Archive for October 6th, 2026
Mass trans-sitting
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the historical curatives, embraced during the City of Pittsburgh’s steel industry apocalypse and subsequent multi-decade economic recovery period, involved the conversion of former railroad and industrial property’s ‘right of way’ over to an alternative purpose.
Some of these rights of way were converted over to ‘rail trails’ for active, and often waterfront facing, recreation purposes.
Several others were converted over to ‘Busways.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These are municipal vehicle only high speed roads.
You see Cops, Firemen, Ambulances, even the sundry fleets of agency vehicles associated with City or State, using these ‘back door’ routes. The agency which ultimately administers this system is called the ‘PRT,’ and they are the master agency behind both the T light Rail and the extensive bus system which replaced Pittsburgh’s historical network of trolleys.
PRT is Pennsylvania’s counterpart to the MTA, back in NY.
The transit agency people claim that their buses can move as fast at 50mph on these private roads.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are three of these busways, and I’m planning on getting to know where they all go this autumn and winter.
Seems like a good choice, weather wise. The busways interface with local streets, obviously, where the buses leave their private roadways to do the usual thing on the shared public streets.
This was literally the first time I’d darkened the pavement of this system with my odious presence.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One was taking this shot when my downtown focused bus arrived. Paid my fare with a special fare card they use here – the Pittsburgh version of the OMNY or Metrocard used for the NYC Subway and Bus system.
It was standing room only on the bus, but this was a short hop and the air conditioning was welcome after walking about in ‘the hot.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bus, whose routing indicated it as a ‘P1,’ dropped myself and others off alongside what used to be one of the most important locations in the United States – the HQ of the Pennsylvania Rail Road.
Said HQ is now an expensive condo, with the train station run by Amtrak below, and it looks like a Soviet Orthodontist’s office.
Having enjoyed my retreat from the heat, and desirous of photographing some railroad action, a new and cunning plan emerged from within the head noodle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One would make his way over to the T light Rail station associated with the U.S. Steel Building, and use that to cross the Monongahela River.
That would put me where I wanted to be, on the south side of the river, where CSX’s frequent travels have been documented before.
The irony of my stated purpose for this walk as ‘getting some cardio in’ devolving factually down to riding a bus, and then a train – this fact does not escape me. What can I say?
You have to ‘go with the flow,’ and as sweat was oozing freely from your humble narrator’s skinvelope on this super hot day, there was the ‘flow’ part for you.
Back tomorrow.
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“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
