America's Two T's: Comparing Boston and Pittsburghs Transit Systems 

YOU SPELT MASSACHUSETTS RIGHT

As a former Pittsburgh resident (went away for college), I really wish the T ran to more places than just into the south hills and to downtown.

I appreciate the in depth look into the lesser known but interesting transit systems in the US. I think Cleveland, Buffalo or St Louis would be great candidates for future videos like this.

Hate to say it as a Somerville resident, but the extension is currently only open to Union Square in the Eastern-most point in Somerville. The stations to the west serving Medford will hopefully be opening in November. Fingers crossed this opening date is the final delay and the trains stop catching on fire.

Pittsburgh transit has a lot to be desired. It has the T for the south and an acceptable bus network east of the city. But everywhere else has limited bus lines and infrequent service(the west busway is short and only use is bypassing the fort pitt tunnels). A rail line connecting the airport west to Oakland east would be ideal. North of the city has limited service so anything that way would be nice.

I live in Pittsburgh and use to take the T and Mon incline daily. Back in the 1950s we had arguably the best (or at least) one of the best public transportation systems in the world. We had a network of streetcars that could take you anywhere, including many private right of ways that allowed riders to take only 1 trolley from Pittsburgh to another county. Then at that time Pittsburgh Railways started to dismantle the network and almost instantly became Port Authority of Allegheny County and they quickly sped up that process by switching to busses. Since then our system became less than 1/10 of what it was. It's too costly to expand out to other areas where this system is really needed. It's a shame that some infastructure wasn't kept but guess there was too many hands in the cookie jar. I did like this video!

Steel is Pittsburgh's past. We have only one major plant left in the area and is not in Pittsburgh. High Tech is Pittsburgh's present. We also are a major Medical Center.

The high level platforms in the private right of way stations and the 2 levels of doors on the cars on Pittsburgh's light rail are clearly visible, but got no mention. And you forgot the Ashmont-Mattapan High-Speed Line in Boston, using rebuilt (and being rebuilt again) PCCs. And Boston's Silver Line is actually 2 disconnected segments that operate differently: The Silver Line Waterfront uses articulated dual-mode buses that are gradually being replaced with hybrids capable of somewhat extended battery running, while the Silver Line Washington Street uses conventional hybrid articulated buses. And the MBTA currently does not have a bright future -- decades of a combination of underfunding, externally-imposed debt, and outright mismanagement have nearly run it into the ground. And you mentioned 3 types of "reliable" light rail vehicles on the Green Line -- only the Type 7s are reliable (the other 2 types still have serious reliability issues), and even those go bad if pushed up to 50 mph = 80 km/h, developing extreme center bogie oscillations at that speed, so that the speed limit on the Riverside Branch had to be reduced to 42(?) mph.

Awesome video! I live one hour away from Pittsburgh and I do like looking at the T and the CSX and NS freight trains. Since America is mostly a diesel powered country, the Pittsburgh T is the closest I can get to European style electric trains.

I am no expert but Pittsburgh's transportation system took some mad hits beginning of this year and now late busses are just a common occurrence

Interesting comparison. Lifelong MBTA rider, but oddly enough, I was visiting family in Pittsburgh and got to ride the first day they had the downtown subway loop open.

Thanks for shouting out Pittsburgh busways! They really are great

what a specific video! ive lived in both of these places! i used the green line for years in boston but in pittsburgh the bus system gets a lot more use at least in my experience

I mean hopefully Boston's T has an optimistic future. Hopefully the current rough spot is temporary.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, so naturally I favor its system! Personally, I find Boston's T logo to be quite drab compared to Pittsburgh's! It really irks me that Pittsburgh seems to be using the logo less now...

Also, Port Authority Transit is now Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

Thanks for posting: a nice intro to both systems, and interesting to have a comparison between them. Also a neat cameo appearance at 7:12...

Thank you for this comparison of the two T systems in Boston and my hometown, Pittsburgh. I rode on the Boston T system, especially the Green Line which was America's first subway opening in 1897. (New York City began in 1904). I was impressed with the connections between each of the rapid transit lines and bus connections to them. Until 2022, the T did have a good trolley coach network. The T Lines in Pittsburgh were originally interurban routes that ran from Pittsburgh to the towns of Washington, PA and Charleroi, with a small connection to Donora. The lines were cut back in the early 1950's when autos became the preferred mode of travel. The Pittsburgh T line could be much better if the subway was extended to the Oakland area to serve the hospitals and the universities, a route running to Wexford in the north suburbs and west to the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. The underground river connection between downtown Pittsburgh and the North Shore is rather slow compared to systems in other cities where the trains go pretty fast under the rivers. Political issues and maybe a few Nimbys have limited the growth of the T light rail routes and the bus network. Even with the renaming from Port Authority to Pittsburgh Regional Transit this year, there is still the need for improvements. For a closer look at the history of Pittsburgh's trolleys, there are quite a few videos on the subject. And check out Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Some of the cars are restored for riders. Visit pa-trolley.org for more information and hours of operation.

I wish the T here in Pittsburgh actually went to more then downtown, 2 stops in the north shore and most of the south hills. Busses are fine, but it would save a whole lot of time if there were more north shore/Oakland stops because thats where a lot of colleges are. It also would encourage college students to explore the area more since the busses around here are unreliable and are often packed by the time they reach 1/3rd of their route.

If you feel so inclined...I see what you did there

Its all fun and games until you find out Minnesota's commuter rail system also has a T logo at the front of their locomotives

love seeing the Type 7 when in Boston ❤

Been to countless games at Fenway and went to two games at PNC. After Red Sox games the MBTA has more frequent green line trains and even queues a few to get people out. Pitts T didn’t not adjust their schedule for the crowd and it built up, had to wait so long that we gave up and walked. It was cleaner than Boston but the in station classical music is weird.

Ive lived in both cities and relied on both Ts - i currently live near Heinz Feild and still use the T somewhat often. From here to all stops in town (round trip) are free.

There's another agency in the US that uses the MBTA's T logo as its own logo but in white on red instead of black on white. It's in Minneapolis-Saint Paul only it calls itself Metro

As a Bostonian, i am jealous of the level boarding at stations and the wider trains, but we do have the Red, Orange, and Blue lines, so we do out class them in subway

Should have at least given a fleeting comment that Pittsburgh did have Heavy Rail (PATrain) as part of our Transit system in the past. My parents took me on the final run of that system. Would love to re-find that picture from that day of me with the engine.

You left out another light-rail line, the Ashmont-Mattapan High-Speed Line (part of the Red Line), which uses PCC streetcars.

I rode the red line on Boston's T many years ago and all I could think about was the Kingston Trio song about Charlie and the MTA (as it was called back in the day)

The Pittsburgh is the worst. We had all these trollies and they fucking rip them up and build an entirely new gage, and the T is useless because it doesn't actually connect the bedroom communities to the city center. The North Shore is where most of the stadiums and Casio are and it took decades to finally connect there. But once again, pretty useless since you have to drive into the city to even use it. Don't even get me started on the buses.... They stop running after 10pm if you're not in the city limits. So let's say you work at a restaurant near the airport that closes at midnight and you live about a 20 minute car ride away. You really can't work past 10pm. The public transportation in Pittsburgh does not serve the people it's suppose to

I just watched a movie the other day on netflix and it was actually filmed in pittsburgh and made reference to actual places (even at least 1 corporate naming rights john's name that is on a joint). I kept thinking, when on earth did they get a subway system. Alas, it is not a subway system. I think it's just an light rail thing. It is does have an open gangway design, something that we here in New York City do not have. We'd be able to squeeze in a few more sardines if we did. Oh well.

Pittsburgh' track gauge is 5' 2 1/2", 6 inches wider that standard gauge. The light rail cars are 82' 10" over the anti-climbers. (That does not count the couplers).

CAF USA Inc just got a contract to build 102 new Type - 10 cars remember the MBTA still has the PCC cars on the Ashmont- Mattapan line

Great comparison video. It would seem like Boston has something of an advantage, having a heavy-rail subway in addition to the light-rail. Whereas Pittsburgh is light-rail only. Still both public transit systems seem thoughtfully designed.

Hey there time traveler! Welcome to 2022! Since you went into the Timewarp back in 1985 Pittsburgh stopped being a steel town in the early nineties, that's like 30 years ago. Boy oh boy how the world has changed!

Great thing is on Pittsburgh, they are going through purchasing all new light rail cars (84 total) as the current ones are way too old. This past budget cycle they put in 1 million dollars for design stage and such. They are submitting grants upwards to 100 million dollars to aide in the purchase as the total cost is expected to be 500 million.

This is super duper ooper shmooper cool. I’m ur biggest fan!!! Go train dude!

I am from the red line single line part of pittsburgh, and everytime i go on the T, it puts in PIT pride in me

When you were there, did you try and see if your CharlieCard worked on the trains in Pittsburgh?

There's a very interesting documentary on Boston's Silver Line called "Equal or Better: The Story of the Silver Line" and gives some interesting historical context to it

And Port authority is actually Pittsburgh Regional Transit now or PRT for short

I know you’re a train guy but can you make a video on the Silver Line? I was astonished when I visited that they created a whole tunnel and chose to use busses instead of trains.

You missed Boston's mattapan Light rail line! i dont know the specific dates or model, but they have the oldest cars in the mbta by far

I rode the green line in Boston and I wonder why there are stop request buttons? Do the trams not stop at all stations?

On the Green line it depends on the Suface station stop. With Platforms like Lechmere GLX and Northeastern University E Branch & D Branch the doors open therefore no need for Stop Request button. Stop Request used on On Street running. Regarding the type 7 some are actually the late 1990s builds the 3700s. On rare situations Type 9s can run E Branch Union Square Lechmere to Heath Street VA medical center via Northeastern University

fun fact: the NHL Team Boston Bruins has the same colors as the NHL Team The Pittsburg Penguins.

4:40 i know exactly where this was taken, only becasue that that auto service shop is right across the street from one of my favorite music venues, paradise rock club! right on the babcock st station

I always thought it was weird that Pittsburgh light rail and former streetcar (trolley) tracks were wider than "regular" railroad tracks. Pittsburgh HAS to be different, Keep it weird yinz jagoffs! LOL, I can say that I was born, raised and live in the city!. (North SIde).

oh, no - Thank YOU!

I really wish that PATrain didn't outright die. Just feels that it never got the funding or attention it deserved. While I hope Pittsburgh can come up with a commuter rail in the future it certainly doesn't look like it'll be anytime soon.

Nice video!

Monongahela isn't said Mononga- he-la it's Mononga-hell-a. I know that because I've lived in Monongahela since I was born

Man, Calling Pittsburgh a steel town in 2022 is... WAY off base.

Literally demanding more content

I am a CMU student and wish light rail connect CBD with Oakland where all u pitt and CMU are Located

Cute video!!!

Pittsburgh also has heavy rail and commuter rail too.

The T is probably a bit better than PRT (read as “PART” since it used to be PAT)

Wouldn't you be biased if you're from Boston?

I'd say Pittsburgs has slightly higher crime.

Thriving? Steel town?

PLEASE FUND THE MBTA

Hmm seems like this was a pointless video to talk about how he likes Pittsburgh’s transit more than Boston’s. They really aren’t comparable, sure the MBTA has its flaws but being the oldest subway system in the US and serving way more communities it should’ve had way more time in this video. Maybe more research is warranted or if you’ve done the research then share more of what you’ve learned about the MBTA.

Our "T" sucks. It only has two routes, and it serves mainly rich people.

How you gonna talk about port authority and not mention how their buses always end up in some crazy scenarios🤣🤣😂😂

I am like number 186

Clearly boston needs more funiculars. 😑

Boston T is way better

Another terrible video. When you compare T as transit, you give scores based on the following 1. How many places can go if you don't have cars. Public transportation is not limousine. However, the scores must evaluate how far you have to walk station or bus stops if you live populate dense area. 2. For car drivers, what is the inconvenience cost if you take public transportation. The lower it is the higher transit cost. If your cars broke , do you have to take Uber or borrow cars. If gasoline goes up to 15 dollars a gallon, you really don't care. 3 the frequency of buses and trains 4 if you need cars to use trains, deduct 100000 points. LA is best example that train is total waste. Joke to the world Your video doesn't say that. Thumb down