Or, the mook from Baltimore takes a trip on the Pittsburgh T.
So in the over ten years since going to Pittsburgh for Anthrocon, I have never ridden their light rail, aka the T, before yesterday (Monday). In previous years I was ether on a too-tight schedule and had to leave that Monday, or last year I was sick for the day I was spending after the con (and I'm glad I did, because it made the trip back on the Pennsy easier). This time, I didn't take the Amtrak Pennsy this year. Two bags (one regular, one costume) is rather too much for the trip. I flew in... but I had to spend time on Monday namely because 9am flight, needed to be at the airport at 7am, SuperShuttle wanted to pick me up at 6am for a 18 minute trip to the airport... and SuperShuttle is notoriously early so I end up having to wake up at 5am (aka "o'dark thirty") to make my trip.
With a little bit of time on my hands, I thought I'd finally take a trip on the T and head over to the South Hill Valley mall, which is a short walk away from one of the T's end points. I grabbed a day pass (which is a paper-based tap card) at Wood Street and took the train down.
The light rail cars are a bit bus-like, in which there is one entrance for low platforms (including some short ones) while three are on each side for the high platforms (most stations). There's room enough for two-by-two seating but it's mostly two-by-one, and a fare box is on ether side. True to their payment scheme (pay on outskirts), you don't pay if you travel inside the city (including the north shore), but cross the Monongahela River to South Shore, and it's time to cough up your fare ($2.50 if pre-paid, $2.75 at the fare box). At South Hill Valley (terminus), you pay/tap at the attendant station.
The whole thing made me think on how Baltimore could of done theirs better. Granted, the Red Line there would of required vehicles and it would of been perfect to scrap the old ones and bring on new vehicles like the VTA, but this could of been a better way in which the existing fleet was adapted.
Train travel is a valid cure for extreme burnout.
Throng: Nomadic Railways series out now!
https://throng.band