Pittsburgh Bus Rapid Transit project costs grow, undergoing scope revisions

Pittsburgh’s Bus Rapid Transit project is still set to upgrade stations and boost reliability of buses between the city’s two largest business districts - Downtown and Oakland - but officials now say the project is going to cost more than initially estimated, and some of its scope is shrinking.

On Thursday, Pittsburgh Regional Transit chief development officer David Huffacker provided an update on the BRT at Planning and Stakeholder Relations Committee meeting. He said that costs would increase up to $291 million and infrastructure upgrades to Downtown and improvements to farther out branches of the BRT would not be included in the project as currently funded. Intial cost estimates for the BRT ranged from $225-$250 million.

Huffaker said Pittsburgh Regional Transit took into account contingency costs suggested by New York-based McKissack & McKissack, the federal-approved consultants for the BRT project. He said PRT had to deal with rising costs caused by supply-chain issues.

“We will still maintain the core area of Downtown, Uptown, and Oakland, and that is where the heaviest infrastructure improvements are going to be installed anyway, however the future work related to the branches will come in a future phase,” said Huffaker.

The BRT plans to provide bus-only lanes, upgraded stations, ticket vending, real time monitors, shelters, benches dedicated transit lanes, benches, protected bike lanes, improved pedestrian access and signals between Downtown and Oakland.

PRT has long struggled with busses clustering along routed through Oakland and into Downtown, causes some buses to be overcrowded and others nearly empty. The agency hopes the BRT can alleviate this problem, as well as modernize stations with upgraded amenities and improve bike and pedestrian access along the Fifth-Forbes corridor.

From points east of Oakland, BRT buses will ride on streets to Highland Park, Squirrel Hill and the Mon Valley. Initially, plans were to improve preferred lanes and improved stations in those neighborhoods, but those are now out of the scope of the project. Huffaker stressed those improvements could be added at a later date.

Also out of the project, underground utilities work for the Downtown loop of the BRT.

Huffaker said the city is still a ways off from finalizing these plans, and PRT is hoping to start construction on the Downtown loop in Spring 2023. The BRT project is now shifting into two phases, with the first phase focused on the Downtown loop and the second phase focused on Uptown and Oakland improvements.

Huffaker BRT funding is mostly coming from federal dollars, and the cost increases are also mostly paid for from federal money. The $291 million price tag is split between about $178 million from the feds, and $112 from local sources: $73 million from PRT, $30 million from Allegheny County, and about $9 from the city of Pittsburgh.

Despite the shrinking scope, Huffaker said Uptown and Oakland are still set to receive improved underground and above ground infrastructure for the BRT.

Additionally, PRT will be moving forward quicker than anticipated in acquiring electric busses for the BRT, thanks to combining that part of the project with another PRT project.

Huffaker said this means electric bus and 60-foot bus acquisition doesn’t need to be overseen by the Federal Transit Authority, and will speed up the process. He said the effort to add smart signal technology, which provides buses with prioritization at intersections and stop lights, will begin after BRT construction.

The Uptown/Oakland phase of the BRT is scheduled to start construction in Spring 2024. Huffaker said PRT is close to putting out bids for work on the Downtown loop, and hopes to start construction in Spring of 2023.

“We are excited about where the project is and what it is going to bring to the community,” said Huffaker.