content: Port Authority (formerly known as PATransit, or \""PAT\"") operates a fairly extensive network of buses and (in the South Hills) light rail. Instead of running school buses, the school district gave high schoolers bus passes to get to class, and I have used the bus since 1997.\n\nI've had a great experience using the bus in Pittsburgh. I didn't get a driver's license until I was almost 19--the bus (\""Miss Pat\""--another nickname) and my bike got me everywhere I needed to go. There will inevitably be delays and problems, but that is common to all modes of transportation. The price is right (especially with a \""free\"" bus pass; students see below) and if you live and work in the city, you should consider making the bus your main means of commuting.\n\nThe system is largely built on the legacy of pre-World War II trolley lines, so the neighborhoods that were developed before 1950 are fairly well-served, while more recent developments can be harder to navigate by bus. The system just had a major overhaul (in spring 2010) but still travel many of the same routes.\n\nThe route numbering system is complicated, and there are many exceptions, but as a rule, the routes are numbered in a counter-clockwise fashion from downtown. The \""oughts\"" and 10's go north, the 20's and 30's go west, the 40's and 50's go south, and the 60's, 70's, 80's an 90's go east. Routes that are just letters are express or flyer routes, which may go on one of three \""busways,\"" transit-only highways that bypass traffic jams. The light rail (known as the \""T\"" or the trolley) serves southern city and suburban neighborhoods above ground, and has three underground stations downtown, with a major construction project underway to extend trains to the North Side, projected for completion in 2011.\n\nThe University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University (among others) have agreements with the Port Authority to allow students, staff and faculty to use their university IDs as bus passes. Others can purchase passes at $75 per month or $20 per week, while a local one-way fare is $2.00. Port Authority is supposed to be rolling out a \""smart card\"" digital payment system (\u00e0 la WMATA's SmarTrip or London's Oyster) soon, but that remains in development.\n\nOne especially great value is the 28X, a route serving the Pittsburgh International Airport from Downtown and Oakland (the university district) via the West Busway. Fare, as of mid-2010, is $2.75, compared with taxis and other shuttles costing $30 or more. The 28X runs every half hour and takes around 35 minutes to get to the airport from downtown, or 15 minutes longer from Oakland.\n\nThe Port Authority's fare revenues cover only a fraction of its expenses, and the state and county's perennial budget problems have caused several funding crises in recent years.