Pittsburgh's T Network Evolution
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 3. 08. 2024
- From its beginning in 1984, the Pittsburgh Light Rail and Busway networks have grown to over 74 stations, spanning 44.7 miles (72 kilometres). This animated video takes you through the timeline of when new stations were opened, forming the Port Authority T network that we know today.
đ§ Full construction timeline: Coming soon!
Credit: Rodney Chan. Twitter: @_ChanFace ( / _chanface )
đŠ Ask us questions on Twitter: / vanishingunder
âïž Video Criteria:
- Population given is the sum of all counties and independent cities with stations in them.
- Future extensions are shown only if a construction tender has been awarded for their completion, at the time of video publication. If a construction tender has been issued for a project not included in the video, feel free to leave a comment, and we'll add it to our list to update.
- If you find an error, feel free to let us know in the comments. Please include links to any sources that will help us correct the error. Note: comments with links might take up to 24 hours to appear due to CZcams anti-spam policies.
đž Image Credits:
All images used in this video are public domain.
đŒ Thumbnail image: Luke H. Gordon from Greenwood Lake, NY, USA - April2008Pittsburgh174, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
đ #PAACâ
Pittsburgh T Blue Line South Hills Village via Overbrook Light Rail
Pittsburgh T Silver Line Library via Beechview Light Rail
Pittsburgh T Red Line Castle Shannon via Beechview Light Rail
Pittsburgh South Busway
Pittsburgh West Busway
Pittsburgh Martin Luther King Jr (MLK) East Busway
Ouch... the timing of the video is somewhat bad, given that they just closed Pennant station earlier this month.
Whoops didnât realize that! I researched this video in early January so that slipped through unfortunately
Is this permanent?
@@danielmisgana2672 yes unfortunately
@@VanishingUnderground Penn Station is used for temporary closures to the Steel Plaza-Allegheny corridor. Although Penn Station might be getting light rail service back.
PRT's solution to ADA compliance. Shut down all stations that aren't compliant instead of fixing them.
Some of the decision-making here, reeks of the common misconception "The public transit systems has to turn a profit".
They don't, their purpose are to get cars of the streets and provide transit options for people who don't have a car, that's it.
You canât really talk about this transit system without talking about the former streetcars that plied the streets of Pittsburgh.
Extend light rail to those routes
@@qjtvaddict , totally agree!
I like how VU uses dedicated ROW as a threshold for these videos, which makes a lot of sense because ROW is what really solidifies a transit corridor. They mention the streetcar connections in their videos, but don't show them for that reason. With Pittsburgh is DEFINITELY looks like a disconnected system though, when it actually works really well as a connected system.
@@ProkNo5 new to this, what does ROW stand for
@@diamondsprince ROW = Right of Way. It means that the transit vehicle has their own space to travel without mixing with cars or other vehicles..
Oooh, I love that you're branching out to US systems. Can't wait for the Dallas and Chicago videos!
cannot wait for them to do MBTA
Nice pub!
I canât wait for them to do SEPTA
Pittsburgh, Pa needs Commuter rail lines again !đđđ
Through run them to HSR lines to other cities and start the process over again endlessly
The fact we don't have a rail line that goes as far out as the airport is pretty pathetic, this is coming from someone who loves this city.
@@ajmari9585 The so called Airport Busway is joke as the ROW does not go to the Airport
Hell Yeah Dude.
THANK YOU for branching out to American transit systems. I was honestly wondering not that long ago Iâd you would, and Iâm so glad you did Pittsburgh, itâs honestly one of my favorite in the U.S. With so many geographic/topography challenges, street running and running right through neighborhoods , itâs quite unusual and interesting. Also reminds me of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood every time I ride it. :)
@@Aviation12 I mean yes, thatâs why I brought it up. :)
You picked my city first!! Thank you! I love your animations of the progression of the light rail and busways.
Adobe After Effects?
@@thihal123 aka work
As a Baltimorean, Pittsburgh has one of the most fleshed out transit networks in the country. Very underrated and an example to put transit first (no matter bus or train) and dedicating a lot of roadways to primarily buses only.
As a Pittsburgh native, I can say that in some parts of the city the bus system is pretty impressive, but with services being cut for years it's becoming clear that The Burgh REALLY needs to go back to a massive rail system, both train lines and streetcars. Going just 5 miles outside city limits is becoming more and more difficult with bus ways being cut.
Meh. I think Baltimore has more daily transit riders. I wouldn't mistake busways built at the expense of not improving light rail as a good thing.
@aj mari I definitely agree, Pittsburgh drastically needs to revamp their network. Currently, Pittsburgh International Airport only has service by the 28X Airport Flyer. I'm sure people would love a Commuter Train from the Airport to Monroeville and Beaver to McKeesport, then expand Light Rail in the southern suburbs to provide more coverage.
@@ajmari9585 the T is decent but imagine If Pittsburgh had what they have in Washington DC with the metro rail, having high speed service that can serve the majority of the entire metro area, such as Pittsburgh airport in the west Monroeville in the east, how about even Cranberry, West Mifflin, a station near Kennywood Park, Ross Township, Oakland, and even Shaler, would be nice to see some park n ride lots be built in the suburbs like Shaler and Cranberry.
Likely wouldnât happen but it would be nice.
@@appalachianenthusiast9499 Yeah Allegheny county transit model doesn't make sense. The city population is shrinking while the suburb and borough populations are growing. Those are the areas that public transit into the city need to be expanding and growing. Instead all that infrastructure is getting cut.
Can't wait to see the evolution of Washington DC's network, as well as Chicago's.
Washington DCâs video is already out.
@@SpaceboyYT yes, I know. At the time I wrote this comment, it hadn't yet been completed. Saw the episode shortly after it was uploaded.
I've always been disappointed Pittsburgh didn't invest more in the light-rail system.
Particularly it allowed, or is allowing much of the existing lines be ignored.
They seem to be more interested in their extensive bus system. The line to the North Side was supposed to continue to the airport.
I always hoped for an underground line to Oakland, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill.
The new boom towns are scrambling for a system that Pittsburgh is not taking advantage of.
It should be investing in the infrastructure around the lines and the stations of the old street car neighborhoods. Updated.
My friend lived near Hampshire Station in Beechview, Fallowfield?
We'd go to his house and take the T to see the Pirates. Simple fast (well it creeped down the slope even tho it was separated from all traffic)
Pedestrianization of the streets would help a lot.
Absolutely charming neighborhoods that are seemingly underestimated of their value.
A transit-oriented city. It's hills and valleys create pockets of densely populated little neighborhoods strung along existing "streetcar" lines.
This is something I tried to put together many years ago.
was my view of what Pittsburgh's system could be striving for.
It's a little embarrassing. Learning how to turn my ideas into a video, so it's rough. the ideas are grandiose.
Imagine if you will...
czcams.com/video/BJA5UnDlEv4/video.html
Hi Zack - nice job on this video. Just a tiny bit of feedback from a local. The commuter rail, even though itâs spelled PATrain was pronounced âPAT Trainâ.
This is consistent with the branding the system had at the time - it was PATransit, pronounced âPAT Transitâ or just PAT, which stood for Port Authority Transit. Somewhere along the way that name was deprecated and the current Port Authority of Allegheny County name is now in favor. But many lifelong Pittsburghers still say theyâre going to catch a PAT Bus.
PAT is still a valid abbreviation though.
The commuter rail from Town to McKeesport was known as the "PATrain".
Also, people in Allentown aren't happy when they discontinued light rail service up there.
The Lehigh Valley Transit in Allentown-Easton area?
@@kevinwong6588 just the Burgh/neighborhood. Allentown is a section of the city next to Mt Washington (grandview ave)
@@kevinwong6588 Allentown was the Brown Line shown on this map between 1993 and 2011. It's a neighborhood of Pittsburgh in the hills just south of downtown.
Wow coming from Canada its amazing to see city's with a population of only 300,00 have such an impressive transit system. In Canada you don't see light rail and subway systems until a city hits around 600,000 and above. Pittsburgh just got some cool points in my book.
Pittsburgh has 1.7 million people. It's slightly larger than Calgary.
Just because a city's population in America may be just 300,000 (or whatever stat you drew), when it's a city in an older state (and particularly Pennsylvania) there are laws which actually discourage merger between suburbs and cities.
Can you do Boston next? Quite old and complicated, but a lot easier to understand than New York.
Great channel with such a unique concept! excited to watch more
Great video man! Thank you for making it.
Noice! Good job Zach! This looks like an interesting station! Thanks for the intro clip btw! :D
Fun fact: the inclines are big tourist attractions and historic landmarks. There used to be more.
You should do Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA. It once housed the most dense accumulation of rail trackage in the world. It's 4 times the size and twice the population of Pittsburgh, but it's technically two cities (Like Minneapolis/St. Paul) so it had 5 rail networks (like NYC). There were three or possibly 4 El train and street adjacent 3rd rail systems as well as more than 100 trolley lines.
Hey! Great video as someone who lives right off the Pittsburgh T line, really enjoyed it. However, you missed a very crucial part of the history of the trolley. There was once another line that existed, however it was never well known, called the Drake Line that ran along the Red Line to South Hills Village, starting at Castle Shannon. However, unlike the Red Line, the Drake Line continued further on, making some more stops and going further into Bethel Park. None of these stations past South Hills Village exist today, however there's walking path where the Drake Line once ran, right off of Irishtown Road.
It's honstly not too surprising you've missed it, there's VERY little info about it online, and pretty much everyone around here has forgotten about it, or never knew of its existence.
Anybody remember Skybus? It was a rubber-tired rapid transit system running in a trough-like structure, designed by Westinghouse specifically to accommodate Pittsburgh's hilly terrain. My Scoutmaster, a Mr. William Walker, was a major figure in the project. Around 1970, the plan was to replace the remaining streetcar lines, where there was reliable ridership, with Skybus and expand the system from there. They got it to the final design stages, the routes were all mapped, but it never happened, and in the end they just kept the trollies. Probably just as well.
Oh yes, I remember it very well
In the end they got rid of the trollies anyway...... Could have used the skybus on reflection.
Great video! Most of the T lines and even many current bus routes (such as the 61s) were streetcar lines in the past.
I remember what a big deal was made about the North Shore extension from downtown, ostensibly to bring light rail service to the stadiums (baseball and football arenas). However, with trains running max every 15 minutes or so - much less so on Sundays when football games take place - and with trains being at most 2 articulated cars long, it simply didn't make a noticeable dent into the massive crowds descending on the stadiums. Furthermore, whenever there isn't a game (or a concert) going on at the stadium -which is, of course, most of the time - the extension stations sit mostly idle. Sunk deep inside a sea of surface parking near the stadium, the stations on the north shore don't offer much to the neighborhoods of the North Side proper.
In my opinion, the much more logical (and lucrative) extension for light rail would have been to extend the T from downtown to Oakland, which is kind of like Pittsburgh's second "downtown". It's home to over 30,000 students (many without a car), countless medical center employees, and houses many Pittsburgh tourist attractions such as the Carnegie museum. That would have been the connection to make.
I was going to say that the system seems to only connect the southern suburbs to downtown. All the areas to the east seem excluded to this, where a connection to the Oakland seems like a no brainer.
I didn't realize there used to be a train line running from Greensburg to Pittsburgh. Really wish that still existed to get around tunnel traffic for the morning commute.
Nice video. Hopefully you can profile the heavy and light rail system and BRT route in Cleveland soon.
I love your intro :)
They're starting to entertain the idea of eliminating the Library branch. I'm not very happy about it.
That's sad because I live 20 mins from there
@@carsonplayz5975 I've voiced my opposition to the idea and have reached out to a few local officials (who actually answered me, pleasantly surprised by that). I live closest to the Library Line so losing it would make things a bit harder for me.
A very interesting system!
The Dallas-Fort Worth rail network has been expanding exponentially since the 1990s. Between DART light rail and four regional rail lines - the DART/Trinity Metro joint venture "Trinity Railway Express" between Dallas and Fort Worth; Trinity Metro's TEXRail between Downtown Fort Worth and DFW Airport; the Denton County Transportation Authority's A-Train between the Trinity Mills DART station and Downtown Denton; and DART's under construction Silver Line between DFW Airport and Plano - the Dallas-Fort Worth area would be an ideal subject for a future Evolution of the Rail Network video.
Forgot Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Commuter Train to Beaver Pa that ran until 1984 and N busway HOV service
Keep up the ood work!
Pittsburgh/Philly are the only 2 US cities that have cut rail transit at the same time 1990s-2000s that other cities grew their networks.
Tysm!
shoutout to Pittsburgh
Oh wow, for some time I have been wondering whether you are ever going to make a video of a city outside of Canada. You finally did it! Also, are you ever going to leave Ontario to say, film the construction of the REM line in Montreal, similar to the video about the Eglinton crosstown? There are quite a few transit projects being built in Canada and it will be nice if you could film.
Iâm hoping to once conditions allow for travel
I was shocked they didn't accommodate for the influx in riders after a Pirates game.
I really wish light rail or street cars would be added going east. A lot of transit in Pittsburgh is also directed to downtown without connecting the neighborhoods to each other
I would think that would be a great idea, as well as connecting services going west and airport giving stops to Robinson, Moon, ect, as well as a northern line. In addition connect outer neighborhoods such as Oakland, Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, and East Liberty. It may be pushing it but it would be nice to upgrade to a heavier rail system such as what they use in Washington DC for the Metro or Marta in Atlanta, higher capacity cars and higher speeds for more efficient service. This will especially help if connecting Monroeville to Airport was ever a thing making commuting much easier. Add more park and ride stations throughout the network to make commuting to downtown easier without parking in the city. They have some in the south hills area but that does nothing for people living in other areas of the city.
Cool video
The PAT rail lines have more interurban feel to them, even with flag stops and grade crossings. The closest comparison could be SEPTA 101/102 (Media/Sharon) or even the Cleveland-Shaker Heights lines.
September 2021, the Port Authority website wants to evaluate the Library line, claiming that it needs $450 million in improvements in order to continue operation. Translation: Library line is doomed. Furthermore, the Port Authority now wants to build a yard within city limits. After completion this new facility would slowly take over for the existing facility at South Hills Village. Then, they could do to the South Hills Village line what they want to do to the Library line (eliminate it). This will leave the system to exist solely as a shuttle service to the stadiums and casinos from various Downtown parking lots.
I think you are unfortunately very much on the mark.
Pittsburgh light rail grossly under severs the area. Pittsburgh is much more than just the south. There is no service to the airport, convention center, west, north or east parts of the city, nor is light rail available in the University and hospital areas in Oakland. Even the busways, that are dedicated to public transit, do not have light rail service. While busses provide flexibility for routing, they are only adding to the congestion instead of being part of the solution. Light rail has seemingly been abandoned with no further improvements or extensions to service.
Now there's a daily Blue line from the Fayette county area Transit authority from Uniontown to downtown Pittsburgh
You should do a Washington D.C. Metro Evolution video!
He did
We could use this in Nashville
Can you do a video about Philadelphia Pennsylvania SEPTA and New York City MTA?
Strange how there are no trains on the east side
Itâs a nightmare to ride
Pittsburgh has a really restrictive rail service. It's becoming more and more a downtown thing exclusively. The city has decided to go full BRT (unfortunately in my opinion)
Thats logo is quite similar to the mbtas
It might be fun to ride the rails in Cleveland or Pittsburgh!
They also announced a plan(i think yesterday or today) for tons of extra BRT and Light Rail, including a north LRT line and a LRT line to the airport. Basically giving a rough draft of the future of the system
As somebody who lived in Pittsburgh for six years, I have a few thoughts. The "extra LRT" lines are, at best, a long shot. The BRT you're talking about is probably the Downtown-Oakland-Squirrel Hill/Highland Park/McKeesport/Braddock system which would convert the Downtown to University of Pittsburgh campus area in Oakland into a BRT corridor on Forbes Ave (outbound) and Fifth Ave (inbound). The biggest mistake PAT made with the current system is not running the West Busway as a full transitway; as it stands now, there's street running between the east end of the busway over the often congested Fort Pitt Bridge to reach Downtown.
@@CreightonRabs We'll be lucky if *any* of these new proposed lines end up being rail. Port Authority seems pretty hell bent on finishing the job of their predecessors in the 1960's and making everything exclusively bus...
I would be thoroughly surprised if line went to the airport in my lifetime (I most certainly want it) but there really seems to be a mission for pittsburgh city planners to strip as much public transit as possible. Buses only just don't cut it in a major U.S. city tho unfortunately.
What about the earlier history, before the current agency took over? It would be cool to trace the origins of the street car lines.
The Pittsburgh system sucks! We need/ deserve better!
Agreed, the fact such a major U.S. city has such a non functioning non servicing public transport network is a condemnation on U.S. policy towards slashing transit over the last 40 years. Cant get to most outer boroughs in less than an hour these days.
Yes. After John Damron's reign of terror as Pat's GM, things have only become worse. The 1960's were filled with platitudes anti transit helped along with the petrol and auto industry. It was easy. They stopped maintaining servicable rail cars, and they would have "new look" busses on display that had air conditioning and hostesses. The public had no idea what was really happening. If rail service returned to Fineview-Nunnery Hill, the property values would soar.
Interesting, but for someone who doesn't know anything yet, it would have been useful to show existing streetcar lines.
Here, it's like a surprise when you tell "... on a former streetcar line" - which hasn't been on the map, yet.
It was an odd choice for the port authority to reconstruct the blue line back in 2004. The blue line acts more like a bypass of the beechview route than a useful route on its own.
But the north shore connector was the biggest mistake they made recently. It's only use is for stadium access and commuter parking not wishing to go into the city.
These two decisions were for the park and ride users, plain and simple and i believe was one of the big reasons for the massive cuts in 2011. And on top of that, these were expensive upgrades. Though this is better than anything at all, they were really misguided on what transit is all about. Putting this money towards an Oakland connection east of the city was by far the best choice, even if it may have been more expensive.
The east busway is a prime example of transit done right. Those busses are always packed even to do this day, cause that route is quick, frequent (though it could be even better), and goes through dense areas. Hopefully the port authority would get back to the east busway approach on future projects.
2.2 million people. Not sure where you got that estimate.
Wow, this was one of the most depressing public transport videos I've seen. Nothing against the creator; it just reveals how incredibly messed up some transport systems are in the US. Half of it was an obituary.
You really want to see messed up go look at New Orleans. They used to have over 100 miles of street car lines.
Thank you sirđ!!!
Although true.....
I needed this laugh.
An obituary.....đđđ
Iâve used this system a couple of times.
My family is from Pittsburgh.
As a Pittsburgh native, it is amazing how such a major U.S. city has such a stripped to the bone transit system. The employees do the best they can but the system has been stripped for decades.
I Wish Penn station service and and commuter rail service was returned.
am I the only one finding the constant changes not really beneficial to stable ridership? Sure, you should adapt to new demands, which sometimes doesn't happen enough, but this whole serving, not serving, serving again, etc is not going to convince people to ride it durably.
no no it won't
cutting some stations is fine, esepecially since former streetcar stations are honestly fairly close together, but cutting lines?
why the fuck cut the brown line, for example? cut half the stations maybe, but closing it?
@@thebravegallade731 Indeed. Now, cities change, land use changes, big factories close, new businesses open, shopping malls open and close again, new residential areas are developed... You need to redraw your network to take that into account. There's little use having a bus line to a dead mall, while a new sport facility is not served, for instance. But changes should be gradual and considered, not just dependent on a whim in city hall.
As a Pittsburgh native I can tell you cutting all these lines has been a disaster. Pittsburgh is a great city but its horrendous public transit is severely holding back its development, and its noticable. People here yearn for more rail, but it really seems none of us will get it in our lifetimes.
So sad about the street cars system became the light rail system after commuter rail had already been implemented.
Often time commuter rail is put in after city light rail for suburban commuters, but in this case it existed before it.
Now there is no commuter rail đ„șđđđ
Commuter and light rail do not serve the same purposes.
@@blue9multimediagroup that's not what I was speaking of.
PGH PA since 1990 lost PLE COMMUTER train,Mon Valley Commuter Train,Drake PCC Branch,
PGH PORT AUTHRITY has in modern era lost PLE COMMUTER RR,MON VALLY COMMUTER RR DRAKE LINE,ALLENTOWN,PENN STATION LINE and LATROBE COMMUTER TRAIN,PENNSYLVANIA AMTRAK BROADWAY LMT.
A T LIKE BOSTON
Why not have brown line merge with the red line
Why does him saying Beechview sound like BQ?
Pittsburgh actually has 2.3 million people
Thats the Pittsburgh Metro. the core city has 302k people. The county the city sites in has 1.2 million.
The Light Rail is actually from 1903. Not 1984.
That's Streetcar, not light rail.
Allegheny is pronounced owl-uh-gain-ee.
It's not Ver-Sails, it's Vair-Sigh. Also, Detroit is pronounced Day-Troy, Manayunk is pronounced Mah-Nah-Yunk, and Amarillo is pronounced Ah-Mah-Ree-Oh.
I don't get it where you get Amarillo from. Also, Manayunk was in the Philly commuter rail video and Detroit has its own video . By the way, bring back the Patrain
Good thing officials in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Cleveland had the wisdom and foresight *not* to dismantle their public rail transit systems, as Detroit, Atlanta, and Charlotte did. It's easier to upgrade and expand, compared to starting from scratch a second time. Why so many cities today seem to have problems with crime and extreme poverty among their residents has something to do with the global economy attracting local industries and companies from their home cities and states to pursue overseas markets, a trend over the last several decades. I believe that most cities and counties in the United States are corporate entities, like companies (they have charters and boards to oversee their operations), so they are dependent on taxes and other profits for their health and well-being. When a company abandons its home city or county, the business has depressed the number of seasoned workers and tax dollars needed to guarantee a healthy local economy. Every other municipality with satellite offices suffers as well, draining regions of needed employment opportunities and positive cash flow. Gentrification, racist laws and policies, and increased crime because of a depressed economy are only parts of the problem; even healthy municipalities have to deal with these. Today, the new trend is for companies to abandon entire states, to avoid paying taxes or satisfy state requirements.
And Pittsburgh is planning to close the Libary Line unless they get half a billion to modernize it, and close the South Hills Village branch
Unfortunately much of the Pittsburgh rail system has been dismantled in the past 40 years or so. Unless you live in one specific direction from downtown (southwestern) Bus transit is basically your ONLY option.
First
đđșđž
The Port Authority still sucks!
Pittsburgh is an amazing city with a joke public transit system. I want someone to live in Pittsburgh for a month and then genuinely try to tell me Bus Rapid Transit is the best option. We NEED RAIL.
Why are you ignoring streetcar services? It doesn't make sense, like your charts.
Once again I have no idea where this guy comes up with populations as they are t accurate at all and just seem arbitrary
Pittsburgh is the county seat and largest city in Allegheny County. The population of Allegheny County is about 1.2 million people. Most of Port Authority Transit runs throughout Allegheny County, with only a few bus routes that cross into neighboring counties. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_County,_Pennsylvania