Transit Expressway Revenue Line
The Transit Expressway Revenue Line (TERL), commonly known as Skybus, was a proposed
Development
Westinghouse, a Pittsburgh firm, developed the technology during the early 1960s in cooperation with the
During the 1960s the Port Authority formulated its so-called "Early Action Program", the purpose of which was to establish a more robust rapid transit system in Pittsburgh. The program called for an 11-mile (18 km) Skybus line and two "busways" (bus rapid transit routes), plus rehabilitation of existing equipment. The Skybus route would originate South Hills Village and follow existing streetcar right-of-way through the Mt. Lebanon and Beechview neighborhoods before reaching Downtown Pittsburgh via the unused Wabash Tunnel. The entire project would cost $295 million; Skybus alone was $232 million.[4][5]: 68–69
The WABCO alternative
In July 1969 an alternative emerged to the Skybus plan. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO)—an unrelated company also founded by George Westinghouse, several years prior to Westinghouse Electric's founding—proposed a $114 million plan for a more conventional steel-wheeled light rail system. The 28-mile (45 km) system would originate in the South Hills area as the present streetcar system did and extend through downtown to the East Liberty neighborhood. Driverless operation would be an option, and the system would be fully grade-separated.[6]
Adopting Skybus
WABCO's proposal notwithstanding, PAT voted to adopt the Skybus plan on July 10, 1969.
In response, the Allegheny County Commission agreed to hold a series of public hearings into the competing plans.[10] Both Flaherty and John K. Tabor, his Republican opponent for mayor, appeared at the hearings to express their views. Flaherty accused the PAT board of directors of having an "emotional commitment ... to the Skybus plan" and of collusion with business-industrial interests in the Pittsburgh area who favored the plan. Tabor split the difference, presenting a plan which included WABCO and a 16-mile (26 km) Skybus loop east of downtown. A continuing source of contention was WABCO's cost estimate, which PAT's consulting engineer said was at least $100 million too low.[11] The viability of the unproven Skybus technology, in particular the switching system, remained a concern.[12] In September the County Commission voted 2–1 to adopt the plan. The Commission stated that of the $228 million only $20–30 million would be paid by the county, with federal and state funds making up the balance.[13]
The end of Skybus
The Commission's decision did nothing to end the controversy. Flaherty, now mayor, remained opposed and used his powers as mayor to frustrate the project. In 1971 he and the Port Authority came to blows over the
Opposition to the Skybus project continued, with Flaherty and Hunt demanding that the proposal be submitted to a referendum in the 1973 election.
The position of the
Once the Allegheny County Fair was done away with in the early 1970s, rides on the Skybus track ceased. In the Spring and Summer of 1980 the county had the track, cars and computer dismantled and bartered for scrap, with the computer building becoming a park police office.[26]
The Skybus tests proved that rubber tire driverless transit could function. Westinghouse Electric would later have a role in the development of the first major fully automated transit system in the country with Miami's Metromover.[27] Westinghouse built the first 12 Adtranz C-100 buses used for the Metromover. Westinghouse would also participate in the development of similar driverless transit systems like the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in California, and automated people movers at several major U.S. airports, including Tampa, Orlando, and Dallas-Ft. Worth.[28]
See also
References
- The Milwaukee Journal. April 17, 1966. Archivedfrom the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
- Pittsburgh Press. Archivedfrom the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
- ^ Randall, W. David (1974). Railway Passenger Car Annual, Volume I, 1973-1974. Park Forest, IL: RPC Publications. p. 138.
- ^ Pittsburgh Press. Archivedfrom the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
- ^ ISBN 9780275955656. Archivedfrom the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
- Pittsburgh Press. Archivedfrom the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- Pittsburgh Press. July 9, 1969. Archivedfrom the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- Pittsburgh Press. July 10, 1969. Archivedfrom the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- Pittsburgh Press. July 10, 1969. Archivedfrom the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- Pittsburgh Press. Archivedfrom the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- ^ Williams, Jonathan (August 21, 1969). "Democrat Rips PAT Board For 'We Know Best' Stance". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- ^ "Need for a Transit Decision". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 26, 1969. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- Beaver County Times. September 23, 1969. Archivedfrom the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- ^ "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- Pittsburgh Press. July 21, 1972. Archivedfrom the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- ^ Matthews, Frank M. (September 21, 1971). "Mayor Acts to Block Skybus". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- ^ Grata, Joe (December 26, 2004). "Wabash Tunnel, closed since 1946, to carry traffic starting tomorrow". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
- Pittsburgh Press. November 3, 1971. Archivedfrom the original on April 12, 2016.
- ISSN 0262-4079.
- Pittsburgh Press. Archivedfrom the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- Pittsburgh Press. August 30, 1973. Archivedfrom the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- Observer-Reporter. October 5, 1973. Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- Beaver County Times. September 9, 1971. Archivedfrom the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
- ^ Hritz, Thomas M. (July 20, 1973). "Shapp, Mayor Transit Talks Lead Nowhere". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ^ "No Cadillac, But A Flivver". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March 8, 1976. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ^ "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ "Miami's Metromover Rolls Into The Future". sun-sentinel.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ "Bus Stop Classics: Pittsburgh Transit Expressway System (Skybus) – The Steel City's Aborted Highway in the Sky". www.curbsideclassic.com. October 14, 2017. Archived from the original on February 19, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.