Additional thanks to Mike Stokes for providing updates and corrections.

The T in Pittsburgh area began operation in the early 80's when PCC streetcars were still in operation (the last PCC-operated route was discontinued on September 4, 1999). This demonstrates how a mixed operation may be implemented where necessary. Though, little mixed-operation will likely take place, as new Transit City routes would not use current CLRV and ALRV cars, while older routes would likely be replaced one route at a time.

SD-400 LRV

CAF LRV

Interior view of rebuilt SD-400

Fare collection:

High platform stations have fare collectors during rush hours only, inbound side mornings, outbound side evenings. The exception is Station Square where fare booths are open throughout weekday daytime hours, from morning through evening rush.

Otherwise, at high platform and always at low-level stops, US$2.00 fare (cash or ticket) is paid onboard: inbound, upon boarding; outbound, upon leaving.

When fare is collected on board the vehicle, boarding and exiting must be done by the front door nearest the operator (the low door for stops, platform-level door for stations). Where a train has two cars, the second car does not serve stops nor stations without a fare collector. The second car of a two-car train only serve the following stations:

Gateway Center, Wood Street,
Steel Plaza, First Avenue, Station
Square, South Hills Junction,
Memorial Hall, Willow, Washington
Junction, South Hills Village, Lytle,
and Library.

The downtown (subway) portion of the system is free to use (from Gateway to First Avenue, as are all bus trips within downtown). Trips between those stations and Station Square are US$1.50.

Port Authority Route Numbering

The Port Authority has a particular system for numbering bus and LRT routes. Since its inception in 1964, the system has adopted a route system by using a number/alphabet approach with a number indicating the main route and branch letter representing the destination.

The combined number provides two pieces of information: first, it roughly indicates the region served. Routes are numbered starting from the north shore of the Allegheny River, then proceeding counterclockwise around downtown Pittsburgh. Routes going west from downtown have numbers in the 20s and 30s, those going south in the 40s and 50s, and so on through the 90s, which serve the south shore of the Allegheny River.

Numbers ending in 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 or 8, and "Flyer" routes with letters only, serve downtown Pittsburgh. All express routes end in 3 or 8. The distinction between 1, 6 and 2, 7 numbered routes has been lost to time, but the 2, 7 numbered routes were originally considered "limited service" routes. Flyers use a stand-alone letter or a combination of letters. Most Flyer routes operate only during peak hours on weekdays, but there are exceptions.

Not all routes with the same name are always identical - there are some routes with varying extensions. Numbers ending in 4 or 9 are crosstown routes that serve the city of Pittsburgh while numbers ending in 5 or 0 are suburban crosstown or feeder routes that do not enter the city. Buses that carry a U next to the number serve a university (typically the University of Pittsburgh) and are known as "U buses". Three digits are used for routes that cross downtown. A few route designations violate the convention in some way. For example, the 56U does not go downtown.

Weekly, monthly and annual passes are always honored throughout the system.

Cash fares to or from locations within Zone 1 (as far as Washington Junction) are US$2.00 and to or from locations in Zone 2 are US$2.60. There is a third zone, but LRT operations do not reach this zone.

During peak times, there is a US$0.50 surcharge on top of this. Peak times are from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM for inbound trips and between 4:00 PM and 6:30 PM for outbound trips.

Transfers cost an additional US$0.50 and are valid for 90 minutes, but must be surrendered when boarding another vehicle.

Some situations involve the use of a special free transfer, for temporary or emergency routes. These transfers are called "CT Transfers" and are for immediate use where they are surrendered upon entry.

The fare structure is geared towards the use of weekly or monthly passes. The weekly pass costs US$20.00 for a single zone or US$24.00 for two zones.

The monthly pass costs US$75.00 for one zone and US$90.00 for two zones. The annual pass is 12 monthly passes for the price of 11.

Gateway station has a single platform on one side of the two tracks. Inbound LRTs pass on the other side and turn

around through a loop and return on the platform side to begin an outbound trip.

Starting at Gateway with a single platform on the right side of outbound LRTs, the line runs under Liberty Street in downtown Pittsburgh and curves to the right before entering Wood Street. From there, the line runs under Sixth Avenue and curves a little more to the right before entering Steel Plaza.

All the underground stations have a low-level portion of the platform at one end that served PCCs that operated to these stations along the Drake line until it was discontinued in 1999.

This photo shows a Route 47S (South Hills Village via Overbrook)
single-car LRT about to begin its outbound trip at Gateway.
In the distance, a gate can be seen blocking access to the low
level platform formerly used for PCC operation in this station.

View at the south end of the bridge over the Monongahela River.

Note that the wye of the double
track line to the west and the single track line to the east is part of the bridge structure.

Steel Plaza is a four-track station as the underground line splits just south of this station. Tracks 1 and 2 serve the line to Gateway, while tracks 3 and 4 serve a short branch to Penn Station (this branch is out of service at this time due to construction, when in service only two outbound afternoon trips originate there).

After Steel Plaza, the underground section ends just before reaching First Avenue. From here, the line crosses over the Monongahela River using a former railway bridge. At the south end of the bridge, the main double track line curves to the west, while a single track curves to the east. The single track is used by the 52 Allentown route and is only single track for a few hundred metres until the line enters Arlington Avenue.

This photo shows an inbound LRT arriving on track 2 at Steel Plaza. Note the low section of the centre and left platforms at the far end. These were used for PCC operation. The right platform has its low section at the end where this photo was taken from

An inbound route 47L LRT arrives at McNeilly station on the Overbrook branch

A northbound car at the Martin Villa stop, in August 1999. Compare this with the same location in 1972:

 

An inbound 44L (Library Shuttle) goes out of service at Washington Junction to enter a centre track before turning back in service to return to Library.

The 44L from the above photo (rebuilt Siemens SD-400s) is waiting on the centre track as an outbound 47S (CAF LRVs) is arriving at Washington Junction.

The next station is South Hills Junction that has two sets of platforms at angles next to each other. The platforms on the east are used for most operations, with the west platforms used only for Route 52 - Allentown cars that head back into downtown. The west platforms served the old Overbrook line, before it was closed in 1993 for reconstruction. Now, the junction of the be Overbrook line and the Beechview line is south of the South Hills Junction station.

Since it is the newest part of the system, the Overbrook line has all stations with high-level platforms that are spaced more widely that other stations and stops. The stations on this branch have a similar look with side platforms with blue metal fixtures. The stations are Boggs, Bon Air, Denise, South Bank, McNeilly, Killarney, Memorial Hall, and Willow. At Willow, there is a pedestrian walkway connecting it with the Overbrook Junction station on the Beechview line - these are both part of the same station complex. The southern junction of the two lines is just south of these stations.

Heading towards Washington Junction, there are three stops which are low-level platform where entry and exit on the train uses the low-level door to the right of the operator. These stops are Martin Villa, St. Anne's, and Smith.

Just south of Washington Junction, the branch to the South Hills area splits off this line to the west. This branch was originally an interurban line to Washington Pennsylvania, hence the name of the junction. Part of the line to Washington from where it branches off the South Hills branch remained in operation with PCC streetcars until 1999. The track has since been used to test the rebuilt LRVs before they entered revenue service.

Outbound stop at South Park.

Inbound stop at South Park.

Heading south from Washington Junction towards Library, the line takes on a rather interurban feel, with some portions traveling through wooded areas. Most of this branch, from just south of Washington Junction to just north of Library, has a simple overhead contact wire (similar to Toronto's streetcar contact wire) and not full catenary usually used with pantographs.

Most of this line consists of low-level stops with minimal facilities. None of the outbound stops have a shelter, and most have little more than a concrete pad to stand on (unlike the South Park stop in the photo to the left where there is a bench and a railing). The inbound stops generally have shelters.

The stops are Mine 3, Hillcrest, Lindermer, and Center. These are followed by a high-level station at Lyttle. Then the stops are Mesta, South Park, Monroe, Latimer, Sarah, Logan, King's School, Beagle, and Sandy Creek. Next is a high-level station at West Library - though, this station is not much than a high-level version of the other stops on this line.

 

The end of the line is at Library, were there is the southern-most high-level station. LRVs offload on one platform and proceed beyond the end of the station to turn back on a stub end track.

 
This photo was taken just north of the South Park stop.
Look carefully and you will see that there is a simple
overhead contact wire instead of full catenary.

This outbound 47L has arrived at Library at about 6:30 PM.
It will be returning inbound as a 44L.
The last 47L from downtown arrives at about 7:17 PM
while the last inbound leaves at 5:51 PM.

South Hills Village Parking Garage

Branching to the west just south of Washington Junction, this branch serves five stops (Casswell, Highland, Santa Barbara, Bethel Village, and Dorchester) before reaching the South Hills Village station.

When LRT operations began on July 3, 1989 the South Hills Village Rail Center (SHVRC) opened at the end of this branch to provide maintenance facilities for LRV operation.

The Port Authority's first parking garage is located at South Hills Village station. It opened on May 16, 2005 and added 2200 parking spaces. South Hills Village station continues to have an outdoor parking lot where parking is free, but garage parking has a charge. The cost is US$2 per day for single ticket customers, but is only US$1 per day (US$22 per month) for customers using a proximity card. A customer purchasing a monthly transit pass with parking pays US$97 per month (the price of a two-zone transit pass is US$75, making the parking cost US$22 per month. 

 
Washington Junction station. Beyond the station on the left
side of this photo, the line to South Hills branches to the west
while the line to Library continues south. 

An outbound 44S crosses the bridge
that Fallowfield station is located on.

A northbound 42S train stops at
the Boustead stop on a residential
section of Broadway in Beechview.
(August 1999)

Looking out the rear of an inbound
LRT, the north portals of the Mt.
Lebanon tunnel can be seen just
before arriving at the Dormont
Junction station.

This line branches from the South Hills Junction station and crosses over the Palm Garden Bridge crossing over PA Route 51. This bridge is shared with the south busway. This bridge was closed for repair from March to September 2007. The first two stops out of South Hills Junction are Palm Garden north of the bridge and Dawn just south of the bridge, both low-level stops. Continuing south, the next three stops, Traymore, Pennant, and Westfield, are also low-level stops.

The first high-level station is next at Fallowfield. It is located on an overpass. Immediately south of the station, the LRT enters Broadway where it will share road space with other traffic for several stops: Hampshire, Coast, Bellasco, Boustead, Shiras, and Neeld. From here, the ROW becomes a median and is separate from the traffic for the next couple of stops: Stevenson, followed by the Potomac station.

From Potomac to Dormont Junction station, the line is on its own ROW through a residential neighbourhood with one stop, Kelton. South of Dormont Junction, the line passes through the 1 km long Mount Lebanon tunnel before reaching the Mount Lebanon station. This is one of only two centre-island platforms on the entire system. The line continues on its own ROW through two stops, Poplar and Arlington before reaching the Castle Shannon station, which is the other centre-island platform station.

A short distance past Castle Shannon station is a high-level stop at Overbrook Junction. This station and the Willow station on the Overbrook line are part of the same station complex.

Outbound platform at Overbrook Junction.

An outbound Route 42S car arrives at the Dawn stop at the south end of the Palm Garden trestle (photo from August 1999). This bridge carries both LRVs and buses. The ramp to the right is the South Busway.

During the closure of the Palm Garden Bridge, LRT operations on the Beechview line consisted of a shuttle service from Overbrook Junction to Traymore. This service was designated route 44S. Like the current route 42C, the outbound end of this service is at Overbrook Junction where it runs on a single track from Castle Shannon to Overbrook Junction. In this photo, a 44S car has dropped off its outbound passengers at Overbrook Junction and has moved beyond the platform to change operators before returning in service.

Most of Route 52 operates
on street in mixed traffic.

Looking out the rear end of an
inbound LRT about to exit the
Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel.

This line starts from Gateway like the other rutes, but after crossing the Monongahela River (Panhandle Bridge), it branches to the east away from the other routes. This is the only route that does not use the transit tunnel to get to South Hills Junction. Instead, it climbs over Mt. Washington. From June 6, 1993 until October 31, the Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel was closed for renovations and all routes had to follow this route to reach South Hills Junction from downtown. During this time, the 52 - Allentown route was suspended as other routes provided the service needed.

There is a single track section that connects the Panhandle Bridge to Arlington Avenue. At the time of construction, CONRAIL refused to permit construction of a ramp sufficiently wide to carry two tracks over its railway line.

After leaving the Panhandle Bridge and curving to the east, the line crosses under the Liberty Bridge and climbs to join Arlington Avenue where two-track operation resumes. There are street stops along Arlington Avenue which winds as it climbs Mount Washington for about 1.5 km in a south-eastern direction before it curves around into a south-western direction. It continues on Arlington Avenue for a few hundred metres before it turns westward on East Warrington Avenue.

It continues on East Warrington for about 2 km before it goes onto its own ROW to approach South Hills Junction station. Most Route 52 cars use the west platforms at South Hills Junction to avoid blocking the platforms used by the Beechview and Overbrook routes. The exception to this is the final outbound run in afternoon rush hours. This run continues on to South Hills Village as a Route 47S car.

A view of the track work at South Hills Junction, seen from
the hillside to the north taken in August 1999.

Prior to the Overbrook line being rebuilt, the station at the upper
left headed towards that line while the station at the upper
right (with the train in it) headed towards the Beechview line.

With the Overbrook reconstruction, the junction is just south of
this station, so now cars on both lines use the upper right station. The upper left station is only used for Route 52 - Allentown cars with the exception of the last outbound run in the afternoons, which continues as a Route 47S car from here.

The tracks at lower left carry route 52 to Warrington Avenue,
and the tracks at lower right enter the Mt. Washington tunnel.

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This page last updated August 13, 2009