PRT forming committee to address incline’s issues
Pittsburgh Regional Transit is establishing a “steering committee” to provide more layers of support for the ailing Monongahela Incline, which has been plagued by persistent closures over the past year, at one point stranding passengers mid-ride and repeatedly disrupting businesses on Mount Washington.
PRT CEO Katharine Kelleman said during a news conference Tuesday that the committee will include PRT officials, other local authorities and community stakeholders to keep tabs on the issues, both physical and tangential, that are causing the closures of the incline.
“While PRT runs the incline, this isn’t our incline, it’s all of Pittsburgh’s,” Ms. Kelleman said.
The committee is intended to increase transparency throughout the repairs process by giving Pittsburgh taxpayers and Mount Washington business owners a place to direct their input and ask questions. The more perspectives PRT can gather on the issue, the better, Ms. Kelleman said.
Community members will be able to get answers straight from engineers who are working on the repairs, and speak to the consulting firm that will be overseeing the process.
“All of the processes we do are paid for by taxpayers, and taxpayers should be able to see that. It should never be a secret handshake of what we’re doing with your dollars,” Ms. Kelleman said.
She said there is no concrete date for the incline’s reopening as mechanics and engineers continue to diagnose the malfunction that caused it to close last week. It could reopen within a few days or up to a few weeks, she said, and the discussions among the steering committee won’t keep PRT from working on the incline.
PRT expects to have a concrete timeline for reopening available by the end of the week, Ms. Kelleman said Tuesday, but for now the transit authority is focused on extensive safety testing to prevent another long-term closure in the future.
“It needs to be back up and running in a safe way and not in a way that will blow another part,” Ms. Kelleman said.
A Philadelphia consulting firm is helping to diagnose the incline’s latest mechanic issue and provide general oversight on the reopening.
The firm, the name of which won’t be announced until an official contract is established, will help advise PRT on administrative paperwork in addition to maintenance and systems testing, said Adam Brandolph, director of public relations, on Tuesday.
“Is the maintenance that we’re doing correct? Are the operating protocols and procedures what they should be or do they need to change?” Mr. Brandolph said, referring to the topics the Philadelphia firm will advise on.
The firm will provide feedback to the new steering committee.
PRT will continue running shuttle buses up to Mount Washington during the same hours the incline would normally run.
The recent closure was just the latest in a slew of closures over the past year.
In January, the incline shut down due to a failure of the systems that slowed the cars as they approached stations. Prior to that, the incline closed in December when a part failed and needed a replacement.
The incline averaged 719 riders on weekdays, 1,857 riders on Saturdays and 1,062 on Sundays in fiscal year 2022, the most recent period for rider data.
Last summer, the incline shut down after several passengers got stuck mid-ride when condensation buildup caused by an air conditioning unit triggered the emergency brake.
“We are not seeing anything right now that makes us worry about it running, but until we have a higher level of confidence, gone through every report and down every rabbit hole we don’t want to open it, get halfway up and have the system short out,” Ms. Kelleman said.