PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The city plans to reserve one of the lanes of Roosevelt Boulevard just for SEPTA buses.
A virtual public meeting is planned for Wednesday at 6:30p p.m. to explain the project.
The plan would designate one of the six travel lanes for buses, and officials estimate that the six SEPTA routes using the boulevard could run 10-20% faster with minimal impact on auto traffic.
Chris Puchalsky, director of policy and strategic initiatives at the city’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems, said the data comes from a computer simulation modeled on current traffic patterns along the boulevard.
“This is going to have an advantage on travel times overall and get people faster to where they need to get to go by getting some traffic out of the way of the buses,” said Puchalsky.
The proposed seven-mile boulevard bus lane would be installed from Bustleton Avenue to Southampton Road in the fall of 2026.
Puchalsky said another planned improvement involves extending two of the crossovers between the inner and outer lanes — one at Knorr Street and another at Woodhaven Road.
“We’re mostly going to make them longer, so you have more time to look behind your shoulder and merge into traffic,” he said.