The holiday season is a time for reflection. For some, it’s a time to celebrate the past year’s victories. For others, it can be an emotionally charged time, or a season of financial stress.

This year, I’m reflecting on nearly two years of hot transit takes and re-examining some older ideas. While much has changed in Pittsburgh over that time, our transit situation remains pretty much the same — which is to say beset by budget hassles, decreased ridership, and changing needs.

Toward a better T

I continue to dream of trolley service along the Allegheny. With Consumer Fresh Produce moving and thus eliminating the need for periodic trains along Allegheny Valley Railroad’s Strip District trackage, the possibility of a Railroad St. transit line feels closer than ever.

That said, I see two major obstacles. The first is the difficulty of bridging service from existing T lines. A flyover or tunnel underneath the former Penn Station or the trunk line separating the Strip from Polish Hill is probably a nonstarter in the current fiscal environment. Having a physical separation would also drastically limit my hypothetical Black Line’s utility.

The second obstacle is actually a good thing: T expansion along Pa. Route 65 could actually happen as part of the Esplanade Development, which, after years of discussion, has finally broken ground. As a Transit Revitalization Investment District (or TRID), the Esplanade will include funding for studies that could see 65 overhauled as a trolley corridor. If nothing else, that’s an important first step toward service expansion in the future.

The Wabash Cable Car

If the anonymous buyer who purchased the former Wabash Bridge piers in 2023 is reading this, I have a pitch for you: your unusual acquisition is the perfect spot for an aerial tramway to Mt. Washington.

While the finished product would require some cooperation from the owners of 11 Stanwix, the Wabash pier on the southern side is adjacent to a parking lot, and, at the crest of Mt. Washington at a convenient angle for a cable car station, there is — you guessed it — also a parking lot that was once supposed to become the site of a St. Mary of the Mount community center. So, mystery buyer, hear my plea: it’s time for a cable car.

A pink dotted line tracing a route from Downtown to Mt. Washington — The route of a hypothetical Wabash Cable Car Credit: Colin Williams

Rahndabaht roundup

I continue to believe firmly in the utility of roundabouts. In the year and a half since my initial call for more of them, I identified Bigelow Blvd., Penn and Fifth Avenues, and the Bloomfield Bridge as strong candidates for roundabouts, and my experience as a driver has strengthened my belief that these three intersections would be dramatically improved by them.

Washington County drivers have proven themselves capable of handling roundabouts and diverging diamond interchanges, so I believe in battle-scarred Pittsburgh drivers’ ability to handle a few more roundabouts in place of traffic lights.

Welcome back, Amtrak

Transit Talk has mainly been a vehicle for hyperlocal transit ideas, but, on the national front, there’s also cause for optimism — Amtrak saw record ridership and revenue this past fiscal year. In Pittsburgh, however, Amtrak passengers must use our unsightly “Amshack” instead of the grand former Penn Station building. The last time I passed through the station, there was raw sewage coming through a floor drain. No joke, I’ve had better rail travel experiences in rural Ukraine.

As the federal service prepares for renovations in Greensburg and Latrobe, I’ll add my voice to the chorus hoping for a better station experience here in Pittsburgh in the not-too-distant future. We have the bones of a railroad city but the facilities of a backwater town. If we deserved our grand new airport, then we surely deserve an upgraded train station.