November service changes and 59U notes

Nothing too big in the November service adjustments, with the exception of the mall reroutings mentioned a few posts down.

One note is the discontinuation of Century III Mall service on the 59U route. Yes, Century III Mall is an almost dead mall that probably attracted few to take the 1 hour venture from Oakland. (One man's 2001 venture on that route is chronicled here.)

But of note is the fact that the 59U was created to link Oakland with Century III Mall before the Waterfront development existed. The 59U was created during an apparent time of experimentation between the Port Authority and the University of Pittsburgh in the mid 90s. Searches on the internet and sightings on Bus Stop signs also show the existence of a 12U, which went from Oakland to Ross Park Mall. I could have sworn somewhere I read an old article that the 12U only ran every 2 weeks on Saturdays, which is one of the dumbest service plans I have ever heard of. According to Save Our Transit many U-Buses bit the dust in 2002 but the 59U persevered.

I have actually taken a few 59U buses all the way to Century III Mall. They were a bit more convenient than transferring but near the end of their life they only left the mall every 2 hours only on weekends. They also forced Century III Mall riders to slowly move through the Waterfront development on their way to the mall. I only noticed a few taking it from Oakland, most passengers were getting on at the Waterfront, and other routes offer Waterfront-Century III mall service. What I had heard of were people getting lost by taking a Century III bound bus at the Waterfront rather than an Oakland bound one. Now that would be scary for a non-native college student.

The good news is the deletion of the Century III Mall leg actually added some much-needed trips to the weekend schedule. There are now 5 more to the Waterfront and 3 more to Oakland on Saturdays, with the last bus leaving the Waterfront at a more realistic 12:04am compared to 11:12pm. So I applaud the Port Authority. The next step is to make Friday-only schedules for the "college student" buses (59U and 54C to the South Side and Strip District), since ridership has to be higher on Fridays compared to Tuesdays, even though all weekday schedules are the same. Are you listening Port Authority?