Pittsburgh Regional Transit is hitting the brakes on its plan to shutter both of Shaler’s bus routes after locals and lawmakers teamed up to push back against the changes.
While the agency will still discontinue Route 2 Mt. Royal, the P13 Flyer will live on as a shortened route under the modified plan.
PRT had announced in the spring that it intended to discontinue the routes as part of its Bus Line Refresh, an initiative to streamline bus routes to focus on frequency and reliability within the confines of its budget.
The Refresh plan calls for wide-ranging cuts, including eliminating 20 routes and “major service changes” to 56 routes. Only 19 routes face few or no changes.
Shaler’s more than 28,000 residents would have had to travel several miles to Etna or Ross to reach a bus stop under the original plan, according to Shaler Commissioner Josh Fleitman.
That setup would have isolated Shaler’s “spine of the community” on Mt. Royal Boulevard, which houses Shaler Area Middle School, the Shaler North Hills Library, and the Shaler Oaks senior center, Fleitman said. Both bus routes currently serve the road.
Fleitman said the township’s seven-member Board of Commissioners unanimously signed a letter to PRT opposing the changes. The board reached out to the public, who showed up to board meetings and sent hundreds of online comments and emails, Fleitman said.
PRT relented and partially reversed its decision last week.
The Flyer currently extends from Penn Station Downtown to the Best Buy at the North Hills Village shopping complex on McKnight Road. The revised Flyer would no longer operate beyond Ferguson Road to McKnight Road — more than 30% of its length — due to low ridership, PRT said.
An average of 3.3 commuters boarded the bus at Best Buy on weekdays in May, and an average of 6.7 departed, according to PRT’s tracking tool.
The route will now turn right via Duncan Avenue and terminate at Allison Park’s park-and-ride on Route 8. In exchange, the agency wants to increase the route’s trips by 30% and add service hours, although it has yet to offer more details, Fleitman said.
Despite the shortened Flyer route losing access to McKnight Road, Fleitman called the news “a big step forward” in the township’s fight to protect bus service along Mt. Royal Boulevard.
“It was only possible because the entire Shaler community and our elected officials — from the whole Shaler Township Board of Commissioners to state Sen. Lindsey Williams — spoke with one voice to make sure all our neighbors can get where they need to go,” he said.
PRT’s board will vote on Friday whether to hold a public comment period for the Bus Line Refresh.
If approved, the comment period would run from Aug. 17 to Sept. 30, with an informational session on Aug. 18 and public hearings on Aug. 25 and Sept. 10, according to PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph. The board’s final vote is expected in November, he said.
Fleitman encouraged Shaler residents to stay motivated.
“In the coming months, we’ll need Shaler residents to once again speak up and seal the deal,” he said.