A map presented as part of an overview of future rapid transit prepared by the Port Authority of Allegheny County. See the whole document here.

It’s a pretty basic thing, designed in that chunky 1970s style, but it’s interesting to compare it to what Pittsburgh has ended up building. Solid orange lines are proposed express commuter bus services, while dashed orange lines represent fixed guideway lines. If the lines are cased in black, then they are running on exclusive right-of-way. A lot of similarities can be seen here with modern-day Pittsburgh’s system of busways (some of which were funded but not built in 1973) and light rail, though they’re not identical by any means.

Ticked black lines represent commuter rail services from surrounding urban areas, which even the document itself seems to hold very little faith in, saying: “… opportunities may exist locally for revival of commuter trains on a limited basis between cities along river valleys.” Hardly a ringing endorsement! The Port Authority did operate its PATrain service between Pittsburgh’s B&O Terminal and Versailles via McKeesport from 1975 to 1989, but ridership declined sharply in the early 1980s.

The final word: Chunky and colourful, this serves as a nice accompanying graphic for the text in the brochure, but not much else. Fun to compare it to today’s network. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: WESA 90.5FM