Excellent video. These issues don't just affect people with disabilities. They are what keep lots of people from even considering transit to get around their communities. Many transit agencies don't even do a good job of letting people what to expect if they do take the bus; they just assume everyone knows how to do it.
Agreed. I was looking to start taking my bike on the PRT bus this year and was concerned about getting stuck using their bike rack. There is a description on their website that pretty much says to load and unload your bike, without any details on it. For someone doing this for the first time under pressure, that's just not enough to give myself the confidence to use it. Thankfully, PRT has a youtube video from like 2010 that shows the step by step process, but at least provide a link to that video on their website...
If you use the LRV, you just push the bike into the LRV and use the Handicap sitting location. If someone with a Handicap shows up later, all you have to do is move yourself and the bike to the other end of the LRV. I am one of those Handicap that have "Forced" Bicyclists to move their bikes so it is not that hard and most times no one who is Handicap are using those seats (except during rush hour).
Number one issue I have with buses is knowing when to get off it. If you're not familiar with the street layout or it isn't utterly predictable like uptown Manhattan or DC's number/letter grid, saying "get off at Spruce Street" doesn't mean anything to me because I won't know when it's coming.
A really good video explaining the problems using transit for first time riders and explaining the issues of problems of people having disabilities. I have been a life long transit user both at home in Philadelphia and try to use transit systems when visiting other cities including Pittsburgh. Recently I have had issues with falling and have become hesitant using transit. My local commuter train station has low level platforms and it is hard boarding and exiting the train ,due to the steep steps. Since I still drive a car I have changed using a different station on my train line that has recently been upgraded to high level platforms. The center city stations are all ok in that they offer escelators as well as elevators to get you up,or down to the station platforms. I do have a bus that goes right my home that serves the subway to center city but depending on the driver the experience boarding or exiting can vary depending how patient the driver is to see you safely board or exit. Also at 69th treat terminal where this bus ends you need to climb a rather long stairway to get up to where the subway runs. SEPTA does have elevators to the subway platform and it is usually working. Thanks for highlighting the challenging issues people can experience when trying to use transit.
A tourist train based out of Armstrong County has talked about running a commuter train from Armstrong to Pittsburgh via the Strip District. They maintain they still have a right of way through the Strip District and could connect to the old Pennsylvania Main Line (now Norfolk and Southern) to drop off passengers at the Amtrak station in downtown Pittsburgh. So far it has been all talk, no funding, but it is interesting.
Most people are not even aware of what all goes into doing something which seems so simple as riding a bus. As someone who is not dealing with some kind of other issue other than just not being sure what to do, I find that there can be a lot of anxiety in navigating something like this. I am pretty good at navigating SEPTA regional rail (yup, Philadelphia here...) buses, subway, trolley, I get a bit anxious... have I done the payment process correctly (helps that I am a senior citizen and have the free pass) I worry about being on the right bus, will it go where I want to go, do I trust the app? Will I be able to exit the vehicle when I get there. And in Philadelphia, how the heck do you actually exit the station to the street! Great video!
Great content as always Caleb! I love introducing people to transit, and it really does open doors for a lot of people, even if they own a car. After I showed them how to ride a bus, they use it a lot more now, even though they have a car. This needs to happen a lot more.
Wow, yeah! It's great having an OT expert analyze the trip so we can demand more from our cities' transit to be more accessible One suggestion: perhaps it would be good to re-title this to something like "Occupational Therapist rides Pittsburgh Bus for the first time" or "Occupational Therapy Professor Reacts to Pittsburgh Bus Accessibility" or something I feel like it'll have wider appeal and is actually more accurate to what the core premise of the video is. That way more people can learn about accessibility factors on buses! But, either way, nice work! Subscribed!
Now we know what you are going for. Awesome video. Do have to ask have you seen Dr. Glacenflecken's video over Christmas about the Occupational therapist going with Nana to visit the family. That might be a good reaction video for you if you need extra time during the week.
Thank you very much for this very interesting video presentation. A lot of good points were brought up certainly concerning how buses are driven, not to mention the potholes which seem to effect every city! Having had the services of Occupational Therapists, I have to say that, as far as I am concerned, they are worth their weight in gold.
Now that I’ve become the “guy who cares about transit/cycling” at my work people tend to ask me what I would do to “fix” things and I have just started responding that access is the most important goal/metric. Accessible = useful = equitable. Also, didn’t know you were living in PGH! Perhaps I’ll see you on one of the 61s one day!
It's interesting that Dr Huth mentions cognitive skills for the elderly. Given the increased cognition required to use transit, I wonder if using transit rather than a car helps to slow decline in the elderly. People do often say that an active mind declines more slowly.
I hate taking the bus. On the other hand the Light Rail Vehicles (LRV) are easy to use. The main reason is where the doors are. In a LRV the double doors are right behind the driver so I have the whole width of the LRV to maneuver my Mobility Scooter to pay my fare and grab a handrail on the Handicap seats. On the bus, the door is right beside the driver and is only a single door. Thus it is a tight fit for me to get into the bus and then turn left with the scooter. It can take me five to ten minutes to get on or off the bus as I maneuver my Scooter in that very narrow space. I have done it when I have to but when I am on the bus I also end up blocking people who want to get or off the bus. This is all do to where the doors are and that the buses are all narrower the LRVs.
Come visit! It’s worth it! I’d recommend visiting in the summer- it’s not as pretty in the winter and summer offers more opportunities for enjoying our 3 rivers!
As to pain. I have pain due to a neck injury (a disc in my neck went bad and had to be replaced by a Titanium disc but the old bad disc had cut into my nervous cord. No one knows why. I had a motor scooter accident in 2008 and had an MRI of my neck done at that time period, when the disc went bad in 2019 I had a chance to look at both the 2008 MRI, no damage, and the new MRI done in 2019, extensive damage to the spinal cord). Thus I am in pain. Bumps make the pain worse. I take Excedrins (Aspirin and Tylenol together) and it works the best (Even better then Oxycodon I received in the Hospital). I bring this up for pain from the bumps are a problem, less on the LRVs than on the few buses I had ridden on.
Yesterday I had to go to the Dentist. I can go to him via the Library LRV line. Since the high temperature was to be 20 degree Fahrenheit I took the Red Line and caught the Library line downtown. At the downtown station the temperature was 40 for it was underground. Everything was fine till I was on the actual Library line, which was barely upgraded in the early 1980s and has had 40 years of abuse since then. The tracks need to be reset for it was tossing me all over the place in my scooter. The scooter stood still but you could feel the LRV "Bouncing" off the rails. The road bed needs redone but it looks like PAT's plan is to convert the route to a busway instead of upgrading the roadbed. This plan is not new, in the Skybus proposal of the 1960s, the Library line was to become a busway, something the locals variously opposed then and hopefully will oppose it today.
@@ClassyWhale thanks for your reply. In October I am going to attend a conference, David L Lawrence convention hall, Pittsburgh. I am going to stay away around 30 km from the hall. So I need to check the bus timing and ticket price
If she tries the Light Rail I recommend she take the Library line (PAT renamed in the Silver line but I prefer the older name) to its end and bring a bicycle with her (bicycle are allowed in LRVs except during rush hour and then still permitted outbound in the morning and inbound in the evening). The Library line goes right underneath the Montour bike trail. For some reason there is no direct connection between the Library stop and its huge park and ride lot and the Montour trail but you just turn north through the parking lot, turn left and you will see both ends of the Montour trail. The trail along the Library parking lot is very short so I recommend you take the route to the bridge over both the Library line and Brownsville road. Technically you could take the Montour trail to where the old Washington Interurban Streetcar use to go over the trail, but that innerurban was reduced to the Drake stop in 1952 and at South Hilks Village in the 1990s. You can trace where the old line went by following the power lines. When the Interurban opened up around 1905 it was also the first electric lines for homes in the area. Thus today in that area you will see power lines in people's back yards instead of along the streets for the streets are a post 1950s creation but the power lines date to 1905. In many ways PRT could extend the South Hills Village line to Canonsburg and Washington but I do not see them doing it. I have done that trip with my Mobility Scooter. It is a nice trip. Another trip is get off at the Lytle stop, one of the few high level stops on the Library line, take a side road to PA 88 at South Park Shops and use the sidewalk to get to South Park at Corrigan drive. She may have to hurry on this for the Library line is up to be rebuilt, it is over 40 years since the last rebuilding of that line. Given present Federal Law requires all stops to be Handicap accessible it looks like PRT wants to convert the Library line to a busway, thus avoid having to upgrade all of the stops to high platforms stops so that people in wheelchairs could use the line. This is not official yet but the County has had plans to convert the Library line to a busway since at least the 1960s (It was part of the Skybus debacle).
She's my professor. I take classes with her because I paid Carlow a lot of tuition money. It's pretty simple. She just happened to like my channel and wanted to be on it.
Excellent video. These issues don't just affect people with disabilities. They are what keep lots of people from even considering transit to get around their communities. Many transit agencies don't even do a good job of letting people what to expect if they do take the bus; they just assume everyone knows how to do it.
Agreed. I was looking to start taking my bike on the PRT bus this year and was concerned about getting stuck using their bike rack. There is a description on their website that pretty much says to load and unload your bike, without any details on it. For someone doing this for the first time under pressure, that's just not enough to give myself the confidence to use it.
Thankfully, PRT has a youtube video from like 2010 that shows the step by step process, but at least provide a link to that video on their website...
If you use the LRV, you just push the bike into the LRV and use the Handicap sitting location. If someone with a Handicap shows up later, all you have to do is move yourself and the bike to the other end of the LRV. I am one of those Handicap that have "Forced" Bicyclists to move their bikes so it is not that hard and most times no one who is Handicap are using those seats (except during rush hour).
Number one issue I have with buses is knowing when to get off it. If you're not familiar with the street layout or it isn't utterly predictable like uptown Manhattan or DC's number/letter grid, saying "get off at Spruce Street" doesn't mean anything to me because I won't know when it's coming.
I love that you screenshot Miles for the "eating" slide!
Transit + work for class = something I’ve always wanted to do more of!
A really good video explaining the problems using transit for first time riders and explaining the issues of problems of people having disabilities. I have been a life long transit user both at home in Philadelphia and try to use transit systems when visiting other cities including Pittsburgh. Recently I have had issues with falling and have become hesitant using transit. My local commuter train station has low level platforms and it is hard boarding and exiting the train ,due to the steep steps. Since I still drive a car I have changed using a different station on my train line that has recently been upgraded to high level platforms. The center city stations are all ok in that they offer escelators as well as elevators to get you up,or down to the station platforms. I do have a bus that goes right my home that serves the subway to center city but depending on the driver the experience boarding or exiting can vary depending how patient the driver is to see you safely board or exit. Also at 69th treat terminal where this bus ends you need to climb a rather long stairway to get up to where the subway runs. SEPTA does have elevators to the subway platform and it is usually working. Thanks for highlighting the challenging issues people can experience when trying to use transit.
The Strip District doesn't sound like a place to go with your academic advisor/professor, but Perogies sound cools
Yinz has clearly never been to Pittsburgh
@@ClassyWhale Just the train station on layover from down the point
A tourist train based out of Armstrong County has talked about running a commuter train from Armstrong to Pittsburgh via the Strip District. They maintain they still have a right of way through the Strip District and could connect to the old Pennsylvania Main Line (now Norfolk and Southern) to drop off passengers at the Amtrak station in downtown Pittsburgh. So far it has been all talk, no funding, but it is interesting.
@@paulmentzer7658 The right of way through the Strip District would need major repair and rehabilitation.
Great job Caleb educating the people on transit
Most people are not even aware of what all goes into doing something which seems so simple as riding a bus. As someone who is not dealing with some kind of other issue other than just not being sure what to do, I find that there can be a lot of anxiety in navigating something like this. I am pretty good at navigating SEPTA regional rail (yup, Philadelphia here...) buses, subway, trolley, I get a bit anxious... have I done the payment process correctly (helps that I am a senior citizen and have the free pass) I worry about being on the right bus, will it go where I want to go, do I trust the app? Will I be able to exit the vehicle when I get there. And in Philadelphia, how the heck do you actually exit the station to the street! Great video!
Oh my god that's my friend's mom slayyyyyy
Yaaaaa
Great content as always Caleb! I love introducing people to transit, and it really does open doors for a lot of people, even if they own a car. After I showed them how to ride a bus, they use it a lot more now, even though they have a car. This needs to happen a lot more.
Wow, yeah! It's great having an OT expert analyze the trip so we can demand more from our cities' transit to be more accessible
One suggestion: perhaps it would be good to re-title this to something like "Occupational Therapist rides Pittsburgh Bus for the first time" or "Occupational Therapy Professor Reacts to Pittsburgh Bus Accessibility" or something
I feel like it'll have wider appeal and is actually more accurate to what the core premise of the video is. That way more people can learn about accessibility factors on buses!
But, either way, nice work! Subscribed!
Now we know what you are going for. Awesome video. Do have to ask have you seen Dr. Glacenflecken's video over Christmas about the Occupational therapist going with Nana to visit the family. That might be a good reaction video for you if you need extra time during the week.
Thank you very much for this very interesting video presentation. A lot of good points were brought up certainly concerning how buses are driven, not to mention the potholes which seem to effect every city! Having had the services of Occupational Therapists, I have to say that, as far as I am concerned, they are worth their weight in gold.
Thanks! Occupational Therapy is the best job ever!!!❤
That was amazing! Appreciate the analysis of the skills we use riding buses. Thank you!
This needs to be integrated in all OT programs.
i didnt know you were in OT! :)
my stepmom is an OT, and my sister is becoming an OTA right here in Lancaster!
Extra points for pierogi!
Now that I’ve become the “guy who cares about transit/cycling” at my work people tend to ask me what I would do to “fix” things and I have just started responding that access is the most important goal/metric. Accessible = useful = equitable. Also, didn’t know you were living in PGH! Perhaps I’ll see you on one of the 61s one day!
Transit Tip: Next Pierogi trip, ride the 54 from Oakland to the Strip District
It's interesting that Dr Huth mentions cognitive skills for the elderly. Given the increased cognition required to use transit, I wonder if using transit rather than a car helps to slow decline in the elderly. People do often say that an active mind declines more slowly.
Hmm...research study?
I hate taking the bus. On the other hand the Light Rail Vehicles (LRV) are easy to use. The main reason is where the doors are. In a LRV the double doors are right behind the driver so I have the whole width of the LRV to maneuver my Mobility Scooter to pay my fare and grab a handrail on the Handicap seats.
On the bus, the door is right beside the driver and is only a single door. Thus it is a tight fit for me to get into the bus and then turn left with the scooter. It can take me five to ten minutes to get on or off the bus as I maneuver my Scooter in that very narrow space. I have done it when I have to but when I am on the bus I also end up blocking people who want to get or off the bus. This is all do to where the doors are and that the buses are all narrower the LRVs.
I know where she's coming from. I'm always super nervous when I used a bus for the first time in a city I am visiting or when I move to a new city.
This video made me realize I want to explore Pittsburgh but I live in California and it's gonna cost me a pretty penny to get there
Come visit! It’s worth it! I’d recommend visiting in the summer- it’s not as pretty in the winter and summer offers more opportunities for enjoying our 3 rivers!
As to pain. I have pain due to a neck injury (a disc in my neck went bad and had to be replaced by a Titanium disc but the old bad disc had cut into my nervous cord. No one knows why. I had a motor scooter accident in 2008 and had an MRI of my neck done at that time period, when the disc went bad in 2019 I had a chance to look at both the 2008 MRI, no damage, and the new MRI done in 2019, extensive damage to the spinal cord).
Thus I am in pain. Bumps make the pain worse. I take Excedrins (Aspirin and Tylenol together) and it works the best (Even better then Oxycodon I received in the Hospital).
I bring this up for pain from the bumps are a problem, less on the LRVs than on the few buses I had ridden on.
Yesterday I had to go to the Dentist. I can go to him via the Library LRV line. Since the high temperature was to be 20 degree Fahrenheit I took the Red Line and caught the Library line downtown. At the downtown station the temperature was 40 for it was underground. Everything was fine till I was on the actual Library line, which was barely upgraded in the early 1980s and has had 40 years of abuse since then. The tracks need to be reset for it was tossing me all over the place in my scooter. The scooter stood still but you could feel the LRV "Bouncing" off the rails. The road bed needs redone but it looks like PAT's plan is to convert the route to a busway instead of upgrading the roadbed.
This plan is not new, in the Skybus proposal of the 1960s, the Library line was to become a busway, something the locals variously opposed then and hopefully will oppose it today.
Noted 4:00 pm upload time
YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST RIDDEN THE 54D NORTHSIDE-OAKLAND-SOUTHSIDE VIA POLISH HILL
We did that in the reverse direction, I just wanted her to experience a transfer
Bus ticket price how to check?
@@shanmugapriyaig8521 Pittsburgh Regional Transit web site
@@ClassyWhale thanks for your reply. In October I am going to attend a conference, David L Lawrence convention hall, Pittsburgh. I am going to stay away around 30 km from the hall. So I need to check the bus timing and ticket price
"NEXT STOP, FIFTH, AND, KIRKPAKTRIK (BIRMINGHAM BRIDGE)"
Have her try the light rail
If she tries the Light Rail I recommend she take the Library line (PAT renamed in the Silver line but I prefer the older name) to its end and bring a bicycle with her (bicycle are allowed in LRVs except during rush hour and then still permitted outbound in the morning and inbound in the evening). The Library line goes right underneath the Montour bike trail. For some reason there is no direct connection between the Library stop and its huge park and ride lot and the Montour trail but you just turn north through the parking lot, turn left and you will see both ends of the Montour trail. The trail along the Library parking lot is very short so I recommend you take the route to the bridge over both the Library line and Brownsville road.
Technically you could take the Montour trail to where the old Washington Interurban Streetcar use to go over the trail, but that innerurban was reduced to the Drake stop in 1952 and at South Hilks Village in the 1990s. You can trace where the old line went by following the power lines. When the Interurban opened up around 1905 it was also the first electric lines for homes in the area. Thus today in that area you will see power lines in people's back yards instead of along the streets for the streets are a post 1950s creation but the power lines date to 1905.
In many ways PRT could extend the South Hills Village line to Canonsburg and Washington but I do not see them doing it.
I have done that trip with my Mobility Scooter. It is a nice trip.
Another trip is get off at the Lytle stop, one of the few high level stops on the Library line, take a side road to PA 88 at South Park Shops and use the sidewalk to get to South Park at Corrigan drive.
She may have to hurry on this for the Library line is up to be rebuilt, it is over 40 years since the last rebuilding of that line. Given present Federal Law requires all stops to be Handicap accessible it looks like PRT wants to convert the Library line to a busway, thus avoid having to upgrade all of the stops to high platforms stops so that people in wheelchairs could use the line. This is not official yet but the County has had plans to convert the Library line to a busway since at least the 1960s (It was part of the Skybus debacle).
I'm curious what, if anything, your OT professor thinks transit systems could do differently to make them easier to use.
How did you even get contact with her
She's my professor. I take classes with her because I paid Carlow a lot of tuition money. It's pretty simple. She just happened to like my channel and wanted to be on it.
ID OT all my life until I graduated high school