Tube City Almanac

March 11, 2005

Ding, Ding, Ding Went the Candidates

Category: default || By jt3y

Allegheny County Prothonotary and Democratic candidate for Mayor of Picksberg Michael Lamb is now calling for commuter rail between Downtown and Oakland, according to Tim McNulty in the P-G:

Lamb said the city could work with railways to connect those two job centers, as well as Hazelwood, using new passenger rail cars that hold 200 commuters each. The main expenses would be the $2.9 million cars and new stations, which he said could be partially funded by Oakland hospitals, universities and other non-profits. The proposed route would be the same one used as Amtrak and share Amtrak's Downtown station.



This comes a few days after frontrunner Bob O'Connor called for a new trolley line to be built from Downtown to Oakland. So what's next, Skybus? Maybe we should tear down Heinz Field and PNC Park and erect a big concrete multi-purpose stadium. Is it too late to bring back the Condors? What about the Holiday House?

Julie Mickens made an excellent point in City Paper this week. Namely, that bus service between Downtown Picksberg and Oakland is excellent --- eight routes, she says, currently connect those points.

"Unless you plan to stretch car lines all the way out to the end of all eight routes in McKeesport, Wilkinsburg, Highland Park and so on, you'll have to keep the buses to serve people headed for points farther east," Mickens says.

So what's the point? It couldn't be that O'Connor and Lamb are trying score quick political points by proposing something that they know can't possibly be built, but which sounds good. That's not it.

Mickens is correct --- unless this is part of a comprehensive countywide transit system, it's useless. We already have four incompatible modes of transit in Allegheny County --- surface buses, busways, light-rail and inclines. Lamb and O'Connor are proposing two new incompatible modes of transit, which is like throwing good money after bad. It's also money which transit in Pennsylvania most definitely does not have, and there is no political will in Harrisburg to solve the funding problem.

Besides, the problem is not transportation within the city of Picksberg; it's easy to get from Downtown to nearly any other neighborhood. The problem is getting into the city from the suburbs, and most significantly, from suburb to suburb.

The trick, frankly, would be to extend the light-rail system from Penn Station Downtown out the East Busway through Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, and Wilkinsburg to Rankin.

If you wanted to really get bold, here's a crazy notion --- take a light-rail system all the way to Monroeville. Maintain two tracks with passing sidings, so that some cars can go directly from Picksberg to Monroeville with only one or two stops, while other cars act as "locals." Put a big light-rail station at Monroeville Mall, like the one at South Hills Village.

This might actually make some sense --- it would be compatible with the other light-rail systems in the city, and would take some of the pressure off of the Squirrel Hill Tunnels and the Parkway East.

You need to have express trains, because no one is going to ride public transportation if it takes significantly longer than driving their own car. Unless it's a "rapid" transit system, they're not interested. Nor do most people want to change buses or trains during their trip; they don't want the risk of missing a connection.

I'll admit, it's not a cheap idea, but for functionality, it sure beats the heck out of O'Connor's Toonerville Trolley (or is that the "Yinzerville Trolley"?) and Lamb's Lionel choo-choo with real chug-chug action.

...

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, the Penn State Data Center has compiled statistics about Irish-Americans in Pennsylvania. Click here to read more. (PDF file.) A map of Irish ancestry by county is also available as a PDF file.

...

To Do This Weekend: St. Patrick's Day Dance, 7 p.m. Saturday at the Palisades, Water Street and Fifth Avenue. Call (412) 678-6979. ... Steel Valley High School presents "Footloose," 7:30 p.m. nightly through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, at the high school auditorium, 3113 Main St., Munhall; Call (412) 464-3691.







Feedback on “Ding, Ding, Ding Went the Candidates”

What’s going on unsaid for obvious reasons is that white people, especially those in middle class to affluent neighborhoods, don’t like to take buses, which is why light rail exists in the first place. You touch on a big problem with our current light-rail system; it basically serves only a small portion of the region. (And there’s no express train to Downtown.)

I like that both candidates are at least acknowledging that Oakland has become a major economic center, but you are right, these ideas are misguided. Speaking as a bus rider who has to transfer Downtown, what would be nice would be some kind of express transit from Downtown to a central point in Oakland. (Say from Forbes and Grant to Schenley Plaza.) Or a direct Station Square to Oakland route. You’d still have to offer other lines for people going to Oakland from Uptown and the Hill, but I think you’d pick up a lot of riders.
Jonathan Potts (URL) - March 11, 2005



I am white, and I can’t really say I’m not middle-class.

Yeah, I’d prefer to take rail. The fixed infrastructure investment generally means the service is reasonably frequent and well-maintained.

A Monroeville-Oakland rail line would be something I’d be all over.
Derrick - March 12, 2005



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