The far right lanes of three streets in Center City and South Philly will be turned into bus-only lanes and be painted red to deter drivers from double-parking and stopping in them.
The red lanes will appear on:
• Chestnut Street between Broad and 21st streets
• Walnut Street between Broad and 19th streets
• Oregon Avenue between Fifth and Front streets
The street segments were selected based on several factors including bus ridership, bus speed, service hours and geographic and economic indicators, SEPTA said. They each were listed as priorities for bus service improvements in the city's 2021 transit plan, which gave suggestions for improving public transportation.
The roads already have been milled and will be painted after they are resurfaced, officials said.
"PennDOT understands the value that transit brings to our communities," PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said in a statement. "And if we can do something simple – like painting bus lanes red to help deter double parking and make it easier for people to choose transit – it just makes sense to do it."
Philadelphia added red bus lanes on Chestnut street from Broad to Second streets in 2022, and later on Market Street from 20th to 15 streets and Erie Avenue from Germantown Avenue to Old York Road. A study on the existing Chestnut Street lane showed reductions in double parking and other illegal lane uses. It also found travel times for buses using the red lanes fell by 12% as those for Center City buses driving on non-painted lanes increased by 4%.
In May, the city and SEPTA began using AI-powered cameras on 150 buses and more than 20 trolleys to automatically ticket cars illegally parks in transit lanes or illegally stopped in front of transit stops.
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