LAVONNE SMITH PREPARES TO BOARD THE 53L PRT BUS NEXT TO GIANT EAGLE AT THE WATERFRONT, SEPT. 30, 2025.
(PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
Right on time, the 53L Homestead Park Limited Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus appeared along Amity Street at the Waterfront Shopping Center in Homestead, ready to turn into the storefront areas to pick up passengers at the bus stop just steps from Giant Eagle. One of those passengers to get on the bus was Lavonne Smith of Homestead, better known as Jackie.
Smith told the New Pittsburgh Courier on Tuesday, Sept. 30, that for years, she’s been coming to the Waterfront, to go to Giant Eagle and other places, and the PRT bus stops are within steps of Giant Eagle and Target, two of the shopping center’s most popular outlets.
It’s so convenient for Smith and others, especially the seniors.
Which is why it floored her and others when the Waterfront’s ownership, M&J Wilkow Ltd., announced last week that it was forcing PRT to eliminate the two bus stops at Target and Giant Eagle, effective Oct. 19. Those bus stops are on private property.
Almost immediately, the backlash came. From bus riders, and from elected officials like Congresswoman Summer Lee. She called on the bus stops to stay.
The Allegheny County Chief Executive, Sara Innamorato stepped in, too.
By Monday night, Sept. 29, Innamorato announced that an agreement was made to keep the bus stops in place.
The reversal showed that, as Congresswoman Lee loves to say, there’s power in the people.
“I was saying they were going to lose business, especially the seniors,” Smith told the Courier on a bright, sunny day, Sept. 30. “They look forward to coming down here. It’s like an outing for them.”
Smith said M&J Wilkow, the Waterfront owners, “were just cutting off their nose to spite their face.”
WILLIS MOORE, of Homewood, applauds the decision to keep the bus stops near Target and Giant Eagle at the Waterfront.
But what was the reason M&J Wilkow wanted to rid of the two bus stops in the first place? Carey Kann, general manager of the Waterfront shopping center, told the Courier in an exclusive interview, Sept. 29, that it was a congestion and safety issue.
“Because there’s often more than one bus at a time going through there (just off Amity Street), it creates incredible congestion and it causes some people to lose their patience and try to drive around them (the buses) and that’s unsafe, because people are walking through these buses to get to the parking lot,” Kann said.
Kann told the Courier that for the last two years, he’s been working with PRT and “other stakeholders” to figure out a way for the buses to pick up and drop riders off on the sides of the stores. Waterfront ownership wanted the buses not to make a right turn from Amity Street, but to remain on Amity Street, turn on Waterfront Drive and turn into a street between the McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A, which would keep the buses off the busy street where all the storefronts are. But earlier this year, one of the stakeholders nixed the idea/agreement, and it caused M&J to give the directive to PRT to get rid of the two bus stops altogether by Oct. 19.
“Removing bus stops from the Waterfront disregards the needs of thousands of riders—working people, seniors, people with disabilities, families, and caregivers—who depend on this lifeline every single week,” Congresswoman Lee said on Friday, Sept. 26. “Forcing riders to walk across vast parking lots and unsafe roadways, often while carrying groceries, walking with children, or navigating mobility challenges, is not only unjust, but also dangerous.”
Sure, cars fill the parking lots at the Waterfront. But more than 400 people per day use the PRT buses, whether it’s the 61D, 59, 57, 64, 53L or more, to get on or off at either the Target or Giant Eagle stops, to shop at the Waterfront. Many who use the buses are African Americans and seniors. Congresswoman Lee wasn’t having that, the idea of seniors having to walk what amounts to a few blocks from what the nearest bus stop would have been, to get to Giant Eagle for their food and prescriptions.
“As someone who grew up riding these busways, it’s clear this decision was not made with the public in mind,” Congresswoman Lee continued. “When we allow private interests to dictate access to essential services, it is our most vulnerable neighbors who inevitably pay the price.”
On Monday afternoon, Sept. 29, Innamorato said an “agreement in principle” was reached to maintain PRT bus service at the Waterfront.
“I want to thank all parties involved for their willingness to come to the table,” Innamorato said in a statement.
“On behalf of the more than 400 weekday riders who rely on these stops — and the many community members who spoke out in support of preserving them—Pittsburgh Regional Transit welcomes M&J Wilkow’s decision to reverse course on these bus stops,” PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph said in a statement, Sept. 29. “We are grateful to County Executive Innamorato, Senator (Nick) Pisciottano, and all those who advocated alongside us for a solution that puts riders first.”
As the Courier spoke with riders at the Target and Giant Eagle bus stops on Sept. 30, Betty Esper, the former Homestead mayor, appeared at Giant Eagle. She told the Courier that she had spoken with Waterfront officials about the issue, and that, “I’m just glad it’s resolved.”
Angie Lee, who was sitting next to Smith, told the Courier that she doesn’t drive, and she uses PRT to get to the Waterfront. “I don’t know why they would do that,” she said about M&J’s original decision to get rid of the bus stops.
And Willis Moore, from the Homewood area, made it from Homewood to Homestead on this Tuesday, Sept. 30, via the bus. He was waiting on the 61D to get back to the Squirrel Hill/Oakland area.
“I have been catching the bus here for years,” Moore told the Courier. He called it a “slap in the face” for someone to think about moving such convenient bus stops. “This is a regular,” he said. “Why change things around?”