Pittsburgh Regional Transit painting new bus lanes across Downtown Pittsburgh

CBS News

20-05-2025

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is painting several streets red across Downtown Pittsburgh as part of the University Line bus rapid transit project.
Ask PRT bus riders, and many will say that getting from point A to point B on certain routes can be a test of patience.
"(I'm) late for appointments because of traffic backups and block-ups and whatnot. I've been through that," said Pittsburgh resident Melvin Bradford.
"The hard part is getting into town and getting out of town," Steve Small of McKeesport said.
And that's exactly why PRT is painting at least some of its black tops red.
"Keeping people on the bus moving faster and making us more reliable," said Amy Silberman of PRT.
These new red lanes are for buses and emergency vehicles only; the exception is the striped parts in turning lanes.
The lanes on Fifth Avenue to Grant Street on Liberty Avenue are done. Sixth Avenue from Grant Street to Center Avenue is almost complete. Sixth Avenue from Wood Street to Grant is also almost finished.
On Wednesday night, crews are going to be finishing up the section from Wood to Grant, but more painting needs to be done.
"Next week, we're going to have work on Fifth Avenue, so ultimately, it will be Fifth Avenue to here on Liberty Avenue to Sixth Avenue that will be the full Downtown loop," Silberman said.
What routes will use the red lanes?
"That's the 61A, 61B, 61C, and 71B," Silberman said.
Will it work? The consensus carries cautious optimism.
It's a good concept, but I don't know if it's going to work. Let's hope. Let's keep our fingers crossed," said Jason Key of the Hill District.