A PATrain RDC in Pittsburgh

Starting on Feb. 1, 1975, the Port Authority of Allegheny County began operating commuter trains between Pittsburgh and Versailles, Pennsylvania, in the Monongahela Valley.

The Port Authority took over the service from the Baltimore & Ohio, which operated six roundtrips between Pittsburgh and Versailles at the time of the Port Authority takeover.

The service used a standard locomotive-hauled train as well as Rail Diesel Cars that often ran in sets of four at one time.

It became known as the PATrain and for awhile under Port Authority operation ridership increased over what it had been during B&O operation.

But ridership began declining after it peaked in 1981 and the Port Authority discontinued the commuter trains to Versailles after they made their final trips on April 28, 1989.

RDC 9171, shown in Pittsburgh on June 27, 1981. The car was built for use by the B&O as a baggage-coach RDC for us in Pittsburgh-Washington-Baltimore Daylight Speedliner service.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Touching Base with Public Transit in Pittsburgh

Port Authority of Allegheny PAT car 4009 is shown in Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania, in August 1998. The agency is now known as Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Agency Renamed Pittsburgh Regional Transit

The Pittsburgh public transit agency has rebranded itself as Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

Formerly known as the Port Authority of Allegheny County, the agency said the name change better reflects what it does.

“For decades, the name Port Authority has led people to jokingly ask where the boats are, so to have a name and brand that reflects the agency and its work is significant,” said Jeffrey W. Letwin, Chair of the 11-member PRT governing board.

“Our new name acknowledges that we’re not just part of the community; the community is a part of us,” said PRT CEO Katharine Kelleman.

Officials said they intend for the acronym to be pronounced not by its letters but as “part.”

The Port Authority established a unified public transit system in March 1964 through the consolidation of 33 private transit carriers, many of which had been in were in dire financial straits since 1959.

The new identity will be phased in over the next year with schedules, brochures, the website and signs redesigned in stages. Transit vehicle will receive decals and a wholly new design as they are purchased.

PRT officials said there will be no changes in fares or services.

The agency has 2,600 employees and operates light rail, bus, incline (Monongahela and Duquesne) and paratransit services serving 60 million riders a year.

The 26.2-mile light rail network serves 27 stations from downtown Pittsburgh.

Transit Agencies Receive TOD Grants

Two Ohio public transit agencies are being awarded grants through a Federal Transit Administration program for new services or to restore services suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agency said it is awarding $25 million in grants made available by the American Rescue Plan Act.

In Ohio, the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority will receive $210,000 to study and develop an operations plan for new service with bus stop planning, coordination of core service in corridors to facilitate safer transfers between routes.

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (GoMetro) will receive $780,100 to plan for and develop new Bus Rapid Transit corridors, which will improve service and reliability, in particular for low-income riders and those living in disadvantaged communities.

Three Pennsylvania public transit agencies also will receive funding.

The Port Authority of Allegheny County will receive $780,100 to perform a bus network study which will evaluate the existing network to determine how to most effectively restore service for low-income and other disadvantaged populations as well as account for new trends in mobility following COVID-19.

The Centre Area Transportation Authority based in State College will receive $205,000 to conduct a study on current operations of existing services and make recommended changes that will increase ridership and overall transit experience for its riders.

The study is intended to determine how CATA can fully integrate its transportation services in order to provide enhanced mobility to seniors, low-income, and working families through efficiencies and enhanced routing.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), in conjunction with the City of Philadelphia, will receive $500,000 to identify, study, and develop transportation improvements for the North Philadelphia West neighborhood between 18th and 33rd Street, and Lehigh and Girard Avenue, an area of roughly two square miles. This area is served by nine bus routes, with service concentrated on seven primary transit corridors.

In Louisville, Kentucky, the Transit Authority of River City will receive $780,100 to conduct a system wide analysis of its post-pandemic transit needs and to identify how resources can be better allocated to serve its riders, especially low income and disadvantaged communities. In Flint, Michigan, the Mass Transportation Authority will receive $260,000 to conduct a route planning restoration study of its 14 fixed, primary routes with the goal of increasing ridership, improving service delivery, and better understanding the changing needs in the post COVID-19 community.

Heading for Downtown Pittsburgh

Port Authority of Allegheny County transit car No. 4011 is bound for Pittsburgh in this photo taken in Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania, in April 1990. PAT 4008 is waiting beside the Castle Shannon Administrative Building.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Turning on the Loop

Port Authority of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) public transit car 4009 is rounding the PCC turn back loop in Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1999. Note the more modern transit car behind it.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Pittsburgh Transit Stations Getting Renovations

The Port Authority of Allegheny County has stepped up the rehabilitation of stations along its Red Line rail line in Pittsburgh.

The agency began the project at the Fallowfield Station in the Beechview neighborhood.

A temporary closure of the rail line enabled the port authority to speed up its schedule of station repairs, agency officials said.

The work includes repairing concrete platforms and metal railings, replacing tactile pads, refurbishing overhead canopies, and painting.

Station repair is expected to cost $10.8 million and includes work at 18 high-platform stations.

Until the Red Line was knocked out of service by a bridge closure, the port authority had been planning to launch the station rehabilitation project in the spring.

A shift in the deck of a bridge over Saw Mill Run Boulevard led the port authority to close the Red Line on Feb. 4.

Engineers determined the bridge shifted after water penetrated a concrete portion of the bridge and froze during a winter storm.

Port authority officials have not said when the bridge will be repaired and reopened.

Pittsburgh Agency to get TOD Grant

The Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh was one of 20 recipients of Federal Transit Administration pilot program grants in its Transit Oriented Development Planning program.

The agency will receive $560,500 to plan for TOD on a 9.1 mile dedicated bus rapid transit corridor in the Upper Mon Valley.

FTA said in a news release that it will award $11.03 million in grants that support local planning and strategies to increase transit access and encourage ridership through mixed-use and mixed-income development near public transportation projects.

Ten of the projects involve rail public transit. No Ohio projects were selected in this round of funding.

Pittsburgh Transit Agency Gets FTA Grant

The Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh will receive a $216.9 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration through its American Rescue Plan program.

The grant is part of more than $30 billion for public transportation in the American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law last March. No local share is required for this funding.

Pa. Transit Agencies to Increase Capacity

Public transit agencies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are increasing the capacity of trains and buses at the end of this month.

Pittsburgh’s Port Authority of Allegheny County said it will increase light rail and bus capacity on May 31 and lift all limits on June 20.

Limits will rise from 25 to 35 at the end of May. “What we’ve heard is some businesses may be starting to have workers come back to their offices,” a Port Authority spokesman said. “We want to be prepared for that when it occurs.”

The Philadelphia-based Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will lift capacity limits on its trains and buses on June 1.

In a statement the agency said removing vehicle capacity limits to meet increased ridership demand is a major step in the region’s recovery.

The statement said that a mask requirement will remain in place.