Friday, June 10, 2011

Riding the T

Downtown Light Rail Map
Pittsburgh Port Authority

This past week, I rode the “T” for the first time. I started in Station Square and headed north into the city, exiting at the Wood Street stop, the last station currently open. It was a convenient way to get into downtown from across the river, however, because of the limited number of open stops, it didn’t get me very far. I have travelled on many public rail systems in my life: Rome, London, Paris, NYC, DC, Zurich, Boston and Dallas to name a few, so it was hard not to compare Pittsburgh to those other systems.

T Map
Pittsburghtransit.info

Examining the map of the current system, it is clear that the T is mostly a commuter rail. After the Station Square stop, there are only 5 downtown stops and 2 more stops under construction on the North Shore. Conversely, there are 56 stops outside of the city reaching as far as the Library and South Hills Village!

Station Sq stop
Ben Samson, 2011

It was mid afternoon, off-peak hours, when I rode the T last week, and it was still relatively busy. Here is a look at some of the details of my trip.

 You have to walk across the tracks at the stop to go north. The yellow line is where the trains stops in order not to hit pedestrians. Remember to look both ways!
Ben Samson, 2011

 The tracks- which you can stand on
Ben Samson, 2011

Platform
Ben Samson, 2011
The rail cars have 2 cars
Ben Samson, 2011

LED display
Ben Samson, 2011


Nice waiting area
Ben Samson, 2011


The electric system
Ben Samson, 2011


From the Station Square stop, we took the T north into the city, passing First Street station, Steel Plaza and we exited through Wood Street station. Here are some images of the train we entered. It felt a little old- clearly felt like the 80's when the system was built, but it was very clean.

 Train interior
Ben Samson, 2011

The Rail Map inside the trains. Note that it doesn't match the maps in the stations or maps online.
Ben Samson, 2011

Blue linoleum floor. 
Ben Samson, 2011

Matching seat fabric
Ben Samson, 2011

Train interior
Ben Samson, 2011

Here is a look at the Wood St station. It really felt a lot more substantial. The polished granite was a nice touch throughout the station. Also, the Steel Plaza station was very large and felt very metropolitan. 

Wood Street platform
Ben Samson, 2011

 Wood Street escalators- fairly packed
Ben Samson, 2011
 Wood Street escalators
Ben Samson, 2011



 Wood Street station. Not as professional as some other systems.
Ben Samson, 2011


Overall, I enjoyed exploring the T. It seems to be serving its purpose well, though is a little bit unrefined. It is clearly not a big presence in the city and if it took me almost 24 years of living in Pittsburgh to actually ride it, then it must not have a wide ranging purpose. The trip itself was quick, and though we only went a couple of stops, i certainly got a slice of the commuter life.

The trains were comfortable--also small-- and very clean. The materials were old, but not worn. There was a sense that it hadn't been updated in a while, but in no grave need of it. 

Some of the logistics were not very user friendly. The signage was a mess. None of the maps matched, and there was no real sense of identity to the system. We bought tickets from a teller at the Station Sq stop and we needed exact change. The stations in Downtown were clearly more substantial than at Station Sq, which added to some of the discord. 

However, none of these setbacks seemed to greatly affect the service which I found to be comfortable and efficient. Perhaps it is different during rush hour, but it the T seemed to live up to the Pittsburgh reputation of friendliness. It might have been the most amicable, and least pushy light rail I've ever used!

Sources:
http://www.pittsburghtransit.info/lrt.html

http://www.portauthority.org/PAAC/CustomerInfo/BuswaysandT/LightRailTransitSystem/tabid/186/Default.aspx


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