What to Know About Red Bus-Only Lanes in Philadelphia

Philadelphia city officials, along with PennDOT and SEPTA, are installing red-painted bus-only lanes on three corridors in Center City and South Philadelphia to improve reliability and reduce driver interference. These transit corridors include Chestnut Street (from Broad to 21st streets), Walnut Street (from Broad to 19th streets), and Oregon Avenue (from Fifth to Front streets).

The high-ridership corridors will receive red markings to delineate bus lanes and clearly deter parking or other travel, stated PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. According to FOX 29, officials have observed a 12% reduction in travel times on streets with bus-only lanes. These streets include Chestnut Street from Broad Street to Second Street, and, more recently, Market Street from 20th Street to 15th Street, and Erie Avenue from Germantown Avenue to Old York Road.

SEPTA explained that the project is tied to PennDOT repaving work and was identified as a Tier 1 priority corridor in the 2021 Philadelphia Transit Plan based on ridership, speeds, hours of service, and equity.

According to SEPTA, a Chestnut Street red-lane study previously found about a 12% reduction in bus travel times on the eastern Chestnut segment, with fewer improper uses and illegal double-parking overall. SEPTA also explained that the red-painted bus-only lanes initiative builds on the Automated Bus Camera Enforcement Initiative, a Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA)-SEPTA partnership aimed at enforcing bus-lane and bus-stop violations to improve safety and reduce congestion.

The Automated Bus Camera Enforcement Initiative is currently in effect in Center City (on and between Spring Garden and Bainbridge streets and between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers) and on Market, Chestnut, and Walnut streets between the Schuylkill River and 63rd Street.

“SEPTA is proud to partner with the City of Philadelphia and PennDOT to expand our region's bus lane network,” said SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer in the news release. “These bus lanes immediately improve the customer experience by enhancing bus reliability and trip times while increasing traffic safety for SEPTA's riders and operators.”