Bus Blog Erie: Presque Isle Express trip 6/24/2022

Monday, June 27, 2022

Presque Isle Express trip 6/24/2022

Took the Presque Isle Express bus (Route 33) this past Saturday. They are leaving from downtown this year, and running Fridays and Saturdays.

My nephew was biking around the park with his family and we arranged to meet up at the Waterworks/Cookhouse area. Very enjoyable visit.

Some information about this year's Presque Isle Express:

The bus leaves from downtown (7th & French, 10th & French).
It turns onto the Bayfront Parkway and heads west till it gets to Liberty Park shelter. This stop could be for people who might want to park their vehicles there and use a non-car alternative for the park; people staying at hotels, restaurants, or boaters; westside pedestrians, mobility devices and cyclists. Only trolley service you could take from there is Saturday starting at 5pm, so FYI to walkers and mobility device users. Liberty Park entrance is across from Cobblestone Hotel and west of Sloppy Duck Saloon
After it leaves Liberty Park it turns west onto West 8th.
It stops across the street from West Erie Plaza shelter
Heads west till Peninsula Drive.
Next stop is Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC). The info desk carries paper schedules for the PI Express, and maps of the park at the info desk. They also have indoor restrooms and beverage machines, and it's fun to walk around and look at the exhibits (admission is free)
Waldameer Park is across from the entrance to TREC. If you want to go to Waldameer with the PI Express, you need to get off at the TREC stop. The crossing to Waldameer has traffic lights, a crosswalk and signals, and newish curb cuts. (btw, you can also use 32, 31 and 30; check schedules for specifics and convenience)
The route is a single loop. If you want to continue past the Waterworks / Cookhouse area, just stay on the bus.
There are marked stops and I think they are only supposed to stop at those specific stops (but I'm not clear on that). It would be helpful if EMTA made a map of where those stops are. For the ones on the park it would be particularly helpful to know where they are, and how much distance there is between them.
The inbound trip just does the same route but going the other way.
Outside the park, I don't know if the bus would stop anywhere besides those designated stops. "Express" buses tend to have few stops so that they can get to their destination faster. Clarification needed.