Port Authority is hoping less is more as it tries to reduce its hours of missed service and provide more service on its busiest routes.
Phillip St. Pierre, the authority’s director of service planning and scheduling, told an authority committee meeting Thursday the agency has been able to meet about 97% of its scheduled service since it returned to the full schedule Aug. 23. It had reduced service due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But that 3% involves thousands of hours of missed trips because the agency’s full staff of drivers isn’t available due to the pandemic, resulting in thousands of riders waiting for a scheduled bus that never arrives.
To help correct the situation, Mr. St. Pierre said, the authority will reduce the schedule to 95% and have unscheduled drivers available for flexible duty to serve busy spots as they arise. The system also will shift more scheduled service to the busiest routes and reduce service on less busy routes.
The changes are scheduled to go into effect as part of the agency’s quarterly changes Nov. 22.
“Those operators [whose trips were eliminated] will go on the extra board and cover absences,” Mr. St. Pierre said. “It’s like we have a deck of cards that we’re shuffling and handing out differently.”
Mr. St. Pierre said the changes — which the agency expects to be temporary — are designed to provide “operational flexibility” during the pandemic. Ridership is still down 65% to 70% compared with last year, but some routes have more ridership than others and can use more vehicles because social distancing is limiting the number of riders on each bus.
Routes such as Route 59 Mon Valley, Route 1 Freeport Road and Route 12 McKnight will have more trips throughout the day, sometimes increasing from once an hour to once every half-hour. Others, such as Route 44 Knoxville and Route 51 Carrick, will have trips added during rush hours.
“We’re very hopeful this is a short-term plan going into 2021,” Mr. St. Pierre said. “We’re seeing more ridership on those routes, that’s for sure.”
The agency also plans permanent changes in November to extend the P68 Braddock Hills Flyer to serve Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Route 2 Mt. Royal to North Hills Village shopping center, and the light rail system’s Red Line to South Hills Village.
Once the changes begin, Mr. St. Pierre said, riders should let the agency know about any problems.
“The idea is if something needs to be addressed we can build in additional trips with the flexibility we have,” he said. “Sending us feedback is important.”
Riders can contact customer service at 412-442-2000.
Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1470 or on Twitter @EdBlazina.
First Published: September 17, 2020, 5:14 p.m.
Updated: September 17, 2020, 5:23 p.m.
