While I applaud the city council's resolve to support transit for the 35W corridor, I am troubled that the city seems confused as to what Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) really means.
The news release posted by Laura Sether says, "Unlike Light Rail Transit, Bus Rapid Transit would allow some cars to drive in the bus lane, but only as many as would not slow down the buses." In fact, for BRT to work as rapid transit NO CARS (except perhaps emergency vehicles) should be allowed in the same lane as the buses and the lane should be physically separated in a way that routine auto traffic CANNOT enter the BRT lane. The best local example is the transit way between the Minneapolis and St. Paul U of M campuses. I went to the fair this week, catching the bus shuttle at on east bank, riding down the the transit way without interruption to be dropped at the fair gate in six minutes. Half of that time was the short stretch where we left the transit way and traveled on Como. Throw even a few cars in that want to make turns or exit off that transit way and you easily double or triple that travel time. Same with a few cars in a BRT lane. Enforcement becomes an issue--cheaters will try to jump into that lane regularly, and to stop them, state patrol will have to pull them over and ticket them, mucking up the flow of the buses no doubt. With cars in the lane, too, all it takes is one accident to stop the service in that direction until the accident is cleared. . . . Real BRT is a viable option for the 35W corridor and may have multiple applications in the metro area. But, if half-BRT (i.e. mixed bus and HOV lanes) is what we are talking about, then it will only be of limited benefit. I hope that the council's actions open up a real discussion now of mass transit options in the corridor, including a consideration of LRT and (real) BRT and their relative merits. Russell Raczkowski Bancroft REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
