Next Convention
Pittsburgh | October 17-20, 2024
Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh University Place. Sourced from Hilton.com
MBS Fall Convention
Convention Headquarters
The host hotel for the convention will be the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh University Place. Located at 3454 Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh, The hotel is close to the University of Pittsburgh and is easily accessible via transit from the Pittsburgh International Airport. The hotel has free high-speed Wi-Fi internet access and a business center.
The special MBS room rate is $179 per night for a standard King room and $199 for a standard room with two Queen beds. The room rates do not include applicable state and city taxes (currently at 21%, subject to change). A block of rooms has been put aside for MBS members from Wednesday, October 16th to Sunday, October 20th.
The hotel offers the Garden Grille & Bar for lunch and dinner dining. Many other restaurants are within a short walk of the hotel.
Parking is $30 (plus taxes) per day but cannot be guaranteed.
Please note that hotel reservations must be made by Wednesday, September 18th, 2024. The hotel room space and rate cannot be guaranteed after that date.
Registration
The MBS convention registration fee is $70 per person per day or $250 for all four days for MBS members. For non-MBS members, the registration fee is $85 per day or $300 for all four days. To assure that space will be available for the garage and facility tours, advance registration is strongly recommended. In case of any shortage of seat space on the tour buses, persons with reservations will be given priority. Please note that paying by PayPal is not available at the present time Please refer to the convention registration page (#4) for more details. The deadline for MBS convention registration is Saturday, September 30th.
Logistics
Transportation Information:
For automobiles, the hotel is in the Oakland area near the University. Coming from the north, follow I79 south, I-279 south, I-579 south and exit at Boulevard of the Allies. Follow the road east to exit at Forbes Avenue.
From the Pittsburgh International Airport, take Port Authority Transit route 28X (Airport Flyer) which will take you within a short walk of the hotel with a bus ride of just under one hour. PAT routes 61A/61B/61C and 71B provide service between downtown Pittsburgh to/from Oakland via 5th Avenue.
From the Pittsburgh Greyhound Station (near Penn Station), walk to Liberty Avenue and 10th Street (approximately 5 minutes). PAT route 61 will take you to the hotel.
Convention Activities: Registration and sign-in will take place in the Hilton Garden Inn lobby starting at 7:30 AM on all four days, with buses departing promptly at 8:00 AM each day.
Garage and Facility Tours: The itinerary has not been finalized and is highly dependent on whether properties are receptive to having visitors. Possible site visits are shown below. The final lists of stops will be posted on the MBS website and MBS Facebook page one week prior to the convention.
Itinerary
Thursday, October 17 - Southern PA and WV
Freedom Transit (Washington, PA)
Mountain Line Transit
West Virginia University PRT (Morgantown, WV)
Mid Mon Valley Transit
Fayette Area Coordinated Transit
Friday, October 18 - East of Pittsburgh
Westmoreland County Transit
Camtran (Johnstown, PA)
Indiana County Transit (IndiGO)
Town and Country Transit (Kittanning, PA)
Saturday, October 19 - North of Pittsburgh
Beaver County Transit Authority
New Castle Transit
Butler Transit
PRT Ross Division
The MBS Meeting will be held on Saturday evening at the host hotel.
Sunday, October 20 - Local Pittsburgh and PTM
East Liberty or West Mifflin PRT Division
PRT Rail Facility
Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (Washington, PA)