A panel appointed by Allegheny County to outline transportation priorities has recommended a light-rail transit system linking Oakland, Downtown and Pittsburgh International Airport.
Chief Executive Dan Onorato empaneled a Transportation Action Team in March 2006, hoping to have "serious players" develop a regional plan by that fall.
The group issued an eight-page report yesterday that recommended light-rail linking Oakland and Downtown, a similar link to the airport, and other initiatives to improve traffic conditions around Oakland and the airport.
The report is vague about how to fund the improvements and offers no specific timetables, but recommends "innovative agreements with the private sector to fund systems and facilities."
It also recommends leveraging existing assets, like busways, to generate new revenue. For instance, the West Busway could be opened to vehicles as a toll road, and leases offered for development around light-rail and busway stations.
"Consistent with abandoning the 'business as usual' approach and an almost total reliance upon federal funds, we need a new strategy," said the panel, chaired by David Hickton of the Burns, White & Hickton law firm.
"Our goal is linking our region's three economic centers, Downtown, Oakland and the airport," Mr. Onorato said in unveiling the recommendations.
The report was completed and should have been released much sooner, Mr. Onorato said, "but it's kind of late because we were focusing on the fiscal crisis of the Port Authority."
The report makes no mention of a long-standing but moribund proposal to develop a high-speed maglev train system linking the airport, Downtown and points east.
