PHILADELPHIA (November 3, 2025) – The City of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and SEPTA announced today that red-painted bus-only lanes will be installed on three critical transit corridors in Center City and South Philadelphia on sections of Chestnut Street, Walnut Street and Oregon Avenue.
“PennDOT understands the value that transit brings to our communities,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “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. We’re proud to partner with the City and SEPTA to make this happen.”
These bus priority lanes will be implemented in conjunction with scheduled PennDOT repaving through a partnership between the City, SEPTA and PennDOT. All three corridors were identified in the 2021 Philadelphia Transit Plan as “Tier 1” priority corridors for improvements to bus service. Corridors were identified and prioritized based on ridership, bus speeds, service hours, geographic and economic equity and connections, among other factors.
“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. “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.”
Red-painted bus-only lanes will be implemented on:
- Chestnut Street between Broad Street and 21st Street
- Walnut Street between Broad Street and 19th Street
- Oregon Avenue between 5th Street and Front Street
Philadelphia has seen success in implementing red-painted bus lanes on Chestnut Street from Broad Street to 2nd Street and more recently, on Market Street from 20th Street to 15th Street and on Erie Avenue from Germantown Avenue to Old York Road.
“The partnership between the City, SEPTA and PennDOT embodies Mayor Parker’s vision of intergovernmental cooperation,” said Chris Puchalsky, Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives at the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems. “These red bus lanes will improve the daily commute for thousands of city residents while increasing the efficiency of SEPTA’s service.”
A study of the red bus lane on the eastern portion of Chestnut Street showed improvements to bus service, reductions in improper use of the bus-only lane and illegal double-parking and no slow-downs to drivers. Buses on this section of Chestnut Street saw travel times reduce by 12 percent, while buses elsewhere in Center City during the same time period saw increased travel times by four percent.
In addition to these successes, the City and SEPTA expect to see further positive impacts to bus service and reductions in misuse of the bus-only lanes since the recent implementation of the Automated Bus Camera Enforcement Initiative, a partnership between the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) and SEPTA. This initiative aims to improve safety and reduce congestion by using camera-mounted computer vision technology to enforce violations for blocking bus lanes, bus stops and trolley zones. It 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.
The streets have been milled. Red paint for the bus lane will then be installed after resurfacing. For additional construction information, see PennDOT’s construction press release here.
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