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Route BG can trace its
history back to 11/18/73 and the introduction of many Red Flyer express routes
that were introduced by PAT as part of the MOD era. The BG was an express
route that connected between the outer end of the 11F West View and the 16C
Bellevue to Erdner and Union routes.
Garages assigned to the BG:
- Ross Division - 11/18/73 - 08/28/93
Destination Signs:
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Standard sign for buses that did not the BG reading spliced in. Window
cards were used.
 AMG
& RTS example
 Full
size sign example
 When
first initiated, some full size readings were as above but later signs
were like the previous reading
Split sign example. Only a few split sign buses had the Red Flyer signs,
most just used "EXPRESS" with a window card..
Neoplan example |
Split signs and full size signs were similar to the
examples shown above.
The BG also had window cards which were used.
Routing:
Original Routing from West View (AM) - Gass Road via
Peony Drive, Timberlane, Gass Road, Wedgewood, Haviland Drive, Wedgewood,
Gass Road, Union Avenue, Means Avenue, North Jackson Avenue, Carolyn, Forest
Avenue, Balph Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, Kendall Avenue, Ohio River Blvd.,
Beaver Avenue, Belmont, Ridge, Reedsdale to Ft. Duquesne Bridge, Stanwix
Avenue, Liberty Avenue, 5th Avenue, Grant Street to 7th Street at Penn
terminus. (Last pickup - Kendall at Ohio River Blvd)
Original Routing from Pittsburgh (PM) - 7th Street at
Penn Avenue, Penn Avenue, Stanwix Street, Fort Duquesne Bridge, Reedsdale,
Chateau, Ohio River Blvd, Grant Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, North Freemont
Avenue, Forest Avenue, Carolyn, North Jackson Avenue, Means Avenue, Union
Avenue, Gass Road, Wedgewood, Haviland Drive, Wedgewood, Gass Road,
Timberlane, Peony Drive to Gass Road terminus. (First discharge - Ohio River
Blvd at Kendall)
07/07/74 AM routing - Gass Road via Peony Drive,
Timberlane, Gass Road, Wedgewood, Haviland Drive, Wedgewood, Gass Road,
Union Avenue, Means Avenue, North Jackson Avenue, Carolyn, Forest Avenue,
Balph Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, California Avenue, Ohio River Blvd., Beaver
Avenue ramp to California at Marshall Avenue, Beaver Avenue, Belmont, Ridge,
Reedsdale to Ft. Duquesne Bridge, Stanwix Avenue, Liberty Avenue, 5th
Avenue, Grant Street to 7th Street at Penn terminus. (Last pickup -
California at Marshall)
07/07/74 PM Routing - 7th Street at Penn Avenue, Penn
Avenue, Stanwix Street, Fort Duquesne Bridge, Reedsdale, Chateau, ramp to
California Avenue, California Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, North Freemont Avenue,
Forest Avenue, Carolyn, North Jackson Avenue, Means Avenue, Union Avenue,
Gass Road, Wedgewood, Haviland Drive, Wedgewood, Gass Road, Timberlane,
Peony Drive to Gass Road terminus. (First discharge - California at
Marshall)
02/21/82 AM routing - Gass Road via Peony Drive,
Timberlane, Gass Road, Wedgewood, Haviland Drive, Wedgewood, Gass Road,
Union Avenue, Means Avenue, North Jackson Avenue, Carolyn, Forest Avenue,
Balph Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, California Avenue, Ohio River Blvd., Beaver
Avenue ramp to California at Marshall Avenue, Beaver Avenue, Ridge,
Reedsdale to Ft. Duquesne Bridge, Stanwix Avenue, Liberty Avenue, 5th
Avenue, Grant Street to 7th Street at Penn terminus. (Last pickup -
California at Marshall)
02/21/82 PM Routing - No change.
Detour from 1978 through 1981 due to closing of the
McAfee Bridge on California Avenue:
AM trips - Regular route to Termon Avenue extension, Ohio
River Blvd., California Avenue at Marshall Avenue, Beaver Avenue ramp and
then via regular route.
PM Trips - Regular route to California at Marshall
Avenue, Ramp to Ohio River Blvd., Termon Avenue extension, California Avenue
and then via regular route.
A one way trip on the regular routing took approximately
35 minutes.
Route Highlights:
Started: 11/18/73
Ended: 08/28/93
The BG ran only Monday through Friday in AM and
PM peak service, one-way.
The BG ran through 3 zones (1, 1A and 2) under
the original fare structure and 2 zones (1 & 2) under the revised fare
structure.
Many have questioned the routing of the BG in the
Manchester area as to why it just didn't stay on the Ohio River Blvd
into town instead of taking the Beaver Avenue ramps. This was to
accommodate those PAT workers that worked at and rode the bus to the PAT
administration building in Manchester.
The initial year of the BG resulted in
occasional but temporary detours due to the finishing up of
construction on the Ohio River Blvd project.
The BG ran one trip in the AM and one trip in the
PM.
The change in routing effective 07/07/74 was the
result of the fact that several PAT employees wanted to ride the trip to
the PAT Manchester administration offices as well as to avoid traffic
congestion on Ohio River Blvd at the McKees Rocks Bridge.
The BG schedule, although it should have been
simple was always more difficult that is should have been as the BG was
inserted into the schedule anywhere from 3 to 4 times for the same trip.
When the schedule same folder included the 16C, 11F and the B Flyer, the
BG would show on each of those schedules, as well as its own schedule,
within the same folder and with slightly different times as each of
those routes had different time points associated with them.
Route maps also were confusing as for many years
the BG never showed on the maps. After the split between folder R-8 and
R-22, route maps were shown for the BG but showed them with what appears
to be 2 different routings.
Schedules (Known PAT issued schedules are listed):
The BG had 4 unique schedule styles. The initial schedule
was a rare issue of the "RAT" logo followed by the standard MOD era
schedules in 1974 through 1987 when the schedule design changed to the
Neoplan on the front design. The BG was initially under folder R-8 and later
changed to folder R-22 when the 16C, B and BG were moved to their own
folder. Folder R-17 also carried the BG schedule as well as specialized Red
Flyer schedule folder R-15.
- 11D/11F/16C/B Flyer Schedule
- R-8B - 11/18/73 - "RAT" logo schedule
- R-8C - 02/24/74 - MOD era schedule starts
- R-8D - 05/12/74
- R-8E - 07/07/74
- R-8F - 09/01/74
- R-8G - 11/24/74
- R-8H - 05/18/75
- R-8J - ?
- R-8K - 01/18/76
- R-8L - 02/15/76 - Corrected to 02/16/76
- R-8M - 07/04/76
- R-8N - 09/05/76
- R-8P - 11/07/76
- R-8Q - 02/06/77 - Reissued without correction *
- R-8R - 06/19/77
- R-8S - 09/04/77
- R-8T - 11/20/77
- R-8U - 04/23/78
- R-8V - 06/18/78
- R-8W - 09/03/78 - B Flyer added to schedule
- R-8X - 11/19/78 - Reissued without correction *
- R-8Y - 11/18/79
- R-8Z - 06/15/80
- R-8A - 11/23/80
- R-8B - 02/15/81
- R-8C - 04/19/81
- R-8D - ?
- R-8E - 11/22/81
- R-8F - 01/03/82
- R-8G - 02/21/82
- R-8H - 06/27/82 - 16C/B Flyer moved to R-22 and still
remained in R-8
- R-8J - 08/29/82
- R-8K - 11/21/82
- R-8L - 06/12/83
- R-8M - 08/28/83
- R-8N - 02/19/84
- R-8P - 06/10/84
- R-8Q - 08/26/84
- R-8R - ?
- R-8S - ?
- R-8T - 08/28/85
- R-8U - ?
- R-8V - ?
- R-8W - ?
- R-8X - ?
- R-8Y - 08/24/86
- R-8Z - ?
- R-8A - 02/15/87
- R-8B - 08/30/87
- R-8C - 11/22/87 - "Neoplan schedule"
- R-8D - ?
- R-8E - 06/05/88
- R-8F - 09/04/88
- R-8G - 11/20/88
- Moved to R-17A after 11F/13F received separate folder
- 16C/ B Flyer schedules
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- R-22A - 06/27/82
- R-22B - ?
- R-22C - 11/21/82
- R-22D - 02/20/83
- R-22E - 06/12/83
- R-22F - 08/28/83
- R-22G - ?
- R-22H - ?
- R-22J - 06/10/84
- R-22K - ?
- R-22L - 11/18/84 - Reissued without correction *
- R-22M - ?
- R-22N - ?
- R-22P - 11/24/85
- R-22Q - 02/16/86
- R-22R - 06/15/86
- R-22S - 08/24/86
- R-22T - 02/15/87
- R-22U - 08/30/87
- R-22V - 11/22/87 - "Neoplan schedule"
- R-22W - 06/05/88
- R-22X - 02/11/90
- R-22Y - ?
- R-22Z - ?
- R-22A - ?
- R-22B - 11/24/91
- R-22C - 11/22/92
- R-22D - 02/28/93
11F/13F Schedules
R-17A - 10/01/89
R-17B - 04/22/90
R-17C - ?
R-17D - 12/16/90 - Fares corrected to 01/01/91
R-17E - R-17C - ?
R-17D - 02/28/93
R-17E - 05/30/93
Red Flyer Schedules
R-15A - R-15F - ?
R-15G - 05/12/74
R-15H - ?
R-15J - ?
R-15K - 11/25/74
R-15L - ?
R-15M - ?
R-15N - ?
R-15P - 07/06/76
R-15Q - 02/06/77
R-15R - 05/01/77
Folder numbers were re-used after 24 issues. Letters I and O were not
used as folder suffix indicators.
Route Disposition:
The BG was discontinued effective 08/28/93 and replaced
partially by a new route, the 18C Erdner - Union Express over what was the
16C short to Erdner and Union. The 11F portion of the BG was serviced by the
13F West View Express which was already in place for several years prior to
the BG elimination.
Click on images for larger view
The "RAT" schedule and a 1982 route map.. |
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