Is there a way to "go green" if Port Authority buses and trolleys stop running Dec. 1 because of labor strife?

It wouldn't be easy. The Port Authority has yet to announce contingency plans, since the situation between management and Local 85, Amalgamated Transit Union, can change quickly.

Nevertheless, if transit stops, Bill Stoddart, of Brentwood, and others wonder whether the authority will open its three buses-only roads to bicyclists. That might have been a good idea.

The South Busway would make for a safer commute for South Hills residents who would have to cope with heavy traffic on Route 51/Saw Mill Run Boulevard and Route 19/West Liberty Avenue and witha 6 percent grade in the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel.

"But it would be a BIG help," Mr. Stoddart e-mailed. "Yes, it would be at the rider's risk, not an issue as far as I'm concerned. I just think it would be a good idea."

The Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway would offer the best opportunity for bicycle commuting. It's relatively level, provides good neighborhood access and stretches 8.5 miles between Grant Street, Downtown, and the Rankin-Swissvale line.

And the West Busway? Bicyclists could enter it in Crafton, Ingram or Sheraden and exit onto West Carson Street, then pedal into the city.

But because of liability, law enforcement, safety and other issues, Port Authority officials said all three busways will be off-limits to bicyclists, pedestrians, cabs, limos and everything else in the public sector.

The busways will remain open to emergency vehicles, regional bus lines and authorized Port Authority vehicles.

The Wabash Tunnel also will remain open, with the same high-occupancy-vehicle restrictions currently in effect for rush hours.

So will about two dozen authority-owned or leased park-n-ride lots, mainly for carpool connections.

Parking lots maintained by Local 85 employees "may be closed for safety reasons," authority officials said.

Guess what that connotes?

"Getting Around" recently suggested promoting the Mon-Fayette Expressway corridor for the production, research and development of energy to stimulate economic development, an original reason for building the highway.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission can't be faulted. It's in the business of building and operating toll roads, not creating opportunities.

But it can do more to increase traffic and revenue on the public's $1.5 billion investment.

Don't take Mr. Know-It-All's word for it. Trust the affable Bob Logue, former KDKA Radio host of the popular "Undercover Club" nightly show, now retired and a Fayette County resident who lives near the highway.

He said the turnpike has done little to point out the expressway's advantages, such as nonstop travel, safety, the addition of E-ZPass and the time savings, such as providing a direct route from southern Allegheny County to I-70 west and I-79 south.

Several Sundays ago, on the way home from a Brentwood church, Mr. Logue and his wife, Etta, stopped along Route 51 to take photos of directional signs for "Toll 43" and "California."

"The signage does NOT entice motorists to use the expressway," he e-mailed. "Why not add 'I-70' to tell people it's a great way to get to I-70? And wasn't one of the objectives of the highway to lessen traffic on Route 51?"

Up to 10,000 vehicles a day travel the busiest section of expressway north of California, Pa., while fewer than 2,500 use the section south of Uniontown.