Port Authority reduces person-to-person contact at Downtown service center

Port Authority of Allegheny County is taking additional social distancing measures at its Downtown Pittsburgh service center in response to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Hours at the center are reduced from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Window transactions will be limited to the replacement of ConnectCards. Fees for those transactions are waived, according to a news release.

Beginning Thursday, March 26, our Downtown Service Center will be open 8:30am-4:30pm weekdays due to staffing shortages.

— Port Authority PGH (@PGHtransit) March 25, 2020

Those needing to purchase ConnectCards are asked to use a web portal or ConnectCard machine to limit person-to-person interactions. Senior ConnectCards are temporarily suspended. The program will resume when the “covid-19 situation has ended,” the release reads.

The public transit agency has made a number of changes throughout the week in an effort to curb the virus that causes covid-19.

Starting Wednesday, riders were only permitted to enter and exit buses through the rear doors, away from drivers. Front-door boarding is reserved for passengers who need the bus lowered, need to use the ramp or require priority seating, officials said.

Bus and light-rail services were reduced Monday after officials announced a 50% decrease in ridership over the past two weeks. Services were cut by 25% and officials Wednesday reminded riders that almost every route is operating on a reduced service schedule. New schedules are online at portauthority.org/coronavirus.

Port Authority officials made the changes after Gov. Tom Wolf announced Monday that Allegheny County was among the areas under a stay-at-home order for two weeks. Residents should leave their homes only for “life-sustaining” needs, according to Wolf.

“Port Authority will continue working in close cooperation with federal, state and local health agencies during this crisis and will continue to monitor ridership as the situation evolves,” the release reads.