• August 10th, 2026
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Pittsburgh Regional Transit will be installing the new "red" dedicated bus lanes in Oakland this week beginning with Forbes Avenue work tonight from 8pm-6am between Craft & Atwood. Four continuous nights of work are planned this week with crews moving in phases along Forbes Ave on Monday & Tuesday then to Fifth Ave on Wednesday & Thursday nights.

PRT crews will be out the week of August 10-13 in Oakland conducting overnight work to install the corridor’s new signature red bus lanes along Forbes and Fifth avenues. Work will be completed overnight from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. to minimize impacts on traffic and the surrounding community – beginning on Forbes Avenue between Craft Ave & Atwood St on Monday, August 10.

The new red bus lanes will designate the "dedicated bus lanes" that are part of the University Line bus rapid transit project which is designed to help buses move more reliably through Oakland, Uptown, and Downtown to improve travel times and reduce delays for the thousands of riders who travel through Oakland each day using Fifth and Forbes (one of the region’s busiest travel corridors.) PRT has developed an interactive map to view lane locations here.

Note that though the new lanes will resemble paint, the lanes are created using an epoxy coating that is embedded with tiny red glass beads – the same treatment already in place on Fifth and Sixth avenues in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Installation in Oakland will occur in four phases. During overnight work, buses and general traffic will share a single travel lane while crews install the new bus lanes. Construction barriers will be removed by 6:00 a.m. each morning and a second travel lane will reopen. Newly installed sections of the roadway will remain closed for approximately 24 hours while the surface is cured with buses remaining in mixed traffic with other vehicles during that brief period.

Schedule for August 10-13:

Night 1 – Monday, August 10, 8pm-6am: Forbes Avenue (Craft Avenue to Atwood Street)

Transit Impacts: The bus stops at Forbes/Craft and Forbes/Atwood will be closed during this period. Riders should use the nearest stop at either Forbes/Halket, Forbes/Meyran or Forbes/Oakland.

Night 2 – Tuesday, August 11, 8pm-6am: Forbes Avenue (Atwood Street to Schenley Drive Extension)

Transit Impacts: The bus stops at Forbes/Oakland closed and the stop at Forbes/S Bouquet temporarily relocated one-half block closer toward S Bouquet.

Night 3 – Wednesday, August 12, 8pm-6am: Fifth Avenue (Bellefield Avenue to Atwood Street)

Transit Impacts: The bus stop at Fifth/Thackeray Avenue will be closed. Riders should use the next nearest stop at University Place. And the bus stop at Fifth/Atwood Street will be temporarily relocated approximately one-half block closer toward Meyran Street.

Night 4 – Thursday, August 13, 8pm-6am: Fifth Avenue (Atwood Street to Craft Avenue)

Transit Impacts: No bus stop impacts are expected during this fourth night of work.

Permanent pavement markings including lane striping and crosswalks will be installed after the red bus lanes are completed on Fifth and Forbes. Construction schedule is weather dependent and subject to change. Weekly construction updates and additional information about each phase of the project are shared on the PRT Bus Rapid Transit news hub.

Instructions for Road Users on Restricted Use of the new dedicated bus lanes:

Once installed, PRT buses will begin to use the new dedicated lanes and signage will be updated throughout the Fifth & Forbes corridor to ensure that both bus operators and motorists know how to use the corridor safely.

In other words, any/all other vehicle types (including standard passenger vehicles, trucks, vans, shuttles, bicycles, etc.) are STRICTLY PROHIBITED from traveling, parking, stopping, or loading/unloading (even briefly) in any portion of the dedicated bus lanes designated by a SOLID RED color surface.

The Exception: Vehicles making right-hand turns in specific areas. Given the lane position (in the right-most travel lane) on both Forbes Avenue and Fifth Avenue in Oakland, there are a few intersections where motorists/cyclists must cross into/through this dedicated bus lane surface in order to safely make a right-hand turn off of Forbes or Fifth Ave. As such, any area where vehicles ARE permitted to make right hand turns from the bus lane will be marked with RED STRIPES approaching these few intersections. In these STRIPED sections only, personal vehicles and cyclists can enter the otherwise dedicated bus lane to make right turns, including while queuing at traffic lights while waiting for the signal.

Note, however, that vehicles/cyclists are permitted to use ONLY this STRIPED portion of the dedicated bus lane when preparing to make right turns, and ONLY in these portions marked with red stripes – NOT PRIOR. Entering ANY SOLID RED portion of these new dedicated transit lanes is strictly prohibited, even briefly. For example, if other vehicles already queued in the lane make it impossible to safely, and temporarily, enter the STRIPED portion of the bus lane when approaching an intersection, non-transit vehicles must refrain from entering the SOLID RED portion of the lane and continue to watch for (and yield to) transit vehicles on the right which will have the right-of-way to proceed into/through the striped lane surface and the intersection with the signal.

Just as it is not legal under existing Pennsylvania Vehicle Code to straddle a dashed white line while driving, or to temporarily stop/stall/park your vehicle between lanes while waiting in traffic, it is also not legal to straddle the lane/pavement markings that indicate the dedicate bus lane while waiting in traffic (e.g., for a traffic signal to change when queuing to make a right-hand turn.) In accordance with PA vehicle code, vehicles must stay within designated lane boundaries during normal driving and traffic stalls, and a lane change cannot be initiated or completed halfway. If a maneuver will force your vehicle to loiter across lane/pavement markers, drivers must refrain from initiating the maneuver until it can be safely completed in its entirety (where their vehicle would safely, and entirely, then occupy the new lane as indicated by pavement markings.) Lingering between lanes violates basic "lane discipline" and can thereby lead to a citation for unsafe or incomplete lane change under established PA Vehicle Code.

Enforcement will immediately be in place. Consistent with the roll-out of these same transit-only lanes in Downtown Pittsburgh, there will be a 30-day period during which time motorists/cyclists will receive a warning for any unpermitted use of the dedicated bus lane. After this initial 30-day period ends, however, any unauthorized vehicles traveling or stopped in the bus lane will be issued a ticket.

Source: Pittsburgh Regional Transit