Funds sought for study on bus rapid transit line

The Port Authority wants to use $1 million in Allegheny County money to run a preliminary engineering study on a proposed bus rapid transit line connecting Oakland and Downtown.

With that study in hand — along with an environmental analysis — the Port Authority should be ready to apply for federal grants in September 2014, authority CEO Ellen McLean told county council in a budget hearing Wednesday night.

The project could cost $150 million in infrastructure improvements, not including the purchase of new buses.

The line would run through Uptown along Fifth Avenue and Forbes Avenue, and would likely not involve the demolition of private property through eminent domain, Ms. McLean said.