Port Authority changes almost half its routes

The Pittsburgh Port Authority will alter 75 bus routes — almost half its total service —… The Pittsburgh Port Authority will alter 75 bus routes — almost half its total service — beginning this Sunday, according to the Port Authority website.

Although most changes start this weekend, the Port Authority will rename the EBO East Busway-Oakland as P3 East Busway-Oakland on Tuesday. The route itself won’t change, but its time schedule will.

Also starting on Tuesday, a new 93 route will run between Oakland and Lawrenceville along North Craig Street, Fifth Avenue, DeSoto Street, O’Hara Street and Bigelow Boulevard in Oakland. The route will then cut across the Bloomfield Bridge to Main Street, 40th Street and Butler Street in Lawrenceville.

One of the most noticeable changes for Pitt students will be an increase in service on the 71A and 71C routes that operate in Oakland. The 71A will run every 30 minutes during the week and every 45 minutes on Sunday. The 71C will run every 30 minutes and will no longer service Ellsworth Avenue.

G2 service will run down Fifth Avenue to the Boulevard of The Allies and into Downtown, and will follow the East Busway before re-entering Oakland.

According to the website, these changes aren’t the only ones in the works. The Port Authority is currently in a funding crisis, which will result in a 35 percent reduction in service in January, according to an e-mail from Jim Ritchie, the Port Authority’s spokesman.

Check out portauthority.org for all of the schedule revisions and route changes.