Pittsburgh, PA

Transportation, Built environment | 2025

Identifying transit service and infrastructure needs for residents in underserved neighborhoods.

Public transit, especially for people who do not have a reliable vehicle or cannot drive, can provide residents with access to job opportunities, healthy food options, and essential services like health care. Through their Bus Line Redesign initiative, Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) is proposing to replace the South Hilltop neighborhoods’ only existing bus route with a micro-transit service. The South Hilltop neighborhoods are already transit and food deserts. Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT), an advocacy organization, will explore how the current and planned transit systems are serving South Hilltop residents and make the case for transit investments for these neighborhoods.

PPT will provide a paid fellowship for seven to nine residents of the South Hilltop region, who will work alongside two researchers to collect data and propose solutions to address the community’s transit needs. The researchers will train the fellows in data fluency, help them connect local data on transit to broader policy strategies, and compile the fellows’ analyses for future meetings with local government leaders. Together, the fellows and researchers will evaluate data and local public transit infrastructure, routes, and programs. By the end of the nine-month fellowship, fellows and researchers plan to advise local government leaders and officials on improvements to transit service coverage, as well as infrastructure such as shelters or sidewalks, and to propose effective strategies for enrolling residents into Allegheny Go, the discount fare program for SNAP recipients. Fellows and researchers will also explore how land use policies and transit expansion can benefit South Hilltop residents by improving access to employment, food, health services, and other essential amenities.

Local insight from this fellowship will inform PRT’s Service Planning Department and Bus Line Redesign research team as they implement the micro-transit zone in South Hilltop to serve the transit needs of South Hilltop residents. Analyses of transit-infrastructure coverage and conditions provided by the project researchers and fellows are also expected to influence Pittsburgh’s transit budget and 2050 Comprehensive Plan.