Building on the East Busway; PRT Infill Station Study
Project Overview
The goal of Port Authority’s Building on The East Busway (BOTEB) project is to comprehensively plan TOD and multimodal improvements in the corridor along the Martin Luther King, Jr. East Busway, and study the potential for adding up to three (3) new infill stations. This TOD planning project will focus on a corridor containing four existing stations and three potential new stations along the East Busway. E. Holdings, Inc. has been contracted to assist with public engagement and outreach for the BOTEB project.
Core Services Performed:
- Public Input Collection & Management
- Stakeholder Coordination & Engagement
- Graphic Design
- Strategic Communications
Client: Pittsburgh Regional Transit
Prime: Michael Baker International
Timeline: January 2022 – Present
Engagement & Input
In an effort to center on current transit riders and those most likely to depend on transit for their primary mobility in the community our team has created an engagement plan that includes tailored methods that include in-person and online meetings, pop-up input events, attendance at existing community gatherings and community organization meetings, static information tables and boards located at stations, mailers and survey cards, and online and mailed surveys. Our team will create all materials and collateral for meetings and online engagement, including a project logo and branding guidelines.
To-date we have completed our first round of public engagement with included an online and in-person meeting, 2 pop-up input events, and our team attended the Art Jam event to collect public input. In-person input collection consisted of a map that allowed participants to mark problem areas and areas for improvement, and sticky notes to write down ideas. Online engagement was facilitated through Social Pinpoint and allowed users to place pins on a map to mark usability and access issues and a public comment board for ideas and comments. In total we received 133 comments during this round of engagement.
We have also started stakeholder engagement by hosting a design idea workshop and collecting input from stakeholders on station access, design, community development opportunities, and community values. SAC members provided insight on concerns, ideas and design considerations that should be included in the concept development, station placement, station improvements, and insight on current and future market trends in the project areas. The information gathered during this SAC meeting was combined with the feedback from the public and is being used to inform the station design concepts that are currently being developed. Stakeholders are kept up-to-date with project planning and progress through quarterly newsletters that our team compiles, designs, and emails to members.
You can learn more about this project at www.rideprt.org/bo
