For whomever is unaware, the city does have a light rail system called the "T", but it is mediocre at best. It runs about 20 miles from the Southern suburbs to Station square, crosses the Monongahela River, and goes underground for a few stations downtown. The Port Authority has been working on an extension to the line to go from the Gateway center station through a tunnel bored under the Allegheny river, and coming above ground for two new stations at PNC park and Heinz Field.
This decision to extend it to the stadiums was a perfect example of the poor transportation planning that we see so much of in the states. According to gmaps pedometer, the walk from the Gateway center station (in downtown) to PNC park, across the Allegheny River, is half a mile, or about 10 minutes at a normal pace. But for political and financial reasons, the Port Authority decided to lobby the federal and state governments for hundreds of millions of dollars to dig a tunnel for a half mile line under the Allegheny, and the project is well underway. Turns out that the project is way over budget--from an original estimate of $350 million to over $550 million, according to the Post-Gazette.
It baffles me why anyone would think that a link to the stadiums would be more important than a line to the airport or to Oakland (the transportation, educational, and medical hub for the city). In transportation planning, it's all about reducing VMT, or vehicle miles traveled. The point of having a light rail system is to get people to where they need to go without having to rely on an automobile for transportation. It can be seen as a way of social and environmental justice--cleaner air for city residents, and the opportunity for poorer folks (or anyone else) to get around without having to pay the high costs for a car. A rail line out to the airport or Oakland would dramatically reduce VMT, not to mention the fact that it would be incredibly convenient. Sadly, the line across the river will have little effect on reducing automobile usage in the city.
It turns out that this planning decision was a result of local politics, just like how the poor planning decisions--or lack of decisions--in Atlanta are usually a result of state politics. I won't expand upon it here, but you can check out this article..it explains exactly what went wrong.
The silver lining about this entire thing is that the port authority, governor, and media realize that it was an awful decision. We can only hope that more money will become available in the near future for some transit that will actually help the city and make other places envy our excellent public transportation system.
