The following is a transcript of a report by Channel 4 Action News reporter Jim Parsons that first aired July 7, 2008, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 6 p.m.

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America's economy has slowed down, and we are feeling it here in western Pennsylvania.

This week, WTAE Channel 4 Action News is taking a closer look at the state of our local economy -- going beyond the headlines to see the real impact on our communities and the people who live in them.

It all starts tonight with Channel 4 Action News reporter Jim Parsons on local transportation.
Video: Watch Jim Parsons' Report

Is the price of gas high enough for you to leave the car at home and find another way to get to work? For most of us, the answer is no. We're still driving to the office, even though the rising cost is blowing a hole in our personal budgets.

There are alternatives to driving, but experts say we won't use those options until they become more convenient.

Charla Johnson waits each morning for the Port Authority 67A bus that will take her from CCAC's Boyce campus in Monroeville to downtown Pittsburgh.

Johnson: "It takes a long time. It takes at least an hour."

Parsons: "For you to go from where to where?"

Johnson: "From here to downtown."

Johnson rides this bus for one reason. She doesn't have a driver's license. If she did, she says, she would not take the bus.

Johnson: "Because it takes too long."

We got on board the 67A with Johnson and counted the stops between Monroeville and downtown -- 48 to be exact.

Some of the stops came within a minute -- and just a few hundred feet -- of another stop.

The bus started its route at 8:07 a.m. and arrived at its final destination on Stanwix Street at 9:37 a.m. An hour and a half to get from Monroeville to downtown Pittsburgh -- twice as long as the average morning rush-hour commute in a car.

Dave Fawcett, former Allegheny County councilman: "People are not going to ride buses. They'll never ride buses, even if the cost of gas goes up to $10 a gallon, if there are 50 stops between their home and town."

Port Authority CEO Steve Bland: "Relative to other transit systems, Pittsburgh has a lot of stops."

Bland knows he has to make changes if he expects to convince car drivers to ride the bus. He has a special task force working on developing a plan.

Bland: "I would expect some level of expansion in park-and-ride capacity to be a major objective."

At recent public hearings, two of the most popular suggestions for the Port Authority were "increase the distance between bus stops" and "operate service primarily on main streets that may require a longer walk to the bus stop."

Jake Haulk, The Allegheny Institute: "I would start, immediately, a feeder system, using smaller buses and linking those to express buses on into town."

Haulk has radical ideas about making bus service more attractive. Radical for Pittsburgh, that is.

Haulk: "If you eliminated the monopoly that Port Authority has, then the private sector would be free to offer whatever service it felt like. Let these people run special runs inside Allegheny County. They can do it cheaper. Their drivers make $13 an hour compared to Port Authority's $21."

There are other ways to get to work without driving. For commuters in the South Hills, taking the trolley downtown is now more popular than ever.

Joe Lucci: "I take this 47 line, and it takes maybe 10 minutes because there's only five or six stops. It's just so convenient, you can't beat it. It's just great."

But it's only convenient for folks in the South Hills.

Building light rail lines in the North Hills or eastern suburbs is not even under discussion. But using existing commercial railways is.

U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire: "This is my number one priority."

Altmire, D-McCandless, secured half a million dollars in federal funds last week to help figure out how to use the Allegheny Valley Railroad to transport commuters to Pittsburgh from New Kensington, Oakmont, Verona and Penn Hills.

Altmire: "This has been talked about for a long time, but there is a new sense of urgency because of the price of gas and because of the unique situation with Route 28 and all of the problems associated with it."

Fawcett, a Pittsburgh attorney, often commutes to his office at One Oxford Center from his home in Oakmont by bicycle. But it's a risky 12-mile ride, especially through the narrow streets of Lawrenceville and the Strip District.

Fawcett: "Unfortunately, the drivers in this city aren't used to bikers, and some are less than friendly."

The former Republican county councilman is campaigning for a network of bikeways that would stretch the length of the three rivers in Allegheny County and beyond.

Fawcett: "We could have world class bikeways, the best linear park and biking system in an urban area in the world, because we have rivers and riverfronts which are flat and perfect places to put bikeways."

Fawcett estimates the cost of his idea at $100 million -- a third of what it's costing to dig a tunnel from downtown to the North Shore.

Fawcett: "This could be the biggest thing for (county Chief Executive Dan) Onorato. Get him into the governor's seat, in my opinion. (Gov. Ed) Rendell wants a big green initiative out here -- this would be it. Rising gas prices. It would be perfect."

For many commuters, bicycling is just not practical. As for new commuter trains, that idea will likely take several years and millions of dollars.

But making Port Authority buses more convenient is something that could happen in the next six months. And the Port Authority is taking public input right now on its Web site.

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