2020 Vision

Airport Area Public Meeting

Sponsored by

Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce

Tuesday, July 31, 2001

At PTI/Boyd School

 

 

The following is a transcription of the notes taken at the public meeting held in July to discuss transit visioning for the airport area corridor.  A follow up meeting will be convened sometime in early 2002, inviting back the participants in this discussion, as well as the public at large.  If you would like to participate in future discussions, please contact the Chamber at 412-264-6270.

 

 

Convened by:   Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce

                        Sally Haas, President

Project Sponsors:

            Bruce Ahern, AGM for Business Development and Planning, Port Authority of All. Co.

            Rich Feder, Director of Planning, Port Authority of Allegheny County

            Chuck Imbrogno, SPC

Consultant Team:

            Don Carter, Urban Design Associates

            Andrew Dresdner, Urban Design Associates

            Mary Jo Kulik, Mizerak Bowers & Associates, Inc.

Facilitating:  Sally Mizerak, Mizerak Bowers & Associates, Inc.

 

WHAT DO WE WANT TO PRESERVE IN OUR REGION? WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE?

1.      Quality of life – great place to raise a family

2.      Assets of large city without being large

3.      Medium pace of life (+ and -)

4.      Topography

·        Hills

·        Trees

5.      Change of seasons

6.      Small town atmosphere (+ and -)

·        Sense of knowing people

·        Sense of knowing community

7.      Quality of medical institutions

8.      First-class airport

 

WHAT DON’T WE WANT TO SEE IN OUR REGION?

1.      Strip development

2.      Parochialism

3.      Continuation of bureaucracy

4.      Urban sprawl

 

WHAT IS IT THAT COMPANIES WANT?

1.      First-class land with ready infrastructure and available funding

2.      Readily developable land

3.      Easy access to other major metro areas

4.      Regional presence

5.      Workforce availability

·        Transportation to get workers to jobs

6.      Ability to move goods

7.      Quality of life to attract employees

8.      Streamlined process to attract business

9.      Links between transit modes

10.  Access to airport

11.  Access to customers

12.  Ramps to I-79

13.  Better, user-friendlier bus system (Downtown)

14.  Ability to get places without going through downtown

 

WHAT DOES OUR REGION NEED?

1.      Need accessibility of workers and resources

2.      Look at goods transportation as well as people transportation

·        We had rail once to connect our region.  Why not again?

1.      More efficient and comprehensive mass transit

2.      More bus service within airport corridor

3.      Expanded fixed rail system

4.      More park and ride lots

5.      Mass transit in all counties that is:

·        Fast

·        User friendly

·        Speed

·        Reasonable prices

·        Reliability – timing

·        Schedule

                        a.  Frequency

                        b.  Later hours

 

WHAT ARE OUR CHALLENGES?

Tax structure.  Should we consider collective planning and tax sharing?

·        How do we share revenue when one county takes development and business from another?

·        If we don’t start thinking collectively – we’ll lose

·        Collaborative funding unlikely

·        Review tax structure a must

 

PEOPLE DECIDE WHERE THEY WANT TO LIVE FIRST.  HOW DO WE BUILD ON THAT QUALITY OF LIFE?

1.      What constitutes quality of life for younger people?

2.      Analyze what groups of people the “good quality of life” applies to; maybe this isn’t primary for everyone

 

WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO GET YOU OUT OF THE CAR AND ONTO PUBLIC TRANSIT?

1.      Rail system

·        All weather

·        Fewer stops

·        Not in traffic/on right of way

·        Comfort

2.      Buses

·        Fast and convenient / not stuck in traffic

·        User friendly

·        Accessible

·        No transfer

·        Reasonable price

·        Reliable/on-time

·        Frequency

·        More bus service linked within community

3.      Bus Rapid Transit

·        Work with one ticket

·        No stops

·        Comfort

·        Right of way

·        Circulating mini-b8ses in neighborhoods

·        Downtown circulator bus (feeders with perimeter parking)

·        Bus rapid transit from airport to Pittsburgh Bus from airport to Pittsburgh

·        Get from point A to point B without going into town

4.      Busways

·        Connect East and West Busways so you can go from airport to East suburbs without transferring

 

5.      Park and rides

·        Accept people driving partway

·        Promote transit as an option to full parking garages and parking cost

·        Place park and ride lots strategically so people will use them

·        Make them easily accessible from residential areas, so people don't have to go out of their way to find them

 

 

IS MAGLEV WANTED?

1.      Maglev isn’t local commuter transit – no local stops

2.      It is a solution for connecting downtown Pittsburgh to the airport

3.      Helps take some traffic off corridors but adds traffic to Magports

4.      As demonstration to build farther – connect to other regions

5.      Maglev will link to other types of transportation

·        Buy one ticket one time

6.      Creates opportunities for business development in area around Magports

           

WHAT OTHER LINKS ARE NEEDED?

1.      Waterways

2.      Magports

·        Park and rides

·        Airport

3.      Inner beltway

·        Beltway kills downtown, encourages sprawl and creates congestion

·        Beltway more effective with development control

·        Use mass transit instead of a beltway