Pittsburghers for Public Transit rally outside of annual PRT meeting ahead of bus line redesigns
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Activists are now calling for Pittsburgh Regional Transit to make changes to the proposed redesign of their bus lines, saying that the first draft of their plan will put many riders at a disadvantage.
Despite being an ugly, rainy day for any kind of a rally, members of Pittsburghers for Public Transit said the effort was necessary to keep PRT from leaving riders out in the cold.
"Everything from when the buses come to how frequently the bus will come, what neighborhoods they'll be connected to, where the bus stops will be located, and if they're accessible," said Executive Director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Laura Chu Wiens.
Those are all things the group said will be dramatically affected. The PRT bus line redesign calls for several things, including about a dozen or so new transfer hubs.
"What we see in the draft, one of many of their direct trips would suddenly become trips where most people would be obligated to transfer and transfers are an enormous hardship for people," said Kelda Gorman, a PRT rider.
"This redesign that is future-looking to grow transit ridership cannot be done at the expense of riders today," said Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Barb Warwick.
After the rally, the participants marched to the PRT annual board meeting. Katharine Kelleman, PRT CEO, cautioned those who questioned the plan that this is just the first draft, also saying that they have heard the concerns of activists.
"The goal is to get good service to our neighborhood," she said. "We've received a lot of comments that say 'thank God you moved it' and a lot of comments with people saying 'what have you done with my bus route?'"
The next draft of the bus line redesign is expected later this year. For now, City Councilwoman Warick said Harrisburg needs to hear about it as well and provide the funding to make it happen.
"We need to call on our state legislators and Governor [Josh] Shapiro for the dedicated transit funding that we need," she said.
