Transit expert gives local system good marks overall

Reviewer cites good, bad, confusing aspects

When Christof Spieler looks at public transit in Pittsburgh, he sees good things (busways), bad things (paying for transfers) and confusing things (when and where to pay).

Mr. Spieler, a transit expert who serves as vice president and director of planning for consultant Huitt-Zollars in Houston, shared his thoughts on transit in general and in Pittsburgh specifically during the closing event Wednesday of the four-day Railvolution transportation conference at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh, Downtown. He released a book Tuesday, “Trains, Buses, People,” in which he visited and rated transit systems in large cities across the country.

In an interview and during his talk arranged by Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Mr. Spieler said he generally gives the local system high marks. The region’s relatively even spread of population makes providing transit easier here than in some cities, he said.

Mr. Spieler especially praised the frequency of bus service and the exclusive busways that serve neighborhoods in the east, west and south for getting riders to their destinations quickly. But he urged Port Authority to improve branding for busway trips so riders can identify them easier, something the agency is looking at on a systemwide basis.

And despite the good service, he criticized the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway for following railroad rights of way and “skirting around” the busy Oakland corridor. That’s a problem in many cities, he said, where officials don’t put transit stops in the busiest or most populated areas because of opposition to them.

“If you put out plans for transit projects and no one complains, you’re probably not putting it in the right place,” he said.

A major misstep, Mr. Spieler said, was extending the light-rail system from Downtown to the North Shore at a time when the authority was cutting bus service.

That occurred because state subsidies didn’t cover operating costs for buses but federal funds were available for capital projects, leaving riders with a bad impression, he said.

In another area, Mr. Spieler said Port Authority’s midday and weekend service is “dismal,” especially for workers in the service industry.

“A lot of service jobs aren’t 9-to-5,” he said. “If the bus isn’t there when you work, that’s a problem.”

Making riders pay for transfers — “one of the dumbest things transit agencies can do” — makes it difficult for them to take advantage of all elements of a transit system, he said. It’s not good business for the agency to make riders pay extra — as Port Authority does — if they have to switch from one vehicle to another just because the first vehicle doesn’t go to their destination, he said.

Overall, transit systems should concentrate on what’s good for the most riders, not on building fancy systems that look good. Inexpensive items such as safe transit stops with good sidewalks around them can be more important, he said.

“Everybody who uses bus service has the right to a good ride,” he said.

“We should be aiming service for everybody. Valuing everybody is really important for good transit.”