Aftermath of Trump rally in Butler was 'nothing like Omaha' owner of bus company says - TribLIVE

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The aftermath of a rally held Saturday evening by President Donald Trump in Butler has garnered local and national attention after some say supporters were left waiting in the cold for buses to take them back to their vehicles.

The event, held at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport, was compared to a Trump rally in Omaha, Neb., last week where a transportation snafu led to at least seven people being taken to local hospitals after thousands were stranded miles from their cars in freezing weather.

But while factors out of the control of bus companies led to delays that resulted in people waiting a little over two hours in 40 degree weather, and caused some to take to the streets to walk back to their cars, the Butler event was nothing like Omaha, said Art Campbell, co-owner of Campbell Bus Lines in Slippery Rock.

“It was a big crowd in a small place with not many roads leading in or out,” Campbell said. “It just took some time.”

It’s unclear how many supporters ultimately jammed onto the runway at the small airport, but a driver for one of the buses that ferried supporters from their cars to the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport said early in the afternoon that they were told to expect about 15,000 people.

Half an hour after the rally, thousands of Trump supporters were still gathered along Airport Road as a convoy of school buses struggled to thread their way along the two-lane country road to ferry the president’s supporters back to their cars.

At the edge of the airport property, a large white tent marked “Warming Tent,” offered brief sanctuary from the 40 degree cold and dark where supporters were lined up for the buses.

Many simply gave up waiting for a bus and began walking down Airport Road toward Route 8, clogging the narrow road and slowing the buses that had to dodge pedestrians.

By 8:30, Trump supporters on foot were still spread out along a two to three mile stretch of Route 8 South, a busy four-lane highway.

The problem, Campbell said, boiled down to a large number of people trying to leave the event at the same time, along with limited road access and off-site parking that was several miles from the airport.

“It may have taken longer than people liked, but (buses) were running the whole time,” Campbell said, noting that 47 buses from four area bus companies were staged along the streets leading up to the airport. Campbell’s provided 12 buses, including several that were handicapped accessible.

But two small roads that led directly to the airport became a “huge challenge” for bus operators, said Todd Campbell, who is also a co-owner at Campbell Bus Lines.

“It wasn’t like hauling 15,000 people out of Heinz Field,” he said.

Art Campbell added that because of the small, country roads, having 100 buses wouldn’t have made the process go by faster.

According to Todd Campbell, buses can hold about 50 people. With 47 buses, about 2,500 people were transported every 20 minutes, or the time it took to return people to their parking spots. Todd Campbell, who was in charge of keeping buses moving at the end of the night, said, “As soon as the traffic was cleared we were sending buses.”

He noted that attendees were cleared from the airport by 10 p.m.

“There were plenty of buses, it just took time,” said Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche. “And the people who lived along Airport Road had bonfires blazing and were greeting people who chose to walk out. We were pleased to welcome the President of the United States to Butler County and to our beautiful airport.”

Still, the event drew the attention of CNN, which had two reporters stationed at the airport. DJ Judd took to Twitter, showing attendees walking out after the event.

He wrote, “Trump has finished and left, but there’s thousands of supporters who have been let loose into the night with no sign of the shuttles they’ve been told will take them back to parking. People are filling the street, blocking the road for ambulances and police.”

The tweet was answered by Tim Murtaugh, director of communications for Trump’s campaign, stating the tweet is “fake news” and that people utilized buses and the warming tent.

Still, several people who attended the event did not voice many complaints regarding the delay, said Todd Campbell.

“I think people were pretty much understanding,” he said. “I did not hear complaints.”

Megan Tomasic is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 724-850-1203, mtomasic@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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Aftermath of Trump rally in Butler was 'nothing like Omaha' owner of bus company says - TribLIVE

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