper. Busses can work quite well, can be much more flexible to changing needs and ultimately improving bus service would cost a lot less. The closest landmark is a Walgreens. Hello, just wondering if there are any groups that I could become involved in that are trying to expand the T to reach more communities? Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk, Jared Leone, Cox Media Group National Content Desk, Florida man tosses golf clubs on highway, later punches trooper, 2020 Tip Challenge: Actor Tom Selleck leaves server $2,020, Amazon driver arrested for stealing packages from porches along her route, officials say. This mode of transport is divided in two sections. brt is the way to go. And with buses, you don't have the expense of caternaries, overhead wires, power stations, rail, and expensive rail vehicles. The Downtown-Oakland link (connecting two of the densest and most popular destinations in the city) would have high ridership, and would be inadequately served by BRT or “people movers”. Figure 3 is a map of the project and its connection to the existing light rail system in downtown Pittsburgh. For reference, see the data on the two blue lines, which go through less dense areas than the Red Line: Just say you need more money for the mon valley expeessway. This means the T would have to go through very dense areas for it to be economically viable. By comparison, it could cost $20 million to $100 million — or $6.5 million to $33 million per mile — to develop a bus rapid transit, or BRT, line between Downtown and Oakland, said Chris Sandvig, regional policy director for Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group. The Authority operates a total of 102 routes, including 98 bus, 3 light rail, and 2 inclines.ConnectCardA reusable plastic smart card makes paying your fares faster, easier, and more secure than paying with cash. That same study said it would cost nearly $2 billion to trim a whopping 10 minutes off the trip in each direction. They are essentially rail lines without the rail because they're on their own right-of-way. The south hills just aren't dense enough for rail to make sense. We'll go where the community wants to go,” Ritchie said. Tucked between two hills in Bethel Park, it’s barely visible from nearby roads. 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