EDITORIAL – Port Authority benefits from high gas prices

The price of gas and parking has a significant effect on one’s decision to drive. With gas… The price of gas and parking has a significant effect on one’s decision to drive. With gas prices on the rise and the recent decision to raise Pittsburgh parking taxes by 50 percent, it’s no wonder that ridership on buses and trolleys has increased by 5.6 percent.

Perhaps we’ve all noticed these trends in subtle changes that can be observed riding the bus these days. It’s natural for buses to be packed more than they usually are at the beginning of the school year and around 4 p.m. on the weekdays. But now it seems that more and more drivers are asking passengers to “move to the back.”

Then there’s the secret joy some of us take in welcoming those who are virgins to public transportation. They reluctantly earn rites of passage with each breath they take as buses crowd and personal space becomes obsolete.

But of course, not everyone is affected by rising gas prices, and inevitably those occupying window seats will grimace at the Mercedes Benz that occasionally speeds by when a bus appears to be parked at a routine stop.

But soon the anger subsides with the knowledge that riding the bus helps the daily commuter save approximately $360 a month when parking and gas fees are combined. Then waiting for service isn’t such a painstaking process.

For some of us with shorter distances to travel, cycling has become a necessary form of transportation. Pittsburgh, despite its unpredictable weather conditions, has always had a big bike-riding culture that isn’t limited to the students that populate the myriad of colleges and universities in the Steel City. A few minutes standing on Forbes Avenue will clue you in to the fact that people are more than eager to “hop on” the back of a bike on a breezy fall day or a wintry one.

There is also the other alternative for those who have to travel: no transportation. Despite the shortcomings that newcomers will not hesitate to point out, we are lucky to live in a city that allows us to seek refuge in public transportation when filling our tank starts to interfere with making ends meet. So all things considered, a 5 percent increase in ridership is a good thing.

We are helping an environment that desperately needs us to conserve and encouraging governments that are pumping funding into the transportation system as it starts to garner positive results. Some say that high gas prices will eventually go into remission and that crowded buses could be attributed to Port Authority cutting service runs. Perhaps the former just seems like desperate optimism.

This new world we are living in post-Hurricane Katrina requires some minor adjustments. Hopefully, for conservation and for the betterment of the transportation system, ridership will continue to increase. The only drawback with this new behavior that accounts for this increased ridership is that it’s reactionary. If it means a better world and a few more minutes spent getting home, we should opt for public transportation whether gas is up 50 percent or stable.