New Local Celebrity: Sinkhole Bus

When it comes to a talisman that unites a city in a common cause and experience, San Francisco has Karl the Fog, Los Angeles has Earthquake Weather, Pawnee has Lil Sebastian, and Pittsburgh, it seems, has Sinkhole Bus.

A Port Authority of Allegheny County bus fell into a sinkhole in October, and multiple business are capitalizing on the comedic image of the bus, rear shoved into the bottom of a sinkhole, front balanced at an angle above the street. 

"Sinkhole bus is the gift that keeps on giving, especially if you’re a Pittsburgh business," writes Joshua Axelrod.

There have been Sinkhole Bus-themed donuts, cupcakes, and more, as documented by Axelrod.

Next stop, Oakmont. #sinkholebus pic.twitter.com/szfiSC7Fn1

— Oakmont Bakery (@OakmontBakery) November 1, 2019

In addition to corporate efforts to capitalize on the bus's misfortune, there too is a more populist effort to celebrate sinkhole bus, with memes, Halloween costumes, and its own Twitter feed.

The whole episode raises the question of whether there is another bus in the entire country that can rival Sinkhole Bus for celebrity. Perhaps the MARTA bus that blocked the shot of one frustrated camera person's Georgia Dome implosion back in 2017.