On Friday, Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) announced the approval for the first phase of construction for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project which aims to connect Downtown, Uptown, and Oakland.
The BRT project is expected to reduce bus congestion Downtown and create more efficient service. New electric buses will use dedicated lanes to move passengers between Oakland and Downtown. On top of that, five new Downtown bus stations will also be added.
"They will increase rideability in speed, efficiency, make transit from Downtown to Oakland faster, more reliable," PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph said. "You won't have buses stacked one behind the other."
According to an announcement by the PRT, Pittsburgh residents can expect to see construction start in the fall on Fifth, Liberty and Sixth avenues.
The Oakland Business Improvement District says the project is critical to facilitate 100,000 commuters daily.
"Having the ability to have that direct connect to Downtown, increasing the efficiency so that they can make it to this center to their employment or to study, is extremely important," said Georgia Petropoulos, CEO of the Oakland Business Improvement District.
Next year, Pittsburgh residents can expect to see phase 2 of the project.
The project has a price tag of $291 million.
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Source: WTAE.com
