Pittsburgh Regional Transit looking to add stations to East Busway

Pittsburgh Regional Transit on Thursday said it plans to add stations along the East Busway and redesign its Wilkinsburg Station.

The “Building on the East Busway” project will include planning for three new stations along the busway — Baum-Centre, Larimer and Brushton.

The initiative will include work to develop a station area plan for the existing Wilkinsburg Station, aiming to improve station access and design at the site. The project also will look identify opportunities for equitable transit-oriented development on properties owned by Pittsburgh Regional Transit, previously known as the Port Authority of Allegheny County.

“The East Busway is a tremendous community and regional asset that has allowed us to provide fast, frequent and reliable service for more than 40 years,” said David Huffaker, chief development officer for Pittsburgh Regional Transit. “We’re excited to explore the potential of bringing that service to even more people.”

NEW: Pittsburgh Regional Transit is proposing potential new stops along. East busway, including adding one at edge of Bloomfield, one to Larimer/Bakery Square, and another to Homewood.

PRT is seeking public input here: https://t.co/05YHIPsysv pic.twitter.com/mDPRFgIUPZ

— Ryan Deto (@RyanDeto) August 18, 2022

The East Busway is the most used transit line in the region, carrying about 24,000 passengers a day before the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, according to Port Authority data from 2018. The busway connects to three large job centers in Downtown, Oakland and East Liberty, and development near the busway has started to grow.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is currently seeking public input for the Wilkinsburg and Brushton station areas. Two public meetings to discuss the existing conditions will be held on Sept. 13. The first will be held online from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The second will be held at the Hosanna House in Wilkinsburg from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Related:

• Momentum builds for East Busway expansion into Mon Valley

• Upgrades underway at Negley busway station in Pittsburgh's Shadyside

• Port Authority rebrands to Pittsburgh Regional Transit

Pittsburgh Regional Transit authorities said designs for the infill stations and the potential new station in Wilkinsburg should be complete by next summer. Public engagement, they said, will continue throughout the planning process.

In June 2020, the Federal Transit Administration awarded the transportation authority $682,500 to conduct a transit-oriented development study along the busway between Oakland and Wilkinsburg. Pittsburgh Regional Transit provided a $227,500 match.

In February, the authority received $5.4 million to help fund a new transportation center in Wilkinsburg. The total price tag for the project is estimated at around $8 million.

This comes as momentum has built for the East Busway to expand into the Mon Valley. Pittsburgh Regional Transit in January received a federal grant for planning work to explore the possible extension of the busway from Swissvale to the East Pittsburgh area.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit also started construction this year on improvements to the East Busway’s Negley Station, a popular transit stop in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood.