New Port Authority tool gives riders more details about routes

Port Authority introduced a new tool Monday to help riders avoid buses filled to capacity to maintain social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tool, called Room2Ride, is a web page that shows a colorcoded history of ridership on each bus route in the system for the previous two weeks. The authority believes the new tool, in conjunction with its existing TrueTime feature that tracks vehicles and their current capacity, will allow riders to better plan trips.

The tool only applies to buses because light-rail vehicles don’t have equipment to count passengers entering and exiting.

Spokesman Adam Brandolph said the new tool should be particularly helpful under current conditions, when the authority is operating buses at reduced capacity to allow social distancing and slow the spread of the coronavirus. Drivers are told to pass stops when ridership reaches 10 on a 35foot bus; 15 on a 40-foot bus; and 25 on a 60-foot articulated bus.

For the previous two weeks, the tool shows whether a bus has been below capacity, at capacity or over capacity at each stop during the day for each route and allows riders to plan accordingly. If the recent historical data shows a bus at 9:15 a.m. generally is above capacity at the rider’s stop, the rider may want to consider an earlier or later trip to make sure they can get to their destination, Mr. Brandolph said.

“Especially right now, what happened three weeks ago may not be relevant, so we’re updating the information as often as we can,” Mr. Brandolph said.

Riders also can use the TrueTime tool to locate where the bus is and whether it has low, medium or high capacity at that moment.

The Chicago Transit Authority introduced a tool similar to Room2Ride last week, and others have something similar to TrueTime, Mr. Brandolph said, but he doesn’t know of another agency that has both tools.

Room2Ride will allow the authority to change capacity limits as needed if COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

Laura Wiens, executive director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit, said the tool is a good idea, but it doesn’t address the need for more service. Some of those crowded times aren’t at rush hours, when the agency says it doesn’t have enough vehicles to add more service, she said.

“We are concerned that riders don’t always have the ability to navigate around crowded buses.”