The Silver line will become the new South Busway. This will be essential as I feel that a busway should get as close to the county line as possible. This is not the case with any of the three busways, but with the Silver, this does get close to the county line. Therefore, the Silver will become the South Busway, and with exception of adding bus platforms to the stations, there will be no extra work that would need to be done. However, the current South Busway will be renamed the South Corridor. By making resolution to reduce the number of routes that goes into Downtown, all routes that used the South Busway will terminate at either South Hills Junction, or Glenbury Station. There will be a Primary route that would serve the South Corridor which will keep this BRT line useful and relevant. The routes are as follows:
- 1S: South Busway – Oakland
- S1: South Busway
- S2: South Busway – Bethel Park
- S3: South Corridor
1S: South Busway – Oakland
The 1S: South Busway – Oakland will become a new route, and designed to get to Oakland as efficiently as possible. The 1S: South Busway – Oakland will start at the Library Station, and serve northward to Station Square. The 1S: South Busway – Oakland will then cross the Smithfield Street Bridge to connect with Grant Street, then Forbes Avenue. The 1S: South Busway – Oakland will remain on Forbes Avenue until reaching Carnegie Mellon University where it would terminate and loop.
On the return, the 1S: South Busway – Oakland will use Forbes Avenue to S. Bellefield Avenue where it will be used to connect to Fifth Avenue. The 1S: South Busway – Oakland will then use Fifth Avenue to connect with Grant Street, and then Grant to Blvd of the Allies. From the Blvd. of the Allies, the 1S: South Busway – Oakland will connect with Smithfield Street Bridge, and use that to reconnect with South Hills Junction to where the 1S: South Busway – Oakland will use to travel to Library Station.
While the 1S: South Busway – Oakland maybe in Downtown for a couple of minutes, there will be no stops for the 1S: South Busway – Oakland in Downtown. Even if I would have wanted them, I don’t see any safe place to add a bus stop at. Once the 1S: South Busway – Oakland enters Uptown, it will collect and drop off riders.
S1: South Busway
The S1: South Busway will be an LRT line that would reduce the demand of bus traffic in Downtown even if the South Busway will be able to support buses. By reducing the number of buses to go into Downtown, the better of chance for beneficial negotiating. Since the S1: South Busway is an LRT line, it will enter Downtown underground, and not interfere with street traffic. The S1: South Busway will terminate and loop at Allegheny Station.
S2: South Busway – Bethel Park
The S2: South Busway – Bethel Park will serve the ACT’s South Busway from Allegheny Station to Washington Junction. Once connecting with Washington Junction, the S2: South Busway – Bethel Park will leave the South Busway, and serve on the same tracks as the S551: Bethel Park. Because of this connection with Washington Junction, a rider in Bethel Park will be able to transfer to the South Busway, and board the 1S: South Busway – Oakland which is a bus route.
S3: South Corridor
The S3: South Corridor will provide primary bus service to the former South Busway. It is also one of the few routes that connect with South Hills Junction to actually enter Downtown. Once the S3: South Corridor enters Downtown, it will operate the Southern bus route for Downtown.