Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority (Washington, PA)

[Jonesy]

What was going to be a trip to New Castle ended up being a Trip out to Charleroi Washington County on the Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority. I ended up meeting my Friend Marc who is the Marketing and Planning Director For the MMVTA hes been real busy Himself due to big Changes coming to this TA real soon the Transit Enhancement Model (TEM) is Basically PATs TDP, They're Input from Riders and the General Public around the Mon to Improve Bus Service within the Operating Area. There will be many Route Changes along with Fare Changes and everything is for the good One Big Step thats been going well Is Construction of their New Main Bus Facility In Donora they no longer use the the 88 Garage In Speers there IS still bus service that serves Speers but thats about it once the New Plans are in Place Most Bus Service will begin in Donora since thats where the Facility is located now Followed by Charleroi which will be Services Second all part of the TEM, Heres a few pics from my Trip on Wednesday;

 

The Good Ol' Transit Center on McKean Avenue in North Charleroi, they keep this place to clean and kept up its unreal every Staff person in there is Friendly most Routes stop here for Pick-Ups Drop off and Transfers, Due to the Charleroi-Monessen Bridge Closure buses have to Head towards Belle Vernon and cross Country Back to Charleroi via McKean Avenue and U-Turn at the Entrance of the Bridge to head back Outbound towards Speers.

Marc was nice enough to take me to Donora to check out the Brand New Bus Facility being built in an Old Former Industrial Park according to him this was suppose to be done a while ago but things got held up on that day lots of work was getting Done as far as Pavements and Developments along with Lighting everything is almost in just need the Detailed stuff now.

This is gonna be the main Wash Bay everything is brand Spankin' New the buses will enter from Behind and once they get their Baths they will get Fuel or already be Fueled and will head over to the Main Bus Garage for the day (See Pics Below).

Fuel Pumps ready to be Used all you need is Fuel now..That big Garage in the Backround is the main Bus Garage Currently thats where all Maintenence Work is being Done at until the New Facility is Finished that building will House the buses for now until it is Retrofitted to Match the New Facility being Built....Plenty of room inside that place too I might add.

one more shot of the New Facility I must say they did a Beautiful Job building this place even though its not done I was very Impressed by what I seen, Those two Doors on the Left Side is where the Buses will go to Get Worked on and the one on the far right is the Bus Wash..Once Construction is Finised this Facility will have a Park & Ride lot along with many Ameneties for Passengers getting on and off buses in the Area.

 

Inside The Garage....

 

Its Basically you typical Garage looks like a Port Authority Garage but the only thing is work is ACTUALLY getting done lol and all in one spot on top of that as most of you know the Mid Mon Runs a pretty nice Diverse Fleet of RTS, Gillig Phantoms and Low Floors and STV type Small Buses Theres actually 2 more new buses coming Next year but Im not gonna ruin the Surprise on that one lol heres a few Pics inside the Garage most of the buses were out for the day so this is what was in for me;

469 Sit Peacefully Before going out for a Nice trip to Pittsburgh on the A Line these buses really do put in Work and they still run great for their age!

472 one of 2 35ft RTS in the Fleet rest for the day I believe they use these Exclusively on the Green Line which is a Local Run.

477 and 470 Sit Quietly, 470 is waiting for its Driver to Pittsburgh while 477 waits on a Mechanic to Move her up a little bit from what I was told the Riding Public aren't like the New Gilligs as much not really too sure on why but from my point of view they did a really good Job spec'ing these buses out and still smell brand new one thing about the MMVTA cleanliness is a Priority to them.

The lighting is real low inside this building so I had to Edit these pictures to make them look Presentable....This is their somewhat "Deadrow" 481 is all Decked out with ADs on it (good Marketing) along with 462 and a Dusty 460.

Close up of 481.

MMVTA has about 4 Gillig Phantoms in its Fleet each of them Are painted into a Designated Special Scheme heres 475 in a Prototype they Tried out a while ago this is a nice one I believe its sister 476 also has this one while there is also a Red CAL U phantom and a Regular one painted in the RTS scheme (See Photo Below).

I seen this one in Monongahela and I was worried I wouldn't get a pic of it and here It ended up Pulling into the Garage for the day this is #473 getting some Oil work done outside before Pulling Inside I really like this scheme on the Phantom for some Reason looks great for its age....

 

2 Videos To and From the Valley;

 

On-Board RTS #465 to the Valley...This one was a little Slow due to the A/C on Full Power still ran great though--This is a BAD video and I say bad because the HVAC was wayyyy too loud and you really can't hear the bus much and also the seats are so high its hard to hold the camera up the whole time trying to record and pay attention to where I am lol

 

 

Coming Back To Pittsburgh I managed to get picked up by a New Gillig Low Floor I must say I think these are the only Gilligs I approve of VERY comfortable and VERY fast I enjoyed every second of being on that bus coming back here and I didn't even want to get off lol the driver was very Polite and Dedicated to her work Sad thing about it as soon as I got off in town I got on 5553 what was Downgrade it was lol

 

All-in-all I enjoyed my time Down in the Valley hot as hell but it was worth the Trip I just want to Thank Marc Roncone of the MMVTA along with the nice people in the whole TA for putting up some time to show me around the system I hope nothing but the best for the MMVTA you have a very neat and Organized Transit System going on with lots of class and so lots of Potential in the Future I plan on going back down that way in a Few Months to check out the Donora Site hopefully to be Completed I had lots of fun down there on Wednesday it was a great day!

 

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