NEXTransit Downtown; PRT Downtown Bus Rerouting Plan

Project Overview

NEXTransit Downtown is one of the first implementation projects to come out of NEXTransit, the Long Range Transportation Plan adopted by Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) in 2021. The goal is to reconfigure PRT’s downtown bus routing to accommodate upcoming changes due to the upcoming Downtown-Oakland Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, as well as generally making downtown transit routing more efficient, effective, safer, and more user-friendly.

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 – July 2023

Community Engagement

E. Holdings, Inc. (EHI) is serving as the community engagement lead, as a sub-consultant to Michael Baker International. In this capacity, EHI is facilitating monthly project steering committee meetings, managing a large stakeholder advisory group comprised of over 100 local and regional organizations, and implementing extensive public outreach to ensure that all transit riders have an equal and equitable opportunity to participate. Overall goals for engagement include:

Inform and educate the public
Make and build connections
Encourage continued participation
Use input to shape planning efforts
Identify opportunities for PRT to leverage and build public acceptance

During the first round of engagement, the project team talked to over 400 people through a combination of online public meetings, in-person pop-up events at bus stops and farmers markets, a project website featuring an interactive mapping and comment form, and a street team collecting public survey information.

For the second round of engagement, a Downtown storefront was used to create an open house pop-up, which invited the public in for a closer look at the proposed scenarios and discuss transit values and preferences. Elements of this pop-up were replicated both in a series of virtual public meetings and on the project website, with interactive maps, surveys, and comment sections.

The final round of public engagement included a presentation of the final plan to the public via two public meetings and the project website. There were opportunities for the public to leave final comments on the plan before implementation begins.

You can learn about this project at nextransit.network/downtown