PA: Go with the flow: NFL Draft public transit plan gets positive reviews

The push to have visitors to the NFL Draft use public transportation seemed to work well Thursday — in some cases maybe too well.

The goal was to discourage people from driving to Downtown Pittsburgh because many streets were closed for the draft and the limited parking that was available was going for a premium price. Better to park in the suburbs and take free rides on the Football Flyer buses or the light rail system.

People listened.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit began running its special buses at 10 a.m., but park-and-ride lots in Monroeville Mall began filling at 8:30 a.m., PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph said. Lots further away from the city seemed to fill while those closer still had space, he said.

“We’ve seen a hesitancy for people to drive closer to the city,” Mr. Brandolph said. “We filled up in Monroeville, but we had plenty of space in Wilkinsburg, a lot closer to the city on the same route.”

Although the agency won’t have ridership numbers for a couple of weeks, Mr. Brandolph said most routes were busy and steady. The goal is to run buses every 15 minutes from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday and Friday and every half hour on Saturday.

“Things have gone pretty well all day,” he said in an interview about 6 p.m. “Right now, I’d say 60-70% of our lots are full.”

Riders seemed mostly pleased with the service.

Nick Levasseur of Philadelphia, is regular draft attendee and is part a group of eight staying at a bed-and-breakfast “somewhere in the east, I don’t know exactly where.” They were all dressed in football overalls for their favorite team, him for the Dallas Cowboys, his girlfriend Taylor Tighe for the Philadelphia Eagles and others for the Steelers and Seattle Seahawks.

They found out about free bus rides on the Internet, something they didn’t see during previous draft trips to Detroit and Green Bay.

“It worked out well,” he said. “We didn’t have to wait at all.”

Beth Goerlic, of Ross, said the McCandless park-and-ride was full by noon and she had to use an adjoining lot. But the trip itself was fine.

“The service was excellent,” she said. “We got to see some of Downtown.”

Skylar Brown, of Clairton, used a bus to go from the NFL Experience at Point State Park to the North Shore, where the draft stage is set up outside Acrisure Stadium.

“This [free service] is a great thing they did,” he said.

One significant problem for service has been traffic jams on Fifth Avenue, Downtown. At one point Thursday afternoon, more than a dozen buses were lined up there.

“That is definitely a difficult area,” Mr. Brandolph said. “It Is a confluence of buses, regular traffic and the pedestrian walkway. City police have done a terrific job trying to keep things moving.”

Mr. Brandolph said the agency was bracing for a crush of riders when the draft was over at 11 p.m. Thursday, especially on the light rail system at the North Side Station near PNC Park. The agency had a series of two-car trains lined up that will arrive empty.

“When people leave all at once you know we’re going to be crushed,” he said. “We’re prepared for it.”

Maryann Mulligan and her husband, Leo, drove from Butler to the McCandless park-and-ride to take the bus from there.

“When all else fails, this is the only way to go,” she said. “It was excellent. Hopefully it stays that way all day long.”

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