28X Airport Flyer question
Ok only been to the Pittsburgh airport once...where exactly is the bus stop at? The website for the bus gives a map too tiny to read so does it have a stop closer to the Omni then the seventh and Smithfield corner? How many busses are working this route...if I miss it does that mean having to wait two hours for its return?
By the way the bus website says the fare is $3.25 not $2.75 thats posted on the Anthrocon site.
Greetings, Liyoht!
Ok only been to the Pittsburgh airport once...where exactly is the bus stop at?
After you have picked up your bags at the baggage carousels at the terminal lower-level, one side of the building faces the street for people driving private cars, the other faces a street restricted to public transport, such as Taxis, Shuttles, and Buses (including the ones which take you to the rent-a-car lots). Go out the side where the taxis are. The stop for the 28X Airport Flyer is almost directly outside door #6, which places you nearest the end of the terminal that the buses and taxis approach from; the taxi-stand should be "downstream" of you, to the right. The actual stop itself will have a stand-alone signboard, about 4 and a half feet high, marking the official Bus Stop for the 28X Flyer. There is a small "pocket" attached to the sign, which should have bus schedules in it, listing the locations where it stops along the route, and the times when it is likely to be at certain points.
The website for the bus gives a map too tiny to read so does it have a stop closer to the Omni then the seventh and Smithfield corner?
Actually, the bus usually travels down Liberty Avenue, then turns right, onto Seventh Avenue; the bus-stop going away from the Airport stops at the corner of Seventh Ave. at William Penn Place, at the end of the block. This is the closest bus-stop for ALL AnthroCon Hotels. It is also the LAST stop, before the bus heads out of Downtown Pittsburgh proper, and goes Uptown to Duquesne University, the neighborhood of Oakland, and Carnegie-Mellon University. DO NOT MISS THIS STOP. If you do, there is a work-around which can get you back within anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, with a transfer - or you can take the bus around on the out-bound trip, but that might take even longer, depending on whether or not your particular bus and driver are scheduled for a mid-route break - but trust me, you do not want to have to be in the position of having to try this - I have. Learn from my mistake!
When you depart from AnthroCon and Pittsburgh, the 28X Flyer goes the other direction along Seventh Ave, and the out-bound bus-stop is at the other end of the block - at the corner of Seventh Ave. at Smithfield St. It is a short block - you could throw a rock across the street from one bus-stop to the other, if you've got a good arm.
Once you get off the bus, stand at the corner of William Penn Place. Up-hill (it is a very slight grade) and to your right, you will see the Omni William Penn. It is two blocks (they are short blocks) up and on the other side of the street, just past the next stop-light up the hill. If your destination is the DoubleTree Hotel, walk up the hill but when you get to that stop-light, turn left. This is Sixth Street. Walk to the next corner, to Grant Street (it parallels William Penn Place, which should now be behind you; the Omni sits between them), and cross it - you should see the DoubleTree in front of you, off to the left, as the street bends left around a green area. It is a block away at this point.
If you are going to the Westin - when you get off the bus, stand on the corner of Seventh and William Penn Place, and look down-hill - that is, to your left, away from the Omni. The Westin is one block away, down this street - but because of the geometry of the streets, Liberty Avenue running at a 45-degree angle, this block is longer - almost as long as the two blocks combined towards the Omni. Just walk down William Penn Place, cross Liberty - and you are there!
How many busses are working this route...if I miss it does that mean having to wait two hours for its return?
The bus comes by along the route approximately every half-hour, but there are occasional "breaks" for the individual drivers (there's more than one bus running the route). Expect the actual trip to take about 45 minutes. The website which provided you with the too-small map and the info about the elevated fare, also lists the specific times when the bus is supposed to make the airport stop.
The policy to ride the bus is that they expect exact fare for the ride; the drivers do not provide change, the farebox does not dispense any, and they got a schedule to keep. But if you should happen to put 4 dollar bills into the farebox, the driver and the Port Authority will not object - just don't expect any change back - or even any thanks, for that matter. But if you are in a hurry and don't have the small change or can't get to it in about 10 seconds, and there is an impatient line of others waiting to wrestle their own bags up the steps behind you, consider just sacrificing the extra 75 cents.
If you have a lot of luggage - as in more than one suitcase and a carry-on bag, knapsack, or briefcase/pc bag - then you might want to consider one of the other modes of transport from the airport. There is no under-bus bag compartment, the driver doesn't load or move bags, and there are no racks for stowing bags inside the bus! And while last year the Port Authority dropped the Robinson Center from the 28X route, this year - what with cuts to public transport funding - they dropped the saparate line serving the Robinson Center and re-incorporated it into the 28X route. The bus will make 5 stops there, and most likely load up with a number of rather sullen urban passengers, who will be expecting to sit in the seats which your baggage might be occupying. So if you have anything more to carry than what can sit on the floor in front of your feet and in your lap, seriously consider taking one of the private shuttle services (which will stow your bags), or sharing the cost of a taxi ride with a couple other furry fans going to the same hotel.
Good Luck!
Thank you very much for the information. Other then counting stops how do I know when the bus is at the right stop?
Other then counting stops how do I know when the bus is at the right stop?
The bus should have a GPS-activated annunciator, which if my memory serves, both announces in one of those synthesized voices what stop you are approaching, and (this particular recollection is hazy) activates an alphanumeric display up front, displaying the name of the stop.
If for some reason the particular bus that you are on isn't so equipped, or if it isn't functioning - and you will have 45 minutes and numerous stops in which to discover this - you could also pay attention to when you cross over the Monongahela River into Downtown. and at this point ask the driver to let you know when you are at the stop closest to the Omni (which is also the closest stop for all 4 of our hotels). I suggest doing this right after crossing the river, because if you ask when you get on the bus, he'll have to remember your request for 45 minutes, and as he is paying more attention to safely maneuvering through the city streets, he might forget.
The 28X Flyer normally crosses over the river, and runs up Liberty Avenue, making Three Stops ("And the Counting shall be Three"). The last Liberty Avenue stop will be at Wood Street, which is about 5 blocks from the Westin; that is your "warning stop". Then it makes a 45-degree turn onto Seventh Avenue, crosses Smithfield Street, and stops at Seventh Avenue at William Penn Place. So - if everything is running according to the plan - your stop will be the Fourth stop after crossing the river. I say "Normally" because last year, there was major construction along Liberty Avenue, and the bus didn't run that way; instead, it went east, on the Boulevard of the Allies, and then headed north on Smithfield Street, and stopped at Fifth Ave, just a block from the Omni. This particular detour wasn't listed anywhere in advance. But the Omni fronts on William Penn Square, and I recognised the location, so I got off there. I presume that the bus continued on to Seventh Avenue and made the right turn, putting it back on the normal route and stopping at William Penn Place, but I don't know for sure. So the safest way is to ask the driver, after you cross the river, to let you know when you are at the best stop for the Omni.
Trust me - you'll know when you've "crossed the river"; the Monongahela is rather hard to miss, and it will be the only river of the three which define Pittsburgh that you will have to cross.
*******
Until about 4 years ago, I lived in Burbank, California - right across from the Walt Disney Studios. The movie industry uses a lot of the local city streets and surroundings for "on location" filming, all over Los Angeles and environs. This means that there is a lot of stuff which has to be transported to lots of rather obscure addresses and locations. Lights, cameras, props, generators, crews and catering have to be guided on to proper streets along proper routes (some roads and neighborhoods can't handle large trucks or heavy loads) and then parked at specific spots in a certain order, as close to the film location as possible.
To do this, the teamsters who transport all of this movie "stuff" are given GoogleMaps which give them the specific route, specifying what freeway exits to take, what streets to turn down, which direction to head, how many stoplights or stopsigns along the route, how many blocks to drive down, how many houses to pass, with a slightly different final stopping point for each truck. The 2nd unit location manager will have a couple people detailed to flag down and direct the trucks to their final positions. Of course, the Drivers will not bother to read or follow any of it.
...So instead of constantly glancing at a clipboard with 2 or 3 pages of GoogleMaps or MapQuest directions, while trying to wrangle a semi-truck around tight turns, the drivers fall back on special, temporary signs, made of corrugated plastic or foamcore board, colored in some bright flourescent color and having one or two arrows on it, and a rather cryptic word or collection of initials, which represents the shooting-title of whatever production they are working on that day. The signs are about 30"x30" or so, and held up on utility poles or streetsign poles with a loop of bailing wire. The signs can point one way, with the message reading right side up, or it can point another, with the message upside down; it can point straight up, with the message on its side - the important part is which way the arrows point, either Left, Right, or Straight Ahead. The location crew "Pathfinders" put these out the night before the start of filming, like breadcrumbs, and they are supposed to pull them down again after filming is completed. Nevertheless - one sees these signs all over Los Angeles and the surrounding SoCal cities, and it is fun to guess at what TV or Movie production the name or letters on the sign really represents. After all - the film crews do not want to provide directions to random tourists (Paparazzi will already know, and know better than to interrupt actual filming in progress) eager to crowd in and see a movie or TV Episode being made and spot celebrity stars.
...I've often thought that it might be an idea worth considering, to take a similar temporary sign, brightly colored and with a paw-print and an arrow on it - perhaps even the new AnthroCon Flag design, except that it might confuse city workers, since it is patterned after the city flag - and put one at the airport stop for the 28X Flyer, and one at the proper stop for AnthroCon attendees get off the bus, which can be seen at the level of the bus windows. Possibly also one at the Seventh Ave at Smithfield stop, for boarding the outbound bus. As the City of Pittsburgh has been actively recruiting Film Projects to use the city's locale and scenery, I am certain that this practice has been granted permission in the past, and we might even get the city to put up the signboards - I'm thinking a grand total of three - for us. I might even make a suggestion to that effect, some day.
The bus fare has been going up occassionally over the last few years; thanks for bringing the change to our attention!
An 28X bus leaves the airport about every 30 minutes from about 5AM to midnight, so worst case, you'll wait 30-40 minutes. (Buses don't always run on time. Though you can make them run on thyme.)
The bus stop is about three blocks from the Westin on a side street; it's a short walk. The bus driver can point you in the exact direction once you get off.
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