[PRCo] Re: Naming PAT

[Bob Rathke]

Harold,

I'll look up those names, and will let you know what I found tomorrow.

In the meantime, I neglected to remind that "PAT" was not a unanimous choice
for the name of the new transit authority.  PAAC said that it would choose
the name that had the most submissions, and that was "PAT" with 305 votes.
However, "PAL" was only 28 votes behind.

Forty years later...if all the people on this list had mailed in post cards
naming "PAL", we might not be referring to "PAT" today.  As we know,
elections have been decided by 28 votes.

I sent in a post card in August, 1964, but I honestly don't remember the
name that I submitted.

Bob 2/24/04

----- Original Message -----
From: "Harold Geissenheimer" <transitmgr2 at earthlink.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 10:12 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Naming PAT


> Bob
>
> Any story about Dave Brown?   Harold Norris?
>  Dr McClelland was a good county commissioner
> He supported transit as did Leonard Staissy who followed.
>
> Were any stories by reporter Ralph Brehm?  He was friendly to Col Swift
>
> Harold Geissenheimer
>
> Bob Rathke wrote:
>
> >I dug into my newspaper clippings from the 1960s, and found 20 clippings
from the Pittsburgh Press relating to the "Name the new transit system"
contest in the summer of 1964.  It was a big news story:
> >The contest was announced on July 29, 1964, and closed on August 15.
Riders were asked to send in their suggested name and a tag line on a post
card.  County Commissioner Dr. William McClelland was the head of the
judging committee.
> >
> >There were 3,500 entries in the contest, and the five most-submitted
names were nearly a 5-way tie. PAT got 305 votes, and PAL (Port Authority
Lines?) was close behind with 277.  But there was only one vote for PANTS
(Port Authority New Transit System).
> >
> >The judges decided that PAT was the new name, and then they gave the
prize to the person whose card had the earliest postmark.  That was Toni
Stabile from Mt. Washington.  Her entry included the tag line, "Leave your
car at home and go with PAT."  Her prizes were two one-year transit passes
and a weekend at the Summit Hotel near Uniontown.
> >
> >One of the articles pointed out that Toni was not related to John
Stabile, the parking garage tycoon in Pittsburgh at that time.  It noted her
tag line that encouraged people to leave their cars at home, and said that
this was in opposition to John's business.
> >
> >I have several hundred clippings from 1964, and many of them feature the
stories of the people who owned the independent bus companies that were
folded into PAT.  Lots of photos and names as they told their stories.
> >
> >Bob 2/24/04
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>