Note: This is the third of a 6
part series that deals with the history of the Port Authority from the formation of PAT in
1956 through current.
Perhaps the most interesting
era in all of PAT's history occurred between mid 1972 and early 1980. The MOD era as it
was known consisted of hundreds of variations of a new paint livery design as well as a
multitude of ad vehicles and special theme vehicles. It was also the time PAT did the most
effort in trying to attract new riders with various marketing efforts as well as new routes and services.
This era started quietly
enough but by the end of 1973, it exploded with new and unique paint jobs being rolled out
of South Hills Junction Shops, Homewood Shops and later, the new Manchester Shops, at a
steady pace. The streetcars were the first to receive the new treatment in mid 1972 as
part of the modified Early Action Plan (EAP) which included the rehabilitation of the cars
for the Library line. Buses soon followed in the colorful livery. Most of the early paint
jobs done were theme or advertising liveries. By 1975, most of the buses and trolleys that
were rolled out of the shops were repainted but minus an ad. Advertising, however,
remained an important part of the era with some buses being painted in ad themes through
1980. A few buses, seemed particularly singled out for advertising and promotion as when
one ad ran out, another was painted on it almost immediately. Coach 330 one one that
received numerous repaints in various themes.
The first of the MOD painted
vehicles to hit the streets in Pittsburgh were streetcars on July 26, 1972. Buses started
to receive the new MOD scheme a few months later and the first buses to be placed in
service with the new livery entered service in October of 1972 in McKeesport. A new PAT
logo also heralded the start of new era. The "RAT" logo, as many called it, was
only used between 1972 & 1973 and was replaced during 1973 with the
"PATransit" logo which lasted until the late 1998 when the logo was again
changed.
The MOD livery had 2
variations. The very early ones (both Old Looks and New Looks) were known as caterpillar
stripes due to the vertical striping. Later buses (New Looks only) were painted with
diagonal striping. The Old Looks continued to be painted in the caterpillar version.
During 1972 & 1973, there were many experimental paint schemes which were used to try
them out on the public as well as find one that worked well. The New Looks were the
recipients of the majority of these experimental liveries. Ad buses also made their debut
at this time with banks, radios stations and others purchasing long term ads which were
painted onto the buses. Some were rather memorable such as the Parkvale buses (which
turned out to be a long term advertising customer for PAT) and the many KQV buses which
were painted light blue.
Theme buses were another big
part of the MOD program. U-bus liveries for service and promotion of local universities,
Park & Ride liveries to promote the new park & ride services, E-buses to promote
the benefits of taking transit as well as community oriented themes to promote various
neighborhoods around the County.
The MOD program was more than
just new paint jobs however. It also included a new attitude towards attracting riders to
the system. Modernization and transit awareness were the impetus of the program. To
attract the riders, PAT started special services which were theme based for easier
marketing of the ideas. U-bus service was initiated to provide better service to the local
colleges and universities in the area, E-buses promoted the benefits of transit, Red Flyer
express routes were instituted to speed commuters to work and back home, the adoption of
community message center vehicles for non-profit organizations, and a multitude of
literature aimed at the public all played a role in making the 70's one of the more
interesting times at PAT.
A large part of the MOD era
resulted from a the administrative changes that resulted from a complete re-organization
of PAT that occurred on June 21, 1971 which is where the third era of PAT could trace
its
roots back to. With new people in charge, came new ideas. On February 1, 1972, John T.
Mauro was named Executive Director of PAT. Also on June 24, 1972, Harold H. Geissenheimer
was appointed to the post of Director of Transit Operations and was the most closely
associated with the MOD program. After these 2 key appointments, the MOD era started
manifesting itself to the public.
A rather unique service PAT
began offering on May 21, 1972 was a route known as the 84C Model Cities Loop. This route
was funded by a contract between the City of Pittsburgh and the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development under the Pittsburgh Model Cities Program. One existing route, the
84A also offered reduced fares as per the contract. Under this program, the Model Cities
Program leased a bus from PAT, who then operated the line under the contract terms.
Although there was little difference if the bus was leased or not in terms of the actual
operation, it did allow PAT to operate an route without incurring the normal costs
involved. This service proved to be very popular in the area which it operated and
continued to be operated by PAT after the Model Cities Program stopped funding the
program.
On June 23-24, 1972,
Hurricane Agnes reeked havoc with operations in the Pittsburgh area due to major flooding.
Upon the receding of the flood waters, service could not be resumed immediately until the
clean up was complete and all the bridges leading into the Downtown area were inspected.
In addition, the rail service had to have its overhead inspected for damage and repaired
before service could resume normally.
It hasn't been mentioned in
the previous parts of the history but in acquiring the Pittsburgh Railways Company, PAT
also acquired many antiquated bridges that became its responsibility to maintain. Most
were old trolley bridges that were decked over in earlier years so that traffic could
drive over them. By the early 1970's, many of these bridges already had weight limits
placed on them due to their age and deteriorating condition which caused many years of
sometimes long detours on routes until funding could be arranged to replace them so that
they then could be turned over to Allegheny County or other local municipalities. One
example was the old Cornell Street Bridge in West View which had weight restrictions on it
since 1970 and couldn't be replaced until the mid 1980's. This example caused the 16C
Bellevue - West View route to be detoured for about 15 years onto extremely narrow and
twisting roads, that barely could handle a 35 foot bus, in order to get to the other side
of the bridge. Situations such as this became more common as other bridges in PAT's
possession had to have restrictions placed on them or closed all together until
replacements could be funded and built. Many times the closure or weight restriction also
created a safety issue as fire and ambulances could not use the bridges. In one case in
the 80's, a community in Ben Avon was literally isolated due to 2 bridges being closed to
traffic at the same time on either side of the area because of the fear of collapse as the
bridges were so badly deteriorated. The only way into the area was a narrow back road
which added well over 15 minutes of time to emergency vehicles that needed to enter the
area.
Two-way radios first made
their appearance at PAT on the buses starting in August of 1972 and on the trolleys in
June of 1973. As of January 1975, 791 buses out of 936 total were equipped and 28
streetcars out of the 95 total were equipped and a year later, 862 buses and 29 streetcars
were radio equipped as well as 66 work trucks and 45 supervisory cars. At this point as
far as the bus fleet went, it was mostly the older vehicles that weren't equipped with
radios as they were planned to be retired over the next few years. The original 2-way
radios in the buses and streetcars were developed specifically for PAT by General
Electric. Most all multi-channel 2-way bus radios manufactured after 1975, by all
manufacturers, can trace their roots back to the GE design for PAT's original 2-way bus
radios.
Although express routes
already existed, new express routes were added to supplement the existing service in rush
hour as. These were known as the Red Flyers and used strictly a letter designation instead
of the normal number-letter designation of the other routes. They also served areas off
the main routes as they were routed so that they could complete the route quicker than the
regular routes. The first 3 Red Flyers were placed in service on January 29, 1973 on the
M-Monroeville, P-Penn Hills, and W-Wilkinsburg routes. By March 18, 1974, 40 Red Flyer
routes were serving the area during rush hours.
There was also
"reverse flow" routes known as a Red Arrow. The Parkway Center Red Arrow would
head outbound in the mornings from town and inbound in the evenings to town to serve the
Parkway Center area. The Oakland Red Arrow handled both direction on a
frequent basis between Downtown and Oakland. These routes predated the Red Flyer service by several months.
The
Ridership Development
Program was also introduced in 1973. This program was set up to work on ways to improve
service as well as attract and keep ridership. Red Flyer service was a part of this as was
the U-bus service and theme buses. Fare promotions were put in place such as the
"Tuesday Special" which offered reduced fares in off-peak hours, weekly and
monthly permit prices were reduced, annual permits, stop over transfers and 10-trip strip
tickets were introduced as well. Operator courtesy was also being heavily stressed by PAT
with numerous operator handouts being issued to remind operators of such things as curbing
the bus for passengers and many other items that would help PAT win over the ridership.
"PAT Polite" decals were placed on all vehicles as well at this time. The
program was proving successful and the ridership levels began to increase. A familiar name
for many who worked at PAT and for many riders who looked at the schedules during the MOD
years was Cliff Schwartz, the Courtesy Director. As driver courtesy was being stressed, a
system of commendations were put in place where riders could call or write in to express
their praise for drivers that went above and beyond their normal duties.
Also in the 70's,
"PATman & Bobbin" made their debut as a marketing tool for PAT. Taking off
of the Batman & Robin theme, the Transit Duo fought traffic and simplified the ride.
While ridiculed at the time for its childish theme, this campaign coupled with the public
education material actually worked out rather well. Another campaign utilized by PAT was a
reduced fare "Tuesday Special" during off peak which was statistically PAT's
slowest day for ridership.
One of the more unique and
useful marketing strategies PAT did was to use the bus radios to gather traffic
information from operators and offer that information to television and radio stations.
This program became known as "PAT Traffic Central" and gave PAT free promotional
time throughout both prime-time rush hours in exchange for simply reporting what the
traffic conditions were.
Coinciding with PAT's new
image was the creation of the Pennsylvania State Lottery. Proceeds of the lottery went to
senior citizen programs throughout the state and one of the programs instituted was free
rides for seniors during off peak. Any system in Pennsylvania was eligible for fare
reimbursement from the lottery if they participated in this program. This program still
exists to this day and PAT is still a participant in it.
This era also generated the
most informative information for the public. Handouts on how to read a schedule, use a
transfer, saving money with fare options, places to go as well as maintenance statistics
and other various handouts allowed people to understand the transit system better and
utilize it to its fullest extent. The marketing done in the 70's was perhaps some of the
most effective ever done by PAT as it didn't impede the operation of the system and
concentrated on educating the public on how to ride as well as about the benefits of
taking PAT.
The biggest boon to PAT's
ridership numbers was somewhat unexpected and that was the 1974 energy crisis. With oil
prices skyrocketing and the odd/even gas rationing being put into place, many chose to
leave their cars behind and take transit. PAT immediately responded to this situation by
adding 90 additional rush hour trips. A weekend family fare was introduced for $1.00 which
would allow a family of 4 unlimited rides on the weekend. Mid-day service was also
increased and added "Early Bird" / "Late Bird" trips to help spread
out the rush hour ridership. Many additional Park & Ride locations were also opened to
allow those that lived out of range of a route to drive a short distance to catch a bus
into town.
During the energy crisis,
PAT's entire operating fleet was out during rush hours. PAT was forced to lease buses from
Akron, OH and Wilkes-Barre, PA in order to handle the ridership surge. New buses were
immediately advertised for bids and Flxible won the award to build 70 new buses for PAT.
Unfortunately, these wouldn't arrive until 1975 and many of the older buses in the fleet,
which were slated for retirement, were becoming unreliable due to their age which was
leading to the buses breaking down in service. The Wilkes-Barre buses as well a a couple
of the Akron buses were purchased at the end of the lease and continued to serve PAT for
several more years. One of these coaches, 595, is preserved at AMCAP.
Even with the many issues
related to the energy crisis in 1975 that effected the quality of service, PAT was ranked
the 3rd most efficient transit operation in the United States and 7th in terms of the
number of people transported out of approximately 300 publicly operated systems. That
isn't a bad position at all to find yourself in during the height of the energy crisis and
showed how PAT's new management philosophy was paying off.
Even though the new PAT
philosophy was paying off in terms of increased ridership and revenues, there were both
internal and external political struggles that threatened the success of the MOD program
as well as PAT itself. Primarily was that of the
Skybus program that was embroiled in
controversy and lawsuits. The Skybus program was extremely polarizing for both the
politicians of the area as well as internally at PAT. Stresses from the continual fights
to improve transit in the Pittsburgh area as well as the local politicians continued
reluctance to allow for progress in public transit resulted in John T. Mauro leaving PAT
to head up a new system starting up in San Mateo, CA in October of 1975 and Harold Geissenheimer leaving in February of 1976 to become the General Operations Manager of the
Chicago Transit Authority. During this turbulent time, the PAT Board of Directors were
also short several members, who resigned also, that were not being replaced as the
Allegheny County Commissioners were waiting for a consultant study on the alternatives to
the Skybus project.
During the time of the fight
over Skybus, a media campaign of sorts was going on to promote the new mode of transit as
well as the remainder of the Early Action Program which was also in jeopardy due to the
plan revolving around Skybus. Various model displays were put on display at various
shopping malls touting the benefits of Skybus as well as many brochures and campaign style
buttons. This media campaign didn't work out as the opposition mounted a better media
blitz.
At the time, the local media
was blasting the County Commissioners for not acting on the issues that drove the 2 key
leaders of PAT's success, as well as the Manager of Maintenance, Kenneth Hussong, who that
left during that time as well. Editorials in various papers expressed concern that other
key executives would leave unless the County Commissioners started to address the problem.
When John Mauro left PAT in
1975, Harold H. Geisenheimer and James Maloney were co-acting Executive Directors. James
Maloney retained the acting Executive Director position after Harold Geisenheimer left and
then was later named as the official Executive Director later in 1976 after additional
members were installed to the Board of Directors.
PAT continued on without the
leaders of the team responsible for the early success of the MOD era but the lack of the
two key players helped to allow for the slow deterioration of the MOD program. By 1977,
ridership began to slowly drop from the highs of 1972-1975 even though there were some
very notable successes such as the South Busway opening.
At the time of Harold
Geisenheimer's departure from PAT, the Board of Directors was to vote on and approve a
fare hike, the first in 5 years, which would raise the base fare from 40¢ to 50¢. This
approval occurred on February, 25, 1976. The main reason for the fare hike was the refusal
of Allegheny County and the State to provide the adequate funding to allow PAT to continue
operations without having to slash service.
Commuter rail service in the
County was also offered by the P&LE and the B&O Railroads since before PAT assumed
public transit operations in 1964. P&LE's offering was a once a day service which was increased
by a trip during 1974. The B&O commuter service however, had been eyed by PAT for many
years. A study was initiated on February 27, 1970 regarding the feasibility of PAT
assuming the operations and extending the train to Versailles. PAT had been in
negotiations with the B&O from 1971 through 1974 regarding taking over this operation
with B&O operating and maintaining the equipment. With the energy crisis hitting,
talks were sped up with an agreement being reached in October of 1974 with the B&O
(Chessie System at this point) and the new service implemented on February 1, 1975.
The agreement for the PATrain
was that PAT lease the equipment for three years and then purchase it outright, including
2 locomotives. The rehabilitated equipment as well as the increase in service frequency
immediately attracted riders from the Mon Valley. Another important part of this deal was
that the fare structure of the rail operation became integrated into the PAT fare
structure which allowed for transfers and permits to be used by riders to reduce the
overall cost of travel.
PAT's order of Flxible buses
arrived in 1975 and immediately placed into service. These 70 buses were initially well
received and very much welcomed to the fleet. They consisted of 50 35 foot (45102-8-1) and
20 40 foot (53102-8-1) coaches and arrived painted in the MOD livery. They were numbered
1200-1249 for the 35 footers and
2600-2619 for the 40 foot coaches. The 40 foot buses
didn't have standee windows and were called Commuter Express buses. Sources indicate that
PAT planned at some point to convert these coaches with suburban style seating but this
was never done. These buses soon proved to be one of the worst buses PAT had ever
purchased in its entire history as they quickly rusted out and within 6 years, more than
half the fleet was out of service (some permanently) due to excessive rusting of the body
and structural components. This order marked the start of a long term problem with poorly
manufactured buses as well as the start of what was close to fleet failures with the older
equipment.
The next order of coaches PAT
was to receive was in 1977. These were more Flxible transit coaches but in a 30 foot
length. As PAT needed 30 foot coaches and of the big 3 manufacturers at the time, only
Flxible made them. PAT purchased 13 (1500-1512) of these with an option for another 10
(1513-1522). This option was exercised shortly after the arrival of the 1977 order and the
remaining 10 arrived in 1978. These coaches held up better than the 1975 order of coaches
did but these too had problems with rusting out. These were well liked by the operators,
regardless of the rusting, due to the power that they had. Only Ross, Collier and East
Liberty had these smaller buses assigned to them on the initial allocation of vehicles.
1978 also saw the arrival of
180 AM General transit coaches. 140 of these were 40 foot (2650-2789) and 40 were 35 foot
coaches (1260-1299). These too had many problems. As delivered, the coaches were extremely
difficult to steer and caused many operators to have back and shoulder related injury. The
frames of the buses also started to crack a few years into their service life and had to
be pulled from service as they failed for repairs. These buses also had many electrical
problems as well as the rattling window problems that made the ride rather noisy. Skirt
panels on these coaches also had to be replaced frequently due to the aluminum rotting out
due to the contact with the steel understructure. Even with their problems, many operators
preferred these coaches once the power steering was installed on them. They were extremely
powerful and one of the best "go in the snow" buses ever made by any
manufacturer.
1979 saw the arrival of
twenty 55 foot articulated coaches (3000-3019) from AM General. These buses were made
under agreement with MAN and purchased by PAT under a consortium purchase of many transit
systems across the country. PAT had been interested in obtaining articulated coaches for a
number of years since the successful testing of a MAN bus imported from Germany back in
1974. Until the AMG-MAN agreement, there was no U.S. source of articulated coaches as the
Buy American laws prevented all systems from utilizing this concept. These coaches ran
initially out of 3 of the 5 garages. Ross and Collier never had articulated coaches
although Collier was listed as receiving some in the initial coach allocation. It is
believed that the assignment to Collier was what is known as a "paper
assignment" with the buses slated to go there but sent elsewhere.
These articulated buses were
extremely unique to the PAT maintenance area as they were totally different from the GM
standard everyone was used to. With under floor engines, articulation joints and steerable
rear axles, these coaches had a long period of getting used to in order to
maintain them properly.
In true PAT fashion, the
articulated coaches ran on many routes that they really shouldn't have been run on. Routes
like the 84A Atwood have even seen the 3000 series articulated coaches running. Part of
this was due to the fact that PAT was experiencing mechanical problems with many of
its
older coaches to the point that if it could be started, moved and the brakes worked, the
bus was sent in service. Coaches of this type were known as "red lined" which
meant that they needed maintenance done on them but were still safe to operate for the
public. Missed trips and buses breaking down in service were common in the late 70's.
Approximately a third of the fleet was out of service at one time in one instance as the
older buses, overworked by the hilly terrain of the Pittsburgh area, began to fail. Relief
from this issue didn't occur until 1983.
One of the major highlights
associated with the MOD era were the "Extra Special" vehicles that PAT
developed. There were 2 buses that received the full treatment of enlarged destination
signs and a multitude of experimental features that are now commonplace on buses. There
was also 3 streetcars given a European look and were known as "flat fronts". Of
these 3, only one received the full complement of experimental features and was numbered
as 1976. The other 2 just received the new front end on an existing body. Coaches 1037 and
2441 received the full treatment with the larger signs and all the other features of the
program.
As PAT continued to promote
transit, two coaches were designated for special assignment. The first was coach 1963
which became the "Roving Ambassador". This coach was used as a mobile service
center as well as an instructional tool of PAT to generate public interest and inform them
of the benefits of taking transit. All seats were removed and a counter was installed
inside the bus. The second bus was coach 2616 which was known as the "Mobile
Classroom" which made the rounds to various schools to tell the history of PAT and
teach kids how to ride the bus. This coach had dark tinted windows and no fare box (one was
added later as PAT needed to use it in revenue service as well). 2616 was also the best
maintained of the Flxibles as it didn't see near as much service as the others. It was
eventually sold to Allegheny County to be used as a book mobile but it never was converted
and nobody knows what happened to it. 1963 was sold to a PAT employee who converted it to
a motor home.
Another innovative program
PAT instituted during the 70's was the "Access Program". This was a para-transit
service provided by private carriers licensed by PAT for the service. This program became
the model for many other transit systems in the Country. There were two reasons behind the
Access Program. The obvious reason of allowing disable individuals the ability to go
places was clear but there was also the Federal requirement that buses had to be
accessible to all people if a sufficient alternative mode of transit wasn't available. By
creating the Access Program, PAT was able to get out of purchasing lift equipped buses for
many years during the teething pains of the early models of wheelchair lifts which were
extremely unreliable.
The Early Action program was
also still well underway at PAT during the 70's. By 1974, legal challenges to PAT's desire
to use the Westinghouse "Skybus" were ruled upon by the courts and PAT was
forced to change the program from the Skybus technology to the more conventional light
rail technology. Part of the changes to the Early Action plan, made earlier, was that the
existing trolley lines and equipment would be rehabilitated. In addition, the
South Busway
made its debut in 1977. This busway was the first of its kind and became a model for
many other cities. The South Busway pointed positively to PAT's commitment to improved
public transit service in Allegheny County.
It is important to note, that
while funding to run the system was more readily available during this era, PAT was still
very under-funded back then and the politics were much more delicate due to the
controversial Early Action Program. This made the success of the MOD era under John T.
Mauro and Harold H. Geisenheimer even more commendable in that they were able to succeed
in the face of under-funding and the politics of the day.
The end of the MOD era
occurred in 1980 with the arrival of the new GM RTS II transit buses in a new livery
reminiscent of the Early Years. At this time, the last GM Old Look in PAT service was
finally pulled from service (it was supposed to have been pulled from service a year
earlier but was needed to help meet service). Only a handful of the former Independent
Operator buses were left running and these were 516, 550-553, 572 and 580-582 as well as
the ex-Wilkes-Barre bus 595. Coaches 516, 580-582 and 595 were leased out to the New
Castle Area Transit Authority for a couple of years and the buses were then returned and
sold off in 1982 except 580 and 581 which were returned to service and 595 which was
acquired by AMCAP.
The MOD era was perhaps the
best and worst of times at PAT. Items like Skybus and the Early Action Program as well as
PAT's stubborn commitment to the unproven Skybus technology will no doubt be discussed for
decades to come. It still is a heated subject among many. The great successes of the MOD
era and what would have occurred at PAT if they didn't lose the key leaders to the MOD
era's success will also be discussed as time goes on. In no other time in PAT's history
has so much occurred that directly effected both riders and non-riders alike, created
countless successes from a failing system, and set the system up for the slow downward
spiral that has been occurring since the late 1970's.
| The Formation | The Early Years
| The MOD Years | The
80's Era | The 90's Era | The Gold Era |
|