ECTS Purpose & Needs. Exhibit Home-Based Work Trips Attracted to the Penn/Jeannette Area

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Penn/Jeannette Area 24 - Transit Use for Work

1 Exhibit Home-Based Work Trips Attracted to the Penn/Jeannette Area Exhibit Transit Use for Work Trips Attracted to the Penn/Jeannette Area Eastern Corridor Transit Study 61

Greensburg - and vicinity, denoted by Zone 34, attracts a significant number of trips from as far as 15 miles away and supports a high level of interzonal attractions, as shown in Exhibit 4.25.

2 Greensburg - and vicinity, denoted by Zone 34, attracts a significant number of trips from as far as 15 miles away and supports a high level of interzonal attractions, as shown in Exhibit Almost 107,000 work trips are attracted to the Greensburg area; however, Greensburg attracts an insignificant number of trips from the City of Pittsburgh and the Inner Suburbs. Greensburg and its vicinity serve as a better example of an urban area, dominating the commuter patterns of the surrounding suburban areas, as depicted in Exhibits 4.25 and Exhibit Home-Based Work Trips Attracted to Greensburg and Vicinity Eastern Corridor Transit Study 62

Exhibit 4.26 - Transit Use for Work Trips Attracted to Greensburg and Vicinity 4.

3 Exhibit Transit Use for Work Trips Attracted to Greensburg and Vicinity 4.6 Corridor Travel Demand One approach for assessing transportation needs is to estimate the travel demand along specific travel directions, a proven approach utilized for transportation corridor studies. A popular travel corridor is typically accommodated by a major highway, series of major roads, a fixed transit guideway, or any combination of these facilities. These facilities may also be aligned in parallel, providing alternate routes and modes for connecting origins and destinations along a corridor. The estimated travel demand accounts for trips made in both directions (e.g., inbound and outbound) in a particular corridor. The SPC model is used to determine travel demand along major corridors in the study area, some of which have been the subject of previous studies. Travel along a corridor can be estimated by adding up the total number of zone-to-zone (or interzonal) Home-Based work trips along the corridor utilizing the 42-zone aggregation of the model prepared by SPC for this study. Only interzonal trips are included in the estimate of corridor travel; intrazonal (or trips made within a zone) are not incorporated as these shorter trips tend to be distributed radially, as opposed to linearly, and are therefore less likely to use a major highway facility. Interzonal travel demand is discussed for the following corridors: Parkway East Corridor US 30 Corridor Monongahela Valley Corridor Eastern Corridor Transit Study 63

4 Allegheny Valley Corridor PA 380 Corridor Union Railroad Corridor Parkway East Corridor The Parkway East Corridor bisects the study area along an east-west axis and provides access to three of the most important employment destinations and population centers of the study area, the Pittsburgh CBD, Oakland and Monroeville. Route I-376/US 22 traverses the entire length of the study area and when coupled with other major roads, such as Forbes and Fifth Avenues, accommodate an estimated 39,440 home-based work trips daily along this corridor. Among all of the travel corridors considered in this study, this corridor sustains the greatest amount of travel demand. The largest number of trip attractions accommodated by this corridor occur in Pittsburgh (17,950 attractions). Inner Suburb attractions served by this corridor is also large, 11,960 trips, while the corridor serves only 9,530 attractions in the Outer Suburbs. Productions and attractions are relatively high within the Inner Suburbs owing to the strong employment draw of the Monroeville area. Over an approximate 15-mile stretch between the CBD and the eastern border of Monroeville, I-376 is currently heavily congested during peak periods. It is anticipated that I- 376 will incur greater increases in traffic volume than any other major highway facility in the study area, as depicted in Exhibits 4.2 and 4.3. Accident rates are also highest along I-376, especially east of the Squirrel Hill tunnel. (See Exhibit Accident Rates). US 30 Corridor The US 30 Corridor extends from the CBD southeast to Greensburg and vicinity. The corridor encompasses the communities of Swissvale, Braddock, and portions of McKeesport and Versailles. This corridor accommodates the second highest level of travel demand for work trips (i.e., 31,000 trips) in the study area. Most of the home-based work trips accommodated by this corridor are attracted to the CBD. The attractiveness of the Inner Suburbs is relatively weak, even compared with the Outer Suburbs, owing to the reduced degree of employment opportunities here. Although productions and attractions are relatively high within the Outer Suburbs, they are highly dispersed, and are less likely to utilize US 30 for interzonal travel than trips bound for the CBD and the Inner Suburbs. According to the travel demand model output, US 30 experiences significant congestion, although not as severe as that experienced on I-376. Travel demand toward the City of Pittsburgh, including the CBD and Oakland, is expected to remain strong through Eastern Corridor Transit Study 64

5 Monongahela Valley Corridor The Monongahela Valley Corridor follows the Monongahela River from the Pittsburgh CBD to the community of Elizabeth. The Mon Valley Corridor encompasses communities on both sides of the river, and accommodates 17,090 home-based work trips. Approximately 12,560 of these home-based work trips are attracted to the CBD. The remaining trip attractions served by this corridor are evenly split between the Inner and Outer Suburbs. Traffic congestion is severe and worsening on PA State Highways 837 and 885. Currently, long stretches of PA State Route 837, which directly connect to downtown Pittsburgh, sustain volume-to-capacity rations in excess of 1.5; by 2025 these portions will approximately double in length, as shown in Exhibits 4.2 and 4.3. Allegheny Valley Corridor The Allegheny Valley Corridor consists of several towns, the largest of which is New Kensington located at the northeastern edge of the study area. The corridor follows the Allegheny River and accommodates approximately 11,810 home-based work trips. Significant congestion is experienced along the major roads of the Allegheny Corridor (e.g., PA State Highways 28 and 130) from the Pittsburgh CBD to Oakmont, near the midpoint of the corridor. This is a reasonable expectation since most of the Home-Based Work attractions served by this corridor, or 82%, are within Pittsburgh (9,700 of 11,810 trips). By 2025, congestion is expected to increase noticeably along the City of Pittsburgh portions of the corridor. North of Oakmont, including portions of the Inner Suburbs to the Outer Suburbs, congestion is less severe and is expected to remain relatively unchanged to PA State Highway 380 Corridor Traversing a corridor located roughly midway between the Allegheny and I-376/US 22 Corridors, the PA State Highway 380 Corridor accommodates a travel demand of approximately 12,350 home-based work trips. Most of the trips along the PA 380 corridor occur primarily within Pittsburgh (e.g., 10,790 of 12,350 of work trip attractions) and secondarily within the Inner Suburbs. A relatively low number of attractions and productions, 430 and 1,980, respectively, are accommodated by this corridor for interzonal trips in the Outer Suburbs. According to the model, the highest volume-to-capacity ratios along this corridor are less than 0.7. Traffic congestion has not yet achieved serious levels and is expected to remain minimal through Year Eastern Corridor Transit Study 65

6 Union Railroad Corridor The Union Railroad Corridor, which crosses the Inner Suburbs along a north-south axis at the periphery of Pittsburgh, may be available for addressing travel needs in the Eastern Corridor Study area. Travel across this corridor is minimal, only 4,950 trips, by comparison with the other corridors. Population densities are lower, and there are fewer employment attractions (with the exception of Monroeville to the east) along the corridor. 4.7 Travel Times Highway and transit travel times measure the time it takes to travel from an origin to a destination point during a peak period. Travel time data used for analysis include the years 2003 and 2025 for both transit and highway, and also the change in minutes from 2003 to the All communities listed are within the study area, with the exception of the Pittsburgh International Airport Highway Travel Times In 2003, the approximate peak period highway travel time from downtown Pittsburgh to Oakland is 11 minutes, as illustrated in Exhibit The highway travel time between these two areas does not change for the projected 2025 year, as shown in Exhibit Traveling from Oakland to downtown Pittsburgh is expected to remain essentially unchanged, increasing from 13 minutes in 2003 to 14 minutes in 2025, as depicted in Exhibit Most of the highway travel times within the inner suburbs either decrease or increase slightly between the years 2003 and Exceptions include travel times to Clairton, which will decrease significantly. Highway travel times from Oakmont to Clairton take approximately 58 minutes in 2003, but decrease to 46 minutes in Travel times from Wilkinsburg to Clairton will also decrease by 25%, from 39 minutes in 2003 to 29 minutes in Additionally, highway travel times from Penn Hills to Clairton will also decrease from 49 minutes in 2003 to 33 minutes in All highway travel times contained entirely within the Outer Suburbs increase between 2003 and The time spent traveling from Murrysville to Greensburg and the reverse trip is expected to increase by six minutes between 2003 and All of the remaining travel times within the Outer Suburbs will increase between two and five minutes. Traveling from and to downtown Pittsburgh from and to other points within the study area outside of the city also increases or decreases only slightly, similar to travel times within the eastern suburbs. There is one exception to this, however, from Clairton to downtown Pittsburgh, which takes 44 minutes in 2003 and only 35 minutes in 2025, due to the Mon Fayette Expressway. The highway travel time from downtown Pittsburgh to Greensburg in 2003 takes 60 minutes. For the same year, it takes 65 minutes to travel from Oakland to Greensburg, which is a Eastern Corridor Transit Study 66

7 shorter distance compared to traveling from downtown Pittsburgh. It is interesting to note, however, that in 2025, travel times from downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland to Greensburg will take approximately 63 minutes each. Highway travel times to and from Pittsburgh International Airport also vary in the degree of change between 2003 and Several of the movements to the Airport are expected to stay constant; these movements include travel from downtown Pittsburgh, Oakland and Monroeville. Travel times from the Airport to downtown Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg and Monroeville are also expected to stay constant between 2003 and Highway travel times from other areas to the Airport also exhibit a small increase or decrease, with a few exceptions. It is anticipated that travel times to and from the Airport beginning or ending at McKeesport, Versailles and Clairton will decrease more than 15% between the years 2003 and Transit Travel Times Within the two movements contained in the City of Pittsburgh (Downtown to Oakland and vice versa), transit travel times are only expected to increase from 16 minutes to 17 minutes from Oakland to Downtown, as depicted in Exhibits 4.30 and Travel to downtown Pittsburgh from other areas in the study corridor is expected to either increase or decrease slightly. Transit travel times from several areas to downtown Pittsburgh remain unchanged from 2003 to 2025, as shown in Exhibit Additionally, it is anticipated that traveling from Clairton to downtown Pittsburgh via transit will decrease from 55 minutes in 2003 to 43 minutes in Traveling from downtown Pittsburgh to areas within the study corridor depicts the same trend as traveling to the downtown. It is anticipated that transit travel times from downtown Pittsburgh to other areas within the study area will either increase or decrease only slightly between 2003 and 2025, with a few exceptions. Travel times from Downtown to Oakland, Wilkinsburg, Monroeville and the Airport via transit are expected to stay constant between the years 2003 and No change in transit travel times is measured for a total of four movements contained entirely within the eastern suburbs. Traveling via transit from Wilkinsburg to Oakmont, Monroeville to Wilkinsburg, Oakmont to Monroeville and Versailles to McKeesport, all remain constant between the years 2003 and In the Outer Suburbs, transit travel times are expected to increase, with the exception of traveling from Murrysville to Greensburg. This movement will take approximately 51 minutes via transit in 2025, the same time it takes in Transit travel times to and from Pittsburgh International Airport either increases or decreases slightly, with a few exceptions. The time it takes to travel to the Airport from Clairton is expected to decrease by 11% and increase 18% for travel between Springdale to the Airport. From the Airport to Springdale, transit travel times will increase from 105 minutes to 123 minutes. Transit travel times for a few of the movements to and from the Airport will remain Eastern Corridor Transit Study 67

8 the same between 2003 and These movements include travel to the Airport from downtown Pittsburgh, Oakland, Wilkinsburg, Versailles, and Irwin. Travel times that remain constant between the two years include to downtown Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg from the Airport. Eastern Corridor Transit Study 68

9 Exhibit Estimated AM Peak Hour Highway Travel Times TO: Downtown Oakland Oakmont Wilkinsburg Penn Hills Monroeville McKeesport Versailles Homestead Clairton Airport Springdale Greensburg Irwin Murrysville New Kensington FROM: Downtown Oakland Oakmont Wilkinsburg Penn Hills Monroeville McKeesport Versailles Homestead Clairton Carnegie Bridgeville Airport Springdale New Stanton Greensburg Irwin Murrysville New Kensington Eastern Corridor Transit Study 69

10 Exhibit Estimated AM Peak Hour Highway Travel Times TO: Downtown Oakland Oakmont Wilkinsburg Penn Hills Monroeville McKeesport Versailles Homestead Clairton Airport Springdale Greensburg Irwin Murrysville New Kensington FROM: Downtown Oakland Oakmont Wilkinsburg Penn Hills Monroeville McKeesport Versailles Homestead Clairton Airport Springdale Greensburg Irwin Murrysville New Kensington Eastern Corridor Transit Study 70

11 Exhibit to Change in Estimated AM Peak Hour Highway Travel Times TO: Downtown Oakland Oakmont Wilkinsburg Penn Hills Monroeville McKeesport Versailles Homestead Clairton Airport Springdale Greensburg Irwin Murrysville New Kensington FROM: Downtown Oakland Oakmont Wilkinsburg Penn Hills Monroeville McKeesport Versailles Homestead Clairton Airport Springdale Greensburg Irwin Murrysville New Kensington (SPC July 2002) Eastern Corridor Transit Study 71

12 Exhibit Estimated AM Peak Hour Transit In-Vehicle Travel Times* TO: Downtown Oakland Oakmont Wilkinsburg Penn Hills Monroeville McKeesport Versailles Homestead Clairton Airport Springdale Greensburg Irwin Murrysville New Kensington FROM: Downtown xxx Oakland xxx Oakmont xxx Wilkinsburg xxx Penn Hills xxx Monroeville xxx McKeesport xxx xxx xxx Versailles Homestead xxx xxx Clairton xxx Airport xxx Springdale xxx xxx xxx Greensburg xxx xxx xxx xxx Irwin xxx Murrysville xxx New Kensington xxx xxx *Transit times are in-vehicle only and do not include wait and transfer times. xxx = No Connection Eastern Corridor Transit Study 72

13 Exhibit Estimated AM Peak Hour Transit In-Vehicle Travel Times* TO: Downtown Oakland Oakmont Wilkinsburg Penn Hills Monroeville McKeesport Versailles Homestead Clairton Airport Springdale Greensburg Irwin Murrysville New Kensington FROM: Downtown xxx Oakland xxx xxx Oakmont xxx 63 xxx Wilkinsburg xxx Penn Hills xxx Monroeville xxx McKeesport xxx Versailles Homestead xxx xxx Clairton xxx xxx Airport xxx Springdale xxx xxx xxx Greensburg xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx Irwin xxx Murrysville xxx New Kensington xxx xxx *Transit times are in-vehicle only and do not include wait and transfer times. xxx = No Connection Eastern Corridor Transit Study 73

14 Exhibit to 2025 Change in Estimated AM Peak Hour Transit In-Vehicle Travel Times* TO: Downtown Oakland Oakmont Wilkinsburg Penn Hills Monroeville McKeesport Versailles Homestead Clairton Airport Springdale Greensburg Irwin Murrysville New Kensington FROM: Downtown zzz Oakland zzz zzz Oakmont zzz -12 zzz Wilkinsburg zzz Penn Hills zzz Monroeville zzz McKeesport zzz ccc ccc Versailles Homestead zzz zzz Clairton zzz zzz Airport zzz Springdale zzz zzz zzz 8 1 Greensburg ccc zzz zzz zzz 2 5 zzz zzz Irwin zzz Murrysville zzz New Kensington zzz zzz *Transit times are in-vehicle only and do not include wait and transfer times. ccc=connection in 2025 but not in 2003 zzz=no Connection in 2025 Eastern Corridor Transit Study 74

15 5 PREVIOUS STUDIES AND PLANNED IMPROVEMENTS Transportation and Development Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania The 2025 Transportation and Development Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania was officially adopted in July 2000 and most recently amended in February Developed by the regional metropolitan planning organization, SPC, the plan must be fiscally constrained and is updated every three years according to federal requirements. Components of the plan include investments in highway and public transportation. Three major transit projects in the study area are identified within the public transportation section and include the North Shore Connector at a total estimated cost of $390 million; the Martin Luther King East Busway Extension (Wilkinsburg to Rankin), which is under construction for a total estimated cost of $63 million; and, the recently completed First Avenue Light Rail Transit Station. Major highway projects identified within the 2025 Transportation and Development plan include the portion of the Mon/Fayette Expressway from State Route 51 to I-376. The Mon/Fayette Expressway project was most recently amended in February 2002 to reflect the new estimated cost of $1.9 billion. The Maglev project is also contained in the plan for a total estimated cost of $2.8 billion. Maglev s alignment is proposed to run from the Pittsburgh International Airport to Greensburg. The 2025 Transportation and Development Plan does not include any additional major transit projects within the study area. The Plan does set aside funding for studies to look at improved transit service between downtown Pittsburgh and the eastern suburbs, and for studying multi-modal transportation alternatives for Allegheny County. This study performs and supports these functions. 5.2 Transportation Improvement Program The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the Pittsburgh Transportation Management Area was developed under TEA-21 (the Transportation Equity Act for the 21 st Century). The TIP prioritizes roadway, transit and other related projects for a four-year period; the most current of which covers from October 1, 2000 through September 30, The TIP is the first four years of the Transportation and Development Plan. The TIP must also be fiscally constrained, is updated every two years, and is developed and maintained by SPC. Specific roadway, transit and other related projects are listed within the section entitled Title 1 Project Summaries. The Transit Program Summary, lists all funding dollars by transit agency. Lists of candidate projects are developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the State Transportation Commission, SPC, transit operators, and other project sponsors. Exhibit 5.1 presents a list of projects within the study area programmed in the TIP. The TIP was adopted in late June and will become effective on October 1, Eastern Corridor Transit Study 75

MoPac South: Impact on Cesar Chavez Street and the Downtown Network

MoPac South: Impact on Cesar Chavez Street and the Downtown Network Prepared by: The University of Texas at Austin Center for Transportation Research Prepared for: Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority