This is so classic. I honestly don’t believe for one second that the rich residents of Summerset are worrying about the noise of an occasional PAT bus cruising through the neighborhood. They ARE however totally concerned with the image problem associated with an occasional PAT bus cruising through their neighborhood.

A few awesome things:

Besides noise and fumes, they say they fear their streets will become a park-and-ride lot and that other areas of the city need the service more.

I’m just guessing that 60 people getting in their cars to go to work is more fumes than all of them getting on one bus and going to work. Nice try, guys.

The PAT spokesman at the meeting said:

“We want to build ridership. This is a great opportunity for all of you. Parking Downtown is $15 and gas prices are going up. Do I need to be a two-car family to live in Summerset? This opens the community to people who want transportation options.”

Um, I get the feeling that these residents are fearing just that. That by allowing buses in, it opens the community to people that are not two-car families. I think these people associate buses with riff-raff.

Then this gem by one of the residents:

“People who are going to spend the kind of money they’re asking (to have a house in Summerset) for are not going to take a bus,” he said. “But we’ve been told buses are coming in, like it or not.”

That is just so ignorant. Not only poor people take buses. Some people take buses so they aren’t turned into mad raving lunatics pounding on their steering wheels every day at 5:10 p.m. as they try to get through the Squirrel Hill Tunnels. Some people take buses so they can sleep. Some people take buses so they can do their makeup on the bus (that would be me).

Many in the crowd of about 60 were most ruffled by the fact they were not part of the planning process.

That would be because the bus service was planned five years ago as a part of the community, before the community was built. That’s like saying, “You didn’t ask us if we want this road to be going over this little hill or around this little hill.” Obviously, the universe now revolves around Summerset at Frick Park. No wonder the tides have shifted lately.

Category: Uncategorized | August 30, 2005 | | ShareThis