Pittsburgh Transportation Guidelines

By Ty Hartman

Whether you're living or just visiting the Pittsburgh area, traveling from one place to the next can be a daunting task. Although many essentials, such as groceries, clothing and pharmaceuticals, can be found within walking distance of most residential areas. This doesn't mean everything can be reached by foot, and for the majority owning a car is out of the question. 

So what are my options?

Of course you can Uber or Lyft to your destination, but these services are not always guaranteed and often cost a great deal of money.

For a more affordable and reliable solution, Pittsburgh’s public transportation system offers a wide range of possibilities. Between the busses and trolleys almost anywhere in Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas can be reached for under $3.

The public transportation system, also known as Port Authority, consists of many interwoven bus and trolley paths. Connecting the South Hills to the North Side and countless other places throughout Allegheny County.

How do I know where to go?

Although the Port Authority transit system was made for easy access to a large portion of the Pittsburgh area, it can be rather confusing your first time around. This being said, a lot of tools have been developed to make finding the ideal route a lot faster and easier. 

Firstly, Port Authority’s website offers a Trip Planner. This tool has many features to pick from to find the appropriate combination of busses, trolleys and walking for your trip. You can select any start and end point, and then choose other specifics to make you travel ideal for you. 

To open Port Authority’s Trip Planner, click HERE.

The second opinion is to download the mobile app Whiz. Whiz is an extremely intuitive app that allows you to access bus and trolley schedules, trip notifications, locations of all the stop and more. The Whiz app was made for more than just Pittsburgh’s public transportation systems, but once you've downloaded the app you can select Pittsburgh as your city.

One of the main features is, the app uses your phones’ navigation system to provide you with accurate directions to the nearest bus or trolley stop, and offers live readings of the location of your incoming bus or trolley.

The Whiz app can also be used for finding bus and trolley schedule as while as receiving notifications about delays and cancellations. In addition, under each stop, is a detailed list of all the busses and trolleys that will be visiting that stop along with the times and directions of each. 

To download the Whiz app, click HERE

How do I pay?

All buses and trolleys can be boarded for a single fee of $2.75 or $2.50 with the purchase of a ConnectCard. Besides the ConnectCard, Port Authority only accepts cash and coins, and does not return excess money. So unless you have an abundance of quarters or have money burning a hole in your pocket, it's recommended that you purchase a ConnectCard. 

ConnectCards can be purchased online or at one of the various locations around the Pittsburgh area.

To purchase or find a ConnectCard location, click HERE

For any other questions or concerns consider visiting the Port Authority website, by clicking HERE