Scattered around Pittsburgh, you will find stations staffed by locals waiting for people to call asking for a ride somewhere in the city. These are not your average taxi companies, however. These are jitney stations.
Beginning in Los Angeles in 1914, jitneys were found all over cities in the US, especially in Pittsburgh, particularly in neighborhoods like the Hill District. Although an unlicensed business and technically illegal, jitneys provided a great service in the neighborhood where they operated, giving rides to the people in their communities. Staffed mostly by people who needed some extra cash in their pockets, jitney drivers became well-known in their cities for their convenience and commitment to getting people where they needed to go. jitneys are still found in Pittsburgh to this day, riding around the Hill District and other underserved neighborhoods, helping the people get around town.
In 1982, a man and his mother took a jitney cab to the small Allegheny Repertory Theatre to see a play. That man was August Wilson, a playwright and native Pittsburgher who had grown up in the Hill District. The play was one he had written Jitney. Jitney takes place in a gypsy cab station within the Hill District in 1977. It was this simple but powerful play which made sure that jitneys would live forever in the minds of the people of Pittsburgh. Not only does this story portray the day-to-day lives of jitney drivers, but it also revealed themes of loss and displacement, and the ways that urban renewal projects had a huge negative impact on the people living in these neighborhoods.
Jitney stations relied on the involvement of people in the community to operate. Because they were an unlicensed organization, jitney stations had to rely primarily on word of mouth to advertise their services. Stations were responsible for their own maintenance, and drivers were responsible for keeping their cars clean and functioning. Whereas a normal taxi would take anywhere from thirty to ninety minutes to arrive, a jitney could pick someone up in minutes, and charge much less than a cab driver would. This led to many taxi companies in Pittsburgh losing customers to jitney stations, but because the people of Pittsburgh’s underserved communities relied on jitneys, city officials were reluctant to enforce the laws which made them illegal.
Jitneys live on today because of their continued commitment to serve the people of their community. Their commitment to helping those in need was one of the many factors that made communities hurt by urban renewal so tight knit. August Wilson made sure that jitneys would forever be a part of Pittsburgh’s heritage by showing how drivers helped the people of the Hill District. Drivers earned the respect of their neighbors every time they picked up a passenger. Jitneys are an inspiring example of what people can do to help their neighborhoods, even if it’s something as simple as giving their neighbors a ride to the store.
