PRT gets infusion of funding to extend University Line BRT project
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) has awarded Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) $9 million to further assist in funding the PRTX University Line extension from Squirrel Hill, Pa., to the Homestead Grays Bridge. This adds to a previous award of $7.4 million in 2023 from SPC to extend the University Line from Oakland, Pa., to Squirrel Hill. This funding comes as part of a broader award made by the SPC, where it gave out nearly $31 million for transportation projects across 10 counties in the region.
PRT says the new funding will partially cover the cost to extend the line to the city of Pittsburgh side of the Homestead Grays Bridge, where it will then continue across the bridge to Homestead and McKeesport, Pa., as part of a separate PRT project.
The agency says the extension from Squirrel Hill to the Homestead Grays Bridge could include six station pairs with accessibility improvements, including:
- Extended sidewalks
- Next bus arrival screens
- Fare vending machines
- Seating
- Lighting
- Bike racks
- Emergency phones
- Security cameras
PRT notes that it will host public meetings and solicit community feedback on the location and sizes of the stations in the near future.
The agency says it will also spend the next 12 to18 months advancing the planning and design of the Murray and Forbes Avenue portions of the project and integrating it with the rest of the corridor, including the extension down Browns Hill Road, across the Homestead Grays Bridge and along State Route 837 to McKeesport. The project will include close coordination between PRT, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the city of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure and Allegheny County Department of Public Works, which are also advancing projects in the corridor.
With this new funding, PRT says it has approximately 60% of the costs needed to construct the Squirrel Hill Branch from Oakland to the Homestead Grays Bridge. The total project is estimated to cost between $28 and $35 million.
Construction for Phase II of the University Line is currently underway. Phase II includes 19 PRTX stations in Uptown and Oakland and is expected to be completed in 2027. Phase I of the project included five new PRTX stations in downtown Pittsburgh. It was completed in summer 2025.
About the Author
Noah Kolenda
Associate Editor
Noah Kolenda is a recent graduate from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism with a master’s degree in health and science reporting. Kolenda also specialized in data journalism, harnessing the power of Open Data projects to cover green transportation in major U.S. cities. Currently, he is an associate editor for Mass Transit magazine, where he aims to fuse his skills in data reporting with his experience covering national policymaking and political money to deliver engaging, future-focused transit content.
Prior to his position with Mass Transit, Kolenda interned with multiple Washington, D.C.-based publications, where he delivered data-driven reporting on once-in-a-generation political moments, runaway corporate lobbying spending and unnoticed election records.