Pittsburgh Regional Transit changes routes and trip times for buses and trolly lines
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Starting on Sunday, Pittsburgh Regional Transit will change routes and trip times for bus and trolley lines.
About 54 bus and T routes will be impacted, including some being eliminated.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit adjusts schedules three times a year, but this most recent adjustment will involve service reductions for 23 bus routes and the Red Line. PRT said it is for efficiency, reliability and to make sure there are enough drivers for the promised routes.
"The fact that we're facing transit service cuts quarter after quarter is really devastating. It's causing so much harm to people's ability to access their basic needs," said Laura Chu Wiens, executive director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit.
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Pittsburgh Regional Transit said in a release that it has been short-staffed since COVID-19 and is offering hiring bonuses to entice workers, adding that current projections show hiring will outpace attrition this year.
PRT indicates it is trying to improve on-time performance, and overall, the service reduction is around 1.5 percent. But Chu Wiens wants officials to work on keeping their workers.
"We don't think that the end goal here is just to cut service. It should be to actually make a plan to hire and retain enough workers to be able to start reversing these cuts," she said.
Meanwhile, riders said they want more clarity and find it hard to navigate the website for schedule changes.
"We would have liked to have had better communication," Solomon Bey said.
"We would not have known. There wasn't anything on the transportation website that indicated there were going to be changes. Or if there were, it wasn't apparent to someone from out of town," Mo Penman said.
Before you head out on your commute, be sure to check your route on the Pittsburgh Regional Transit's website.
