New bus line eases traffic

Tired of packed buses? Sick of never being able to get a seat for the short ride from Craig… Tired of packed buses? Sick of never being able to get a seat for the short ride from Craig Street to Denniston Street?

Port Authority representatives believe they have the answer, and it has nothing to do with service cuts or walking. The public transit company unveiled a new bus line this fall, the 69A. Having debuted Sept. 7, the route is designed to alleviate afternoon rush-hour crowding of buses traveling through Oakland.

“This is a unique route — not another route in our system works this way,” said Bob Grove, spokesperson for Port Authority.

The route is what Port Authority refers to as a “deadhead.” Rather than looping back and picking up riders in an unending circle, the 69A reaches its termination point at the Wilkinsburg station and “deadheads” straight back to its point of origin at Forbes and Atwood without picking up any passengers along the way back.

The entire route takes about 30 minutes for each of the 12 trips between 4:05 and 9:56 p.m.

The 69A originated after recent rider statistics showed that three of the buses traveling along Forbes Avenue the most — the 61A, B and C — are among the 20 most frequently ridden in Port Authority’s 220 service routes. During the summer of 2004, almost 16,000 riders traveled on those three bus lines, with almost 9,000 coming from the 61C alone.

“The 61 C is our most heavily ridden route in the system,” Grove said. “No other route has that heavy of traffic.”

Grove added that overcrowding on the bus routes traveling Forbes Avenue during the afternoon rush has been an issue for many years. Previous solutions have involved adding trips to the routes, but that hasn’t always helped. Those additional trips still picked up riders along Forbes Avenue, so that by the time the bus traveled from Downtown to Oakland, they would already be filled.

By adding a new route that “deadheads,” Port Authority has helped a greater number of riders get where they need to go, Grove said. The only problem, he added, is that the bus is still running partially empty.

Grove also explained that the placement of the route was specifically designed to alleviate the problems stemming from the large number of riders from Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University.

“This overcrowding is fostered by the corridor of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon,’ Grove said. “We have an agreement with those universities, and they, in turn, have a high level of usage. This is our answer.”

Despite Port Authority’s recently proposed service cuts, the 69A will continue cruising through Oakland.

Grove said Port Authority officials are pleased with the reaction to the “Forbes Avenue” bus.

“It’s working very well,” Grove added. “So far, [the route] is working like we planned.”