The Homestead community will have a number of routes that would operate to provide service. The main attraction will be the Waterfront Mall. And while the routes listed here are those that originate from Homestead, they are not the only routes serving Homestead. With that in mind, Homestead will be assigned the designation of 53. The routes are as follows:
- 53: Homestead Connector
- 531E: Homestead Short
- 531S: Homestead Park
- 532E: Waterfront Mall
- 532S: Homeville
- E351: Second Avenue
53: Homestead Connector
The 53: Homestead Connector will be a new route that would connect much of Homestead with Waterfront Mall. This will likely benefit from those without an automobile. The 53: Homestead Connector will go up West Street, and turn on E. 16th St to McClure street. The 53: Homestead Connector will then turn on McClure to return to W. 8th street, and eventually into the Waterfront Mall. The goal will be to make it easier for those that would need public transit to get to the mall, and connections with other buses which is the whole point of a connector.
531E: Homestead Short
The 531E: Homestead Short will replace the 61D: Murray and will follow the route exactly. This will allow riders from Waterfront to go to Oakland without much of an issue. Since this route is important to get people to Oakland for studies, or appointments. The 531E: Homestead Short will terminate on Fifth and Craft, and will loop at Robinson Street.
531S: Homestead Park
The 531S: Homestead Park will replace the 53: Homestead Park. Since this is a complete replacement, this will provide one of the bus routes to connect West Mifflin with Waterfront Mall. The 531S: Homestead Park will just another way to get there. With that said, this route could be important.
532E: Waterfront Mall
The 532E: Waterfront Mall will replace the 64: Lawrenceville – Waterfront in its entirety. The 532E: Waterfront Mall will serve a number of communities and make sure that the 532E: Waterfront Mall will operate effectively. The 532E: Waterfront Mall will also go a way to reduce the need for buses in Squirrel Hill. Obviously the other routes will provide service for Squirrel Hill from Homestead such as the 531E: Homestead Short.
532S: Homeville
The 532S: Homeville will operate in much the same way as the 52L: Homeville Limited, but the 532S: Homeville will not go beyond Waterworks Mall, and therefore will not serve Downtown. This might be a disappointment to some people, but one could transfer to the E531: Second Avenue to connect to Downtown, and this route will operate beyond the rush hour service that the 52L: Homeville Limited would have provided for.
E351: Second Avenue
The E351: Second Avenue will replace the 57: Hazelwood in its entirety. The reason that Hazelwood is not the name is Hazelwood is not a final destination, but instead a part of the journey. When possible, the route name should make sense, and give a detail on the actual route rather than just picking something different. With that said, there will be a route that would terminate in Hazelwood and will be named Hazelwood, so that would make more sense.
One thing to consider is how the E351: Second Avenue will enter Downtown. The E351: Second Avenue will use Second Avenue to Ross Street. The E351: Second Avenue will turn on Ross to Fifth Avenue where the E351: Second Avenue would operate as the Oakland Corridor route until reaching 6th and Fifth. The E351: Second Avenue would use Fifth to Ross, and then Ross to Second Avenue. The E351: Second Avenue will then turn outbound to return back.