<div dir="ltr"><div><div>As far as talking to "fellow operators", no. They are probably residing in Arizona or Flori-duh these days. <span style class="">PATransit</span> has a strict policy of 25-years then retire, no ifs, <span style class="">ans</span>, or buts. That means that the "newest" operator I could have known would have retired in 2008 or 2009.<br>
<br></div>The service, while still being very intense on some routes, is not what it was in the 1970s and 1980s. They still call the rail vehicles "trolleys" however. The equipment appears much newer these days than what it was back in my era with <span style class="">PATransit</span>. That goes for both buses and trolleys. Pittsburgh always has special events going on someplace in the city. They do run "two-car-trains" during special events times and weekday rush hours also. There are far more "articulated" buses now than when I worked for them. Also the route structure has changed a lot but it actually now seems to be in tune with where the customers want to go, at least in the city and the first and second rings of boroughs. Destination Signs are very interesting now also. Aspects such as 44-Knoxville / 44 Downtown-Pennsylvania Station ; 27 - <span style class="">Fairywood</span> (used to be 27-Carnegie) ; 75-Wilkinsburg / South Side-Oakland (A newer routing for the old 75 line) ; 61D-Murray Avenue / 61D Waterfront (The old 68 line going to Homestead and not continuing on to <span style class="">Kennywood</span> and <span style class="">McKeesport</span>) And many more interesting signs on the buses. The trolleys, on the other hand, have very bland signs reading "Red Line", "Blue Line", etc. Generally, <span style class="">PATransit</span> is doing OK right now. However, a source of dedicated funding is a must if public transit is to continue as a viable alternative to the personal vehicle. <br>
<br></div>Traffic is snarled all over Pittsburgh from about 6am to 7pm every weekday. This, of course, do to the terrain and the narrow roads. I stay off the Parkways (there are now three, the East, West, and North Parkways) during heavy traffic periods. I find that my shortcuts "over the mountains" may take a few minutes longer but I keep moving better than on the Parkways. The State Legislature is now debating a bill to provide some support to transit authorities but it's not really enough. A change of politicians from the conservatives to a more progressive bunch is needed before anything will be done to make public transit better. After all, didn't you know that we have a "right" to drive our vehicles, even if it does take two hours to go fifteen miles and contributes to the destruction of the planet.<br>
</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Jun 29, 2013 at 11:19 PM, Phillip Clark Campbell <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:pcc_sr@yahoo.com" target="_blank">pcc_sr@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Forbes field looks very good as does the aerial of the Point.<br>
The latter may be about 1940 as Fort Pitt Blvd appears intact from<br>
east of Liberty to the Smithield bridge. Clarity in this photo<br>
is much better than most.<br>
<br>
Mr.Brannon-- How does Pat compare now as to when you left?<br>
Have you seen and talked to former fellow operators? What<br>
is your impression of the system?<br>
<br>
<br>
Phil<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
--- On Thu, 6/27/13, Herb Brannon <<a href="mailto:hrbran@cavtel.net">hrbran@cavtel.net</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
From: Herb Brannon <<a href="mailto:hrbran@cavtel.net">hrbran@cavtel.net</a>><br>
Subject: [PRCo] Mixed Bag Of Old Pittsburgh<br>
To: "Western PA Trolley discussion" <<a href="mailto:pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org">pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org</a>><br>
Date: Thursday, June 27, 2013, 9:12 PM<br>
<div><div class="h5"><br>
I stumbled upon a "varied" lot of photos of Old Pittsburgh. If anyone has<br>
any additional info on the individual photos, I'm all ears.<br>
<br>
No, I did not put these through the "photo shrinking" program, so some are<br>
big and some are small.<br>
<br>
--<br>
Herb Brannon<br>
Back In The Burgh !<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div>Herb Brannon<br>Back In The Burgh !<br></div>Let's Go Bucs<br></div>
</div>