Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway
The Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway is a two-lane bus-only highway serving the city of Pittsburgh and many of its eastern neighborhoods and suburbs. It was named after Martin Luther King Jr. in recognition of the eastern portion of the route's serving many predominantly African-American neighborhoods, such as Wilkinsburg and East Liberty. It is owned and maintained by the Port Authority of Allegheny County. The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), under its BRT Standard, has given the East Busway corridor a Bronze ranking. History. Originally occupied by  a railroad line, planning for the East Busway began shortly after the Port Authority of Allegheny County purchased the Pittsburgh Railways Company in 1964. The original segment of the busway opened in February 1983, running between Downtown Pittsburgh and Edgewood, a length of 6.8 miles. In 2003, the busway was extended into Swissvale by , making its current length . In July 2013, the East Busway was discussed in the context of the Mon Fayette Expressway. Routes. Following the naming convention of each busway being designated by a color, bus routes that use the East Busway begin with a "P" for purple . However, the P13 (Mount Royal Flyer) is colored purple and uses a "P" designation, but does not use the busway; instead, it travels via Route 28. The P1 ("East Busway All Stops") is the main route, operating seven days a week and running the full length of the Busway between Swissvale and Downtown Pittsburgh, making all stops, before running a short loop through the central business district. It is the busiest Port Authority bus route by ridership. This route is supplemented by the P2 (East Busway Short), which runs on weekdays only and terminates in Wilkinsburg. All busway routes travel  to downtown Pittsburgh, making a loop around before returning via the busway. The one exception to this is the P3 (East Busway-Oakland), which starts in Swissvale, but leaves the busway via the Neville Street Ramp, serving the business district of Oakland and terminating at Robinson Street. Many of the Port Authority's express and suburban Flyer routes also use the busway (but do not make stops along it), primarily during weekday rush hours. The busway enables these routes to bypass the heavily congested Parkway East (Interstate 376), making for faster trip times. The East Busway is also used by  some Westmoreland Transit routes, which run further into the Pittsburgh suburbs, ending in the cities of Greensburg and Latrobe in Westmoreland County. As of October 2018, the Port Authority bus routes that use the East Busway are as follows: