Pittsburghers for Public Transit: Don’t sever the 75 bus line — extend it into Hazelwood | The Homepage

A bus stops at a bus shelter in Hazelwood. Photo by Juliet Martinez

By Ziggy Edwards

It’s not a new idea, but it might be one whose time has come. The Bus Line Refresh is an opportunity to push for a connection that transit advocates and Hazelwoodians have been requesting for years, according to Pittsburghers for Public Transit Executive Director Laura Wiens.

In 2018 and 2019, Pittsburghers for Public Transit worked with residents of neighborhoods that would have been affected by the now-canceled Mon-Oakland Connector shuttle road. Together, they came up with an alternative plan that served more people for less money: Our Money, Our Solutions. The plan asked for several improvements to bus service in Hazelwood, including weekend service on the 93 line and extending the 75 line. Weekend service on the 93 came to pass, but not the 75 extension.

The Bus Line Refresh proposes splitting the current 75 route in two. The D75 would go between Aspinwall and Downtown through Morningside without crossing to the South Side. The O54 would serve as a South Side-North Side connection through Oakland and parts of Bloomfield and Lawrenceville.

A 2020 report by Pittsburghers for Public Transit and Tech4Society described the benefits of having the current (pre-Refresh) 75 cross the Hot Metal Bridge and loop through Hazelwood Green to Second Avenue and back over the bridge. The Hazelwood extension would:

• Add a currently missing connection between Hazelwood and South Side Flats.

• Provide another way for people in Hazelwood to get to and from Oakland.

• Give people in Hazelwood the option of reaching the Aldi and Giant Eagle in Shadyside, which are both blocks from the current 75 route.

The 75’s connection to parts of Shadyside may also help residents of lower Greenfield and The Run who would lose the 58 bus line if the Bus Line Refresh proposal is adopted as-is.

Ray Gerard is one of those residents. He rides the bus daily.

“Previous service cuts to the 58 have caused a lot of hardship getting to and from work,” he said on April 16. Because he works in different parts of Shadyside, his commute changes each day. “Half of the time I take one bus, which is about an hour. The other half I have to take two buses. That takes up to two hours each way — to travel three miles.”

Mr. Gerard said the proposed Bus Line Refresh would force him to take two buses everywhere he goes. Based on the amount of time he spends waiting to transfer now, Mr. Gerard estimated the Bus Line Refresh would double his commute time to 20-24 hours a week.

Ms. Wiens said during an April 13 phone call that Pittsburghers for Public Transit’s proposed extension of the 75 would help Hazelwood and lower-Greenfield residents access Shadyside and parts of East Liberty with a minor addition of time. The extension, according to the 2020 report, would add nine minutes and 3.66 miles to the existing route. Ms. Wiens estimated that Mr. Gerard’s commute would be faster or at least comparable to what it is now (once construction on the route is completed).

“Instead of carving it up, let’s expand it,” she said about the 75. “It addresses so many different needs with one small change.”

Ziggy Edwards is a citizen journalist and resident of Four Mile Run who proofreads every issue of The Homepage.