The Blue Line provides public transit from the North Shore through downtown Pittsburgh to South Hills Village via South Pittsburgh as part of the T light rail system.

The Blue Line originates in the North Shore, makes four stops in downtown Pittsburgh and one at Station Square before reaching South Hills Junction, which serves as a transit center and transfer station. Locally, it stops at Bon Air, Denise and South Bank Stations, all of which are accessible. The Blue Line terminates at South Hills Village.

Bon Air Station provides the main public transit to downtown Pittsburgh for the eight hundred people who live in the Bon Air neighborhood, which has limited bus service. The T station is located at the corner of Institute and Clanton Streets at the bottom of stairs from Roseton Avenue.

Denise Station, which is located on Denise Street in Carrick, serves a residential area below Brownsville Road. There’s no parking at the station. No connections to other mass transit are available. Denise Station is near a blighted stretch of Saw Mill Run Boulevard that has been suggested could become four miles of greenspace, leading to a higher level of development.

South Bank Station is a major transit facility in Overbrook that serves the largely residential area that surrounds it. South Bank is a stop on the South Busway, which is a two-lane rapid transit highway for buses from the South Hills, bypassing Saw Mill Run Boulevard.

The Blue Line schedule operates several times an hour when most people are headed to and from work, and twice an hour otherwise. Service is less frequent on weekends and holidays. It doesn’t run overnight.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) – a county-owned public transit agency funded by the state – operates the T, which is a 26-mile light rail system that runs north and south, servicing 27 stations. There are three light rail lines – Silver, Blue and Red. All three lines start at Allegheny Station in the North Shore. Heinz Field, the Community College of Allegheny County Allegheny Campus and Carnegie Science Center can be reached from Allegheny Station.

From Allegheny Station, the three lines travel under the Allegheny River to provide an underground subway for downtown Pittsburgh. The lines run pretty much at ground level from downtown to Station Square, South Hills Junction and through South Pittsburgh and the South Hills, ending at either South Hills Village or South Park.

The three lines that make up PRT’s light rail system are remnants of the trolley lines that Pittsburgh Railways once operated throughout the city. Cars are stored at the South Hills Village Rail Center.

Along with the light rail line, PRT operates nearly 100 bus routes that have more than 7,000 stops, including the 51-Carrick, and two inclines.

PRT employs a “pay where you live” system for light rail, according to its guide, How to Ride the Light Rail System. Seniors over 65 with ID and children under six ride for free.

PRT encourages the use of their ConnectCard, a reusable plastic card that can be purchased at PRT’s Downtown Service Center, Giant Eagle locations & other stores, and ConnecTix instead of cash. The authority says that discouraging cash helps speed up bus trip times.

Traveling from Bon Air, Overbrook or portions of Carrick on the T can make for easier commutes to work, shopping trips to South Hills Village and travel to the North Shore.