STORM

 Public comments: Thoughts and  suggestions on handling mega storms in future from Erie City Council meeting 12-18-2024:  Freda 11:05, Devin  1:20:24, Matt 1:23:37, Marty 1;36:01, Paige 1:40:22, Katie (1:47:24). Also, former Erie city councilman Michael Keys made recommendations immediately after Buffalo's 2022 storm.

EMTA feedback survey

 EMTA SEEKS FEEDBACK FROM COMMUNITY WITH SURVEY

Erie, PA- The Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority is seeking feedback from the community to continue improving its services with a digital survey.

The results of the current survey will allow EMTA to measure the impact their efforts for improvement have had on the community. This feedback will help guide the EMTA team in the direction they need to take moving forward.

The EMTA administered surveys in 2023 and 2024 to establish a baseline in several areas, such as the public’s satisfaction with the quality of the buses, safety, usability, marketing, and general rider information.

“Public transit has an impact on everyone in the community, weather you see it or not,” says Sarah Morrison, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at the EMTA. “We want to determine the influence EMTA has on the community at large, so it is important for as much participation in the survey as possible. We encourage everyone take the survey, even if you are not an EMTA rider.”

EMTA asks all community members to complete the short, anonymous survey by February 14^th. A link to the survey can be found on the website or Facebook page. Visit ride-the-e.com for more information.

SURVEY HERE

Port Authorty seeks qualified bidders for the operation of a water taxi service

 News story from YourErie (JET/FOX66) "

Julie Slomski, the Port Authority’s executive director, said the authority hopes to generate enough proposals to “move forward with the taxi this summer.”

"The authority will accept proposals through Feb. 6. "

~~~~~

ANNOUNCEMENT

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 

The Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority, 1 Holland Street, Erie, PA 16507 will receive sealed proposals for qualified bidders for the operation of a water taxi service on Presque Isle Bay. Proposals will be received until Thursday, February 6 at 4:00 PM. at the office of the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority, 1 Holland Street, Erie, PA 16507, at which time and place all bids will be opened publicly. Information for the preparation of proposals may be obtained at the Port Authority Office between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday or online at www.porterie.org. Proposal specifications may be reviewed at the Port Authority Office during regular business hours as stated above.

The submission of proposals will obligate the prospective operator not to discriminate in employment practices in accordance with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and all applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations. The Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal in whole or in part and to waive irregularities and to accept or reject any and all bids. 

Julie Slomski 

Executive Director 

(1-10929271-NT-9-16)

PennDOT implements nation’s first statewide real-time public service tracker system

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that the Fixed Route Intelligent Transportation System (FRITS) has been fully implemented at 33 transit agencies across the state. FRITS provides real-time service information for passengers, and enhanced transit planning for agencies. Passengers are now able to see their bus and how far away it is from their location at nearly three dozen transit agencies spanning 41 counties across the Commonwealth. 

[...]

Riders can access real time service information including the location of the bus and predicted stop arrival times via the “myStop” smartphone app. Customers can also easily navigate between transit agencies using myStop, which is especially useful for riders in rural areas. For example, a passenger in Lemont Furnace who needs to travel to Greensburg can use myStop and view information for both Fayette Area Coordinated Transit and Westmoreland County Transit to identify which routes to use, where the bus is currently located, and easily plan their route. Additionally, because all agencies have had their routes certified by Google Maps as part of the project, customers can use Google Maps to plan transit routes as well and rest assured that route information is accurate.

Read more 

PennDOT Customer Care Center contact info

***Begin message taken from PennDOT Customer Care Center page***

 PennDOT Customer Care Center

Concerns about state-owned roadways can be made through the Customer Care Center by calling 1-800-FIX-ROAD or online at https://customercare.penndot.pa.gov/ 

Submissions are not monitored outside of normal business hours, which are Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

For life-threatening emergencies, call 9-1-1. For urgent issues, call the associated  PennDOT County Office.

Shapiro saves Philly region's public transit with influx of cash.

Important Milestone: Governor Shapiro flexes $153 Million, Saving SEPTA from a Financial Doom Spiral

the Transit for All PA! Coalition issued the following statement (November 22, 2024)


Today the Transit for All PA! statewide coalition celebrates an important step for transit, with Governor Shapiro’s announcement of an immediate allocation of $153 million from federal highway funds towards transit. The additional $153 million dollars in operations funding is long overdue and will stave off the most imminent funding cliff for SEPTA, Pennsylvania’s largest transit system, which was projected to receive 20% service cuts and 30% fare increases in early 2025 if no action was taken. We are appreciative of Governor Shapiro’s leadership and decisive action to ensure that millions of transit riders, businesses in the Philadelphia region, manufacturers of transit parts across the Commonwealth, and PA residents continue to experience the critical economic and social benefit of a stable, robust transportation network in our state’s largest urban area.

It is important to remember that this is a stopgap measure, to manage the state legislature’s irresponsible delay in developing a sustainable, dedicated transit funding solution. Pennsylvania’s residents will still need the legislature and the governor to pass a long term funding solution in the Spring of 2025.

The Governor’s decision to “flex” highway funding to transit isn’t something that should only happen in an emergency. Other states take advantage of this mechanism in order to keep transit on track- and even expand it- and not merely keep buses, trains, and shared-ride service from the brink of collapse every two decades. It’s also smart policy to allocate a more equitable share of transportation funding to transit. By contrast, the disproportionate amount of funding that our federal government and PennDOT allocates to highway expansion compared to funding transit worsens our infrastructure maintenance debts, deepens our climate crisis, and makes our roads more congested, not less.
Fortunately, the Transit for All PA! coalition is strong and growing, and we will continue to organize for transit funding across the Commonwealth that will keep seniors connected to healthcare, families connected to grocery stores, and neighbors connected to each other.

Our coalition of transit riders and transit workers of Transit for All PA! was key to the Governor’s decision to flex highway funds. Since June’s State Budget negotiations, the coalition has sent more than 6500 emails to legislators and the Governor, 3000 of those were since Monday, November 12th. Our volunteers made 2500 calls to riders all across the SEPTA region not only activating them but educating riders who depend on SEPTA the most. On November 21st, Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking the Governor to flex highway funds to prevent a doom spiral and we turned out 25 people for public comment. We showed up to Harrisburg multiple times with hundreds of supporters calling for action. And we delivered our message to every single lawmaker to ensure our voice was heard. The tireless efforts of rider unions and transit advocates, transit workers, environmental organizations, business interests, disability groups, and more ensured that the importance of transit to our state could not be ignored.

We recognize the importance of this milestone, while also being acutely aware that the fight continues to truly fulfill public transit service in Pennsylvania that meets the needs of 21st century communities, one that reduces congestion and protects our environment, one that advances equity in transportation, and one that is frequent, reliable, affordable, clean, and accessible.
Send a Thank-you to Governor Shapiro. Lend your support in reaching a full transit funding solution.

Transit for All PA! is a statewide coalition of transit riders, transit workers, and transit-supportive organizations and businesses. Together, we are working to expand Pennsylvania’s public transit systems to grow our economy and connect more Pennsylvanians to jobs, healthcare, and essential needs. transitforallpa.org

Nashville station investigates Greyhound treatment of passengers, driver comments on situation

Since Greyhound was sold in 2021, the Greyhound passenger experience has deteriorated considerably. Although they still service Erie, they permanently moved out of the Intermodal Center in 2022 without even telling landlord EMTA what they were doing.

A Nashville TV station recently did an investigation on the situation, and in their November 18th report they share comments from a Greyhound driver, as well as the awful response from regulating agencies. 

Intercity bus service is important to a lot of people, and to the country as well. Understood that the pandemic would have caused some problems but the new Greyhound owners need to be held accountable for some really irresponsible and negligent behavior. 

~~~

Greyhound responds to FOX 17 News for the first time since passenger complaints by Kaitlin Miller WZTV November 18th 2024 Updated Tue, November 19th 2024  https://fox17.com/news/local/greyhound-responds-to-fox-17-news-for-the-first-time-since-passenger-complaints 

I take the Presque Isle Express and visit Beach 8

I took EMTA's Presque Isle Express last Saturday. I visited Beach 8, which I can't ever remember ever spending any time at. I have never been into hanging out at the beach, and this is a really "beachy" area. But it was a gorgeous day and the lake was beautiful. I wanted to check out a few things, especially related to accessibility, here you go.

 Click on photos to enlarge 

Beach wheelchairs available at Beach 8 and Public Safety Building (Ranger Station), Free, first come first serve, ID required. Info: Ranger station 814-833-1495 or Park office at TREC 814-833-7424  https://www.discoverpi.com/projects/beach-wheelchairs  

Concrete ramp and deck at east end of Beach 8, near lifeguard chair. 

Soft ramp at east end of Beach 8. I don't know the story about the tent at the end, if the park put it there or if some less than considerate person set up camp there.

New solar panels in parking area provide electricity to the park and shade keeps vehicles cooler

Food Trucks They've had trouble with the concession stands since COVID, now they are allowing Food Trucks. Call Ranger Station for which trucks are where. 

Sign heading east toward Beach 7: cars etc. stay left, pedestrians & bikes stay right. 

Accessible beach area at Beach 7 (just east of Beach 8). Paved pathway (above) and accessible large shady deck area (below) 

Other areas on Park:

 Accessibility at Waterworks area at Presque Isle July 31, 2022 A couple years ago wrote about accessibility at the Waterworks/Cookhouse/Beach 7 area a couple years ago, if you want that sort of into:

Beach 11: Quick look at Accessibility  posted on Facebook June 2023. I checked this out because EMTA Presque Isle Express was running a bus shuttle to the Wednesday concerts at this beach. 

More Presque Isle info:

Presque Isle  info from DCNR

Accessible Erie: Presque Isle State Parke from Accessible Erie A project of Voices for Independence

Pandemic notes & photos

 The pandemic started four years ago. Here are some little vignettes and observances I scribbled from time to time, mostly during the first three months. These are all true, and pretty much as I wrote them except for editing for clarity. The ones here pretty much take place around transit situations, mainly because that's where I ended up having to time to jot them down. I think most happened between March and May of 2020, other than that I didn’t keep track of dates.  

At the bottom there is a link for photos.  

 

TP TRIUMPH 

Waiting for the bus out of North East this morning. A guy waiting with me has a brand new 12-pack of toilet paper. He scored it at Sanders Market on his way to the stop, and is really feeling triumphant, except that he has to visit his doctor in Erie and now he'll be dragging that pack of TP around to his errands till the next bus into North East. I joke that he might make some friends when they see the prize he's carrying. "Oh hell with them!" he said angrily. I said you know I was just joking right? We exchanged a couple more empty shelf stories and then the bus came.

SHE GOT A CARD 

"I got a card! I got a card!"
I'm standing at 10th and French and a 60-ish woman sitting in a rollator walker is sucking on some weed.
"That lady saw me pull this out and she took off around the corner" she chuckles pointing in the lady's direction. "I don't care! I got the card I got the card"
I guess that means it's legal medicinal weed. My main concern is it really reeks. Also, when people exhale weed or vape they shoot their breath out. Ugh. I move away, card or not.

INTERMODAL
I had to stop at the Intermodal Center, which houses EMTA customer service and the Greyhound station. Today things are deserted. I was hungry so I went to the snack machine and pulled out my little jar of alcohol and wiped down the buttons on the machine and then wiped down the packaging on my snack
I waited over by the Little Library box painted like an EMTA bus, completely empty now, probably for health reasons, all those hands browsing through books.

UNHOUSED 

stuff on different days:

Coming into downtown in the early morning, unhoused people suddenly more visible, especially since nobody else on the streets. 

 ~~~

Some released from prison due to COVID. Not all, they have to meet criteria like nonviolent crimes.
~~~
A guy who had just been released from Erie County Prison was taking the Route 27 to the Interstate, where he said someone was waiting to pick him up. He had been panhandling for bus fare. 

~~~

A lady says she is struggling so i give her a couple dollars. I don't know her housing status.
~~~
Some services closed for those without housing.

~~~

People avoiding handling money so not a lot of spare change for panhandling.

~~~

Many come to bus shelters. Sometimes not so polite about it, being territorial about the benches. 

 

9th & PEACH 

Various days: 

May 26 (?) 1137am 9th & Peach the two benches are full of "the regulars," ie, people who aren't exactly waiting for the bus. Some unhoused, some not. 
I am standing at the north end of the benches, looking toward W. 10th so I'll be ready for my bus. An annoying man sitting at the south end sees me looking in that direction and says "what are you looking at?!" I said I was watching for the bus to turn. "There ain't no buses come here!" he says angrily..
An elderly man with a beard looks up from his book and calmly advises me, "Best thing is to have a loss of hearing so you don't have to listen to that garbage."
~~~
I want to check on a fellow I knew since he was a kid. I'll call him Skip.  He often lives on the streets. I go to the 9th & Peach, as I’ve seen him hanging out there before. They tell me he has gone to relieve himself and will be back in a bit. They then start trading reviews of the places to go when nature calls, since many places with indoor bathrooms are closed up.  I feel safe in saying most people living on the street prefer using an actual restroom or privy instead of hunting for a spot. I want to make sure to point that out so you understand the next entry is not making sweeping generalizations.
~~~
The situation at the 9th & Peach stop had really become an issue. I decided I would call Health Department  next day and explain there was a public health situation at that stop. I will spare you the details, but someone(s) was using the area at and around the bench to as a bathroom. I didn't understand because I thought that the Upper Room had set up of a couple of Porta johns, and that was only a very short block away from the bench, but who knows the situation. Turned out I didn't need to contact the Health Department because the 9th & Peach benches had been completely removed overnight (?) and the area cleaned up. I didn't see this type of situation anywhere else during that time.

SOUP NUTSY 

Waiting at the 10th & French stop and the seats are all taken. An odd young man who is eating some take-out tells me to stay away from his soup. I said what the hell do I want with your soup. At first I thought he was accusing me of being a soup thief but I really think he was telling me not to breathe on it. The nerve! He was not a rider, just using the bench to eat his takeout and crowding out actual riders. It was nice out and there were  other places downtown to sit down and eat, but he had to come here and be rude. If riders need to sit they can only do it at a bus bench, non-riders could sit anywhere else. [as the pandemic wore on, I became more outspoken toward non-riders being rude like this at bus stop benches.

SO FAR SO GOOD 

Six feet apart on the bus, wearing a mask. So far everyone seems to be cooperating.  

COMING BACK

Ridership has gone down, laid off drivers worried about their jobs. Company offers free rides for month of August to get people back on buses.

Riders coming back slowly.

AC rage: A free rider who was just there for the air conditioning became angry because the driver had opened the windows so that the air would circulate (to lower viral concentration). Rider went up and down the aisles angrily slamming windows closed and demanding AC. 

Some photos from  first year of pandemic (2020)

Mostly transit-related. Click to enlarge

 

Bus changes due to loss of ridership during pandemic.

No hustle and bustle downtown

 

Sparse business at Harborcreek Wal-Mart, normally packed. View from the North East Route 16 bus. 

 

Six feet apart

Empty free library at Intermodal Center, maybe because passengers handling them caused concern. 

I posted this when it happened. Driver asked him to wear mask and to distance and passenger refused, even though the driver was distressed and insisted. 

Limited hours at Greyhound station. This was before Greyhound closed their station in 2022.

Empty bike racks at Wal-Marts, due to supply issues from China

Schedules were trimmed due to loss of ridership

 

There was a coin shortage curing the pandemic, and Dollar General advertised for coins in exchange for dollar bills. 

2020 Census used advertising on EMTA bus shelters. 

New Bike lanes start and end at 10th & French stop

 

The lanes go from 10th & French westbound over West 10th. There is a separate eastbound lane that goes back over West 10th and ends at 10th & French. 

Summer EMTA schedule changes

I briefly looked over the routes that are getting changes June 8, and wanted to let you know what to watch for. I basically just looked at the outbound times from downtown ... this was not a thorough lookover but just what stood out. I only checked times, not routes. Please don't use this as a substitute for checking your important routes for yourself. And don't hesitate to let me know if I got something wrong. ~deb

• Route 20- DOWNTOWN LOOP - looks like they're adding a trip in the afternoon with some tweaking of some of the other times.
• Route 21- LAWRENCE PARK - evening has same amount of trips but some important time changes
• Route 25- WESLEYVILLE almost all times changed on weekday schedule
• Route 27- STATE STREET weekdays and Saturday are combined into same schedule
• Route 28- ERIE HEIGHTS time changes in the evening on weekday schedule
• Route 30- WEST MILLCREEK Important changes on evening trips weekdays, some tweaks elsewhere
• Route 33- PRESQUE ISLE EXPRESS Wednesday and Saturday only. Wednesday bus runs 2 hours later than Saturday bus.
• UNIVERSITY BUSES not running in the summer

~~~~

EMTA routes and schedules page https://ride-the-e.com/routes-2/ 

Transit options in and around Erie's tri-state region

Info for transit users in Erie's tri-state region: Ashtabula, Chautauqua, Crawford, Erie, and Warren counties.

Lyft and Uber may not be an option in some locales. Taxi service will vary.

👉Current as of Spring 2024, check links for most updated.👈

ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO

Ashtabula County Transportation System (ACTS)

425 West 24th St., Ashtabula, OH 44004

440-992-4411 or 800-445-4140

You can pick up paper copy of fixed route schedule and map info in Ashtabula at ACTS 425 West 24th St.; Ashtabula Co. Job & Family Services 2924 Donahoe; or Ashtabula's senior center (ACCOA) 4148 Main Ave.

PDF of schedule with maps  

Administered by Ashtabula County Job & Family Services

GoBus (Intercity) Gray Line  services Ashtabula, Painesville, Cleveland. Click on link for Gray Line schedules and info. More info on the GoBus service expansion throughout Ohio. 

Also:

City Taxi Cab & Transfer Co. (440) 992-2156 or (440) 992-2157

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, NY

CHQ Transit (formerly CARTS) 

234 Hopkins Ave, Jamestown, NY  (716) 665-6466

chqgov.com/carts/CARTS

Facebook "Like" or follow to get updates.

Coach USA Bus, Buffalo/Fredonia/Jamestown  

(info current as of April 2024) For the most up-to-date information, please call Coach USA Erie directly at 814-459-6666. Coach USA offices close  4 p.m. M-F 

Seneca Transit

90 Ohi’yo Way Salamanca, NY 14779
(585) 968-0834 TDD : 712
senecatransit.com.

Facebook "Like" or follow to get updates

2024 Schedule   Interactive Map

"public bus service provided to all area residents. The STS provides transportation between both the Cattaraugus and Allegany territories, with many stops in between."

CRAWFORD, VENANGO & CLARION COUNTIES, PA

Crawford Area Transportation Authority (CATA)

214 Pine Street, Meadville, PA  (814) 336-5600

catabus.org 

Facebook  "Like" or follow to get updates.

MyStop mobile app  Google Transit 

New Clarion County service   New partnership with Forest County

Serves Crawford, Venango, Forest, and Clarion counties. Fixed Route, Shared Ride and Bikeshare

Greyhound serves Meadville in some of its service between Erie and Pittsburgh. 

Hand in Hand   118 Grant St, Franklin, PA (814) 432-4280 "Hand In Hand is one of several contracted agencies to provide transportation services to help fill gaps left in Venango County transportation, such as transportation outside the time frames or geographical areas of the public bus."

Tina's Taxi  724-992-3360 "can pick up anywhere within Crawford, Mercer, Lawrence, Venango, or Butler Counties."

GG&C Bus Company  Charter service.

Clarion note: Area Transportation Authority of North Central Pennsylvania (ATA) presently working with CATA in Clarion service. Clarion Co riders should check both websites to see what is available for their needs. 

CATA website    

ATA website 

ERIE PA 

Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority (EMTA, The "e")

127 E. 14th Street Erie, PA  (814) 452-2801

ride-the-e.com

Facebook "Like" or follow for updates

Mobile Apps. Trackers, and Rider Alerts   Google Transit

Fixed Route, Paratransit.

Greyhound Erie service 

208 E Bayfront Pkwy, Erie, PA (800) 231-2222

between Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and points beyond. Ticket window permanently closed, pick-up & drop-off at Intermodal Center, tickets sold online.  Lobby and restrooms presently open M-F 8:30am-4:30pm. This Greyhound bus stop connects with EMTA's local service.

Amtrak Lake Shore Limited

125 W 14th St, Erie, PA  (Union Station) 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) 

Service between Chicago and New York/Boston once a day either way. Erie station has a waiting room and service window.  

Lyft and Uber available

Erie International Airport   4411 W. 12th Erie PA  (814) 833-4258

WARREN COUNTY, PA

Warren County Transit Authority (TAWC)

42 Clark St, Warren, PA (814) 723-1874 

tawcbus.com

Facebook "Like" or follow to get updates.
Google Transit 

Warren Taxi Co. (814) 723-2020

NORTH CENTRAL PA

The Area Transportation Authority of North Central Pennsylvania (ATA) serves seven PA counties: Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter.
Check ATA website  for routes and services available in each area. Phone: 866-282-4968
https://www.rideata.com/

~~~~

ELSEWHERE

PA public transit options for all PA counties 

All NY counties 

 All Ohio counties

All USA

EMTA County buses used to have fare zones

This photo is from the 2004 EMTA County route schedule. Note that some county routes had fare zones during this time. 

The only county route I can recall using when they had fare zones  then was North East, which had only two zones. The second zone started in Harborcreek borough, and the driver would pull over there and collect the second fare. Usually riders knew that was part of the ride, but I did once see a rider become belligerent with the driver because she thought the driver was pulling some sort of scam. The zone fare set-up was printed on the schedule, but she may not have actually seen a schedule.  I wondered at the time why the company didn't have kind of have a sign or info sheet available on the county buses to head off these confrontations, because it must have sometimes been unpleasant or scary for the driver if a rider went off on them like this.

The fare zones were eliminated I think about ten years ago.