Bus rapid transit exists in Pittsburgh

East Liberty Busway Station

They have a set of limited access freeways that are exclusively for buses. There are four busways, described on this webpage, "Pittsburgh Busway System." (This isn't the official webpage.) Statistics for Pittsburgh transit, including the busways, are available on the Port Authority website.

I rode one of these buses yesterday from East Liberty Station to Downtown. I didn't time it, but it was fast. The price for rides on the various busways are the same price as other bus rides, $1.75 to $2.25, depending on the number of zones.

But there is no question that these buses are for suburbanites. The station stops farther out in the city--not downtown--because of the grade separation of the routes, are somewhat separated from where people live.

DC uses higher capacity articulated buses on a variety of routes such as the X line on Benning Road and H Street, and the 70s line up Georgia Avenue. It appears as if Pittsburgh uses these types of buses only on the grade separated busways.