New 25-Year Transit Plan in the Works in the Pittsburgh Area

The Port Authority of Allegheny County is embarking on a new 25-year transit plan, reports Ed Blazina.

The Pittsburgh-area transit authority will spend 18 months devoted to deciding plan where the agency should provide service, rather than deciding which mode of service will be used, according to Blazina's explanation of the process. 

"With new modes of transportation arriving every few years — self-driving vehicles and shared services such as Uber and Lyft were just forward-thinking ideas five years ago — the agency can pick the vehicle to follow the transit road map when the time comes," writes Blazina.

The Port Authority last produced a transit plan for the country in 2006, working with the nine counties represented in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. "This plan will consult other counties so it is compatible with their plans and services and will go to the SPC for approval […] but it will concentrate on Allegheny County," according to Blazina.