Pittsburgh's bus network is getting a major overhaul
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Your bus route may change soon. Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) is in the midst of a bus network redesign and is wrapping up its work.
Why it matters: Public transit usage in Pittsburgh is around 57% of pre-pandemic levels, representing a loss of about 20 million annual riders, but it's beginning to recover and will need to adjust to the new reality of vacant Downtown office buildings.
Zoom out: The draft redesign suggests a network that shifts away from being centered on Downtown and instead focuses on enhancing cross-neighborhood connections and off-peak service.
🚍 The big picture: The most efficient routes will be streamlined by considering the recommendations of transit experts who wanted the city to promote its busways more effectively.
- The East Busway route will be named the Purple Line, featuring enhanced five-minute headways during peak hours.
- The West Busway route will be named the Green Line.
Catch up quick: Fewer routes will end in Downtown, and nine new routes will cover the region instead of terminating in Downtown or Oakland, the region's biggest job centers. More than 20 routes will be discontinued due to low ridership and redundant service.
- Check your route changes here.
What they're saying: "In many communities, where we took out service 10-15 years ago, there isn't the same need anymore," PRT spokesperson Adam Brandolph said. "And now there are higher needs in different neighborhoods."
- Brandolph said a concerted effort was made to connect neighborhood routes to high-frequency service at busway and light-rail stations.
How it works: Bus routes are broken down into four groups.
- D routes will terminate in Downtown.
- O routes will terminate in Oakland.
- N routes won't terminate in Downtown or Oakland and instead are meant to connect two different neighborhoods, said Brandolph.
- X routes travel along the new dedicated bus-only lanes of the University Line through Downtown and Oakland and beyond.
✈️ Airport improvements: The 28X route is being modified into the X20 route, which will ride to Pittsburgh International Airport along the West Busway, the University Line and the East Busway, terminating at East Liberty station.
- The stops at Robinson Town Center will be removed, which Axios estimates will save about seven minutes.
The other side: Many transit riders expressed their objections to several of the redesign changes at PRT's board meeting in January.
- "Our key demand is around minimizing the scope of disruption — to avoid chasing new riders at the expense of existing ridership," Laura Chu Wiens, executive director of advocacy group Pittsburghers for Public Transit, said in a statement.
Caveat: The draft network is not the final product. Brandolph said at least half a dozen neighborhoods will see adjusted routes compared to the draft.
- He said the agency has received more than 9,000 suggestions so far.
What's next: PRT's final community meeting seeking input on the network redesign is scheduled for Feb. 18 in the South Side.