The Pittsburgh Tour Company’s big red bus has long been a fascination of mine. Before Pittsburgh City Paper moved from our river-facing office along Fort Pitt Boulevard, I can report that reliably, seven times a day during tourist season, the double-decker bus would pull into Station Square, sometimes stop, then drive past the Incline, standing out from all the other transit.
Back when I worked at The University of Pittsburgh, I’d watch the red bus circle the Cathedral of Learning. People in sun hats would pile off at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, or in the middle of the street at Forbes and Bellefield, presumably to head to the Carnegie museums. They’d also wave from atop the bus, and I’d indulge them and wave back. I’ve been wondering for more than a decade: where is that big red bus going, and who’s on it? Is it from London? Could I just hop on (as advertised) and be whisked away, city buses be damned?
In the spirit of local tourism, I took the two-and-a-half-hour ride. (I toured at the end of the season last year, but Pittsburgh Tour Company buses are back daily for the summer.) The 21-stop narrated tour offers a new vantage point of the city, some fun and well-worn Pittsburgh history, and the chance to play tourist and have locals gawk at you.
The Pittsburgh Tour Company has been operating since 2009, and was founded by husband-and-wife team Vince and Manon LaMonica, who once owned the Pittsburgh Pirate Ship.
“I always wanted to put my own mark on Pittsburgh, give it something it never had before,” Vince LaMonica told the Tribune-Review of launching the Tour Company.
The company’s first red double-decker bus, a 1964 Routemaster named Martha, was, in fact, from London, introduced to the city’s transit system the same year that Beatlemania hit America. After the bus’ retirement, the LaMonicas traveled to Canada to pick it up 16 years ago.
Today, the Pittsburgh Tour Company’s fleet of three double-decker buses, called Charlotte, Sharron, and Francis, are American-made, offering greater accessibility, heating and air conditioning, and a “more modern frame.”
I happen to catch Charlotte on a clear, sunny day, the rarity of which seems lost on my fellow out-of-town passengers. But our tour guide, Patty Davies, is upbeat. She tells City Paper she leads the paid tours for fun in addition to a full-time gig, and she doesn’t get tired of talking.
“I have four kids. I’ve done everything. I’ve been a Scoutmaster,” she says.
Davies says you’d be surprised how many people want to vacation or go sightseeing in Pittsburgh, naming PNC Park as the biggest draw. Big stadium games like the Backyard Brawl or concerts like Taylor Swift or Pearl Jam also fill out days of tours on the 60-seat bus and bring people from as far away as New Zealand.
“I get to meet people from everywhere,” Davies says. “I could talk about Pittsburgh all day, because I love it here, but mostly I like that we are meeting people from all over the whole world, and that’s what I miss in the off-season, is getting to see new people and hear about their lives.”
On a Monday tour at 3:15 p.m., the last of the day, seven people board the bus, visiting from Ohio and Delaware. The biggest group asks Davies about duckpin bowling, and exits near Shorty’s on North Shore Drive (Stop #7).
The bus tour runs in a loop, winding from the Pittsburgh Tour Company’s base in SouthSide Works, up East Carson Street and along the Monongahela, around the confluence to the North Shore, then back through Downtown into Oakland and the South Side. Save for buying a special “just the tour” pass (which I did), riders can indeed hop on and off at designated stops tied to various attractions, and most do.
Davies says, in her experience, the Station Square stop near the incline is the most popular.
“But Andy Warhol is a big deal,” she says. “The Strip District. People love the Strip District.”
Beyond the halfway point at the North Shore and Rivers Casino, the tour hits some expected spots: the National Aviary, Heinz History Center, a special stop at Wholey’s (where Davies emphasizes the market’s correct pronunciation), the David L. Lawrence Convention Center (where I learn that Billy Porter went to Pittsburgh CAPA), and a handful of Downtown hotels, before heading toward Oakland.
The narration is mostly standard fare — and I’m not opposed to misinforming visitors that this is the City of Bridges with more bridges than Venice. But there were also gems for Pittsburgh history nerds like myself. For example, the city’s past as a premiere glassmaker often gets short shrift compared to steel, but, almost immediately, Davies drops that, in 1876, there were 76 glass factories on the South Side, producing half the nation’s glass. (Presidents Andrew Jackson and James Monroe both ordered glassware manufactured in Pittsburgh to the White House.) Some of my favorite historical markers also get shout-outs: the Downtown marker commemorating the St. Patrick’s Day Flood of 1936; the bronze plaque marking Abraham Lincoln’s 1861 visit to the Allegheny Post Office, itself a registered historic building.
For me, the double-decker view is worth the ticket. Maybe the appeal would diminish after multiple rides, and most cities run double-decker bus tours (even Gettysburg to see the battlefield). But consider how often you get to stare at landmarks from 14 feet up — a little taller than one story and twice as high as the view from inside a PRT single-decker bus.
In the open air, I find myself at eye level with all the Victorian architectural details of buildings along East Carson Street Sailing through Downtown, we come so close to the gold marquee and ornate iron rail on the William Penn Hotel that I could reach out and touch them. The tour route doesn’t go on any highways, instead crossing three bridges, and my jaw drops passing only feet under the traffic lights on the West End Bridge, with a spectacular view of the yellow arches above.
Crossing Millionaire’s Row on the North Side (not to be confused with the one in Shadyside), people enjoying the warm weather outside on their porches began to wave at the tour bus, even though it must pass by several times a day. But with a new understanding of the novelty, I’m glad to return the favor and wave back.
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2025.
