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Friday, September 25, 2009

Killing time at a Pittsburgh bus stop

Does hosting the G-20 Summit provide enough of a sense of civic pride to overcome the sheer difficulty many Pittsburgh residents have had in doing something as simple as making your bus for your commute home?

I stood with several hardy travellers Thursday evening at Wood Street and the Boulevard of the Allies, waiting for an airport-bound Port Authority bus.

Plenty of buses passed, but for an hour none was the 28X. The Port Authority had warned that the dinner at the Phipps Conservatory in the Oakland section for the world leaders and their spouses would disrupt several bus routes, including the 28X.

But the dinner was long underway, and the wait became an exercise in planning alternate means of getting out of the city. Cabs are scarce near the security zone, so flagging one would involve quite a walk, I was told. One thought another bus line could get us close to our destination, but no one was sure.

The conversations turned to the G-20 and the disruption to ordinary routines. Several said they were proud that Pittsburgh was hosting the world. Some of those who worked in retail talked about the day's customers who spoke with all sorts of accents. Some simply showing printouts from the Internet of items they wished to buy. But they can't wait until normalcy resumes.

A muggy evening turned into a soft drizzle. The traffic, such as it was, consisted of buses (not ours), Humvees, ambulances, police cars, a string of gray vans, and some folks on bicycles. Several at the bus stop began to envy the bicyclists.

At one point, on both sides of the Boulevard of the Allies, came a column of state police in riot gear. The walked two abreast, silently. As they neared our bus stop with about a dozen people, including one man in a wheelchair, I heard one officer say to another, "We stay on the sidewalk." And on they went.

After about 90 minutes, a 28X pulled up, six of us got on, and settled in for the next leg home.
Posted by Mike Armstrong @ 7:50 AM  Permalink | Post a comment
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About Mike Armstrong
Mike Armstrong, a business editor and writer for nearly two decades, is the Inquirer's business columnist and PhillyInc blog editor. Contact Mike via e-mail or at 215-854-2980
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