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A Resolution of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, urging the Port Authority and local shopping mall management companies to work cooperatively to establish bus stops in safe, well-lit and well-maintained areas.
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WHEREAS, public transportation fills a vital need for individuals throughout the County by allowing them to travel to and from their places of employment, medical appointments, grocery shopping, and to make other necessary trips; and
WHEREAS, many individuals also use public transportation to travel as a convenient means of traveling to and from more discretionary shopping destinations, such as shopping malls; and
WHEREAS, the Port Authority of Allegheny County has recognized that individuals who use their services do so for all of these reasons, and in many cases has structured its service such that buses on several different routes make regular stops at shopping malls in the area, such that individuals can both freely travel to shopping malls and, once there, can easily transfer between different routes operating in the area; and
WHEREAS, several shopping malls within the County have moved bus stops away from the mall structure, sometimes by several hundred feet; and
WHEREAS, this degree of separation between the bus stops and mall structures creates a situation in which elderly, disabled, ill, and injured individuals who rely upon public transportation must traverse expansive parking lots and avoid both motor vehicle traffic and other hazards such as uneven pavement and tripping dangers simply to gain access to the shopping and employment venues in question; and
WHEREAS, during the winter months, these dangers are exacerbated by cold weather, frozen precipitation, and the accumulation of snow and ice in all areas of mall parking lots, but most especially in the areas most distant from mall structures; and
WHEREAS, parking areas most distant from mall structures often tend to be the areas that ...
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