[PRCo] Fwd: Pittsburgh 1948 - Part 9: Penn Avenue (East End) lines

[Bill]

--- In LRPPro at yahoogroups.com, "Leroy W. Demery, Jr."
<chris_demery at ...> wrote:

Lyndon et al.,

Continuing with Pittsburgh streetcar line traffic data from 1948:

Part 9: Penn Avenue (East End) lines

87 - Ardmore
14.4 miles
9,242,000 revenue passengers

88 - Frankstown
7.2 miles
12,083,000 revenue passengers

94 - 95 Aspinwall - Butler Street
7.5 miles
7,059,000 revenue passengers

Summary, Penn Avenue lines
22.2 miles system length (unduplicated).
28,384,000 revenue passengers.

35.6 million "total passengers."

This figure I determined by multiplying the number of revenue
passengers for each line by 
1.33. I note that doing so carries the assumption that these lines
carried the same share of 
"transfer" passengers as the "system" average. I then adjusted the
estimates for lines 87 
and 94-95 downward, by a factor of 0.9, to account for "zone passengers."

Composite ATD: 4 miles. Determined by assigning average travel
distance per revenue 
passenger to the lines - arbitrarily - as follows:

87 - Ardmore: 5 miles.
88 - Frankstown: 4 miles.
94 - 95 Aspinwall - Butler Street: 4 miles.

The "weighted average" travel distance is 4.3 miles. (This figure is
presented on the "traffic 
density tables" as simply "4 mi.")

Depopulation not obvious along the Penn-Liberty corridor and Butler
Street, across the 
Allegheny River to Sharpsburg and Aspinwall.

A clear sign that the economy has changed much since 1948: In a
location just east of 
Aspinwall, where my ancient street map shows City of Pittsburgh
Filtration Plant," there is 
now the "Waterworks Mall," with vast expanses of parking lot.

Line 88-Frankstown was generally described as the "heaviest" on the
PRCo. I doubt very 
seriously that this would be true today, because of the substantial
amount of vacant land 
along and near Frankstown Avenue in the Brushton district. But, just
across the Wil   
kinsburg boundary, the west side of Wood Street is lined with what
look like 
"McMansions."


Leroy W. Demery, Jr.

--- End forwarded message ---