The Boston (MBTA) Silver line illustrates the proper way transportation should be integrated into up and coming areas, not yet ready to be serviced by regular rail transit. The Silver line will eventually create an “Urban Transit Ring” connecting much of the transit in the city of Boston and establishing a BRT to service areas which could sorely benefit from regular fixed transit. The Buses used on the silver line operate using engines on regular streets, but operate under electrical power (transferred by overhead wires) when operating in tunnels or streets with existing electrical infrastructure (similar to streetcars and LRT.) The eventual objective of the silverline is to serve as a placeholder for future rail expansion while cultivating proper transit oriented development and ridership along the route…
Archive for the 'Busway' Category
A city revolutionized the way people use the local bus network by creating pods where riders pay to access the pod rather than when boarding the bus. This process streamlined the whole boarding process and made the busways far more efficient and reliable. Can anyone name this city?
Why you should use the Jakarta busway, originally uploaded by fishkid.
This picture illustrates the typical lane designations busways receive across the world. The vast majority of busways, bus lanes, and BRT lanes are dedicated solely for Bus and emergency vehicle use (ie. no private vehicles.) This bus lane in Jakarta demonstrates how bus only lanes should be implemented in urban areas…
The newly renovated Seattle Transit tunnel will reopen to the public next Monday. After a $94 Million renovation and retrofitting, the final phase of the tunnel will be complete in 2009 when the Sound Transit LRT begins to fully utilize the tunnel instead of the current buses. Due to the reconstruction, a revolutionary precedent was set along Seattle’s downtown third avenue:
“Meanwhile, Third Avenue, which became a bus-and-bike street at peak hours during the two-year tunnel closure, will remain that way. More than 20 downtown surface routes will be shifted to Third Avenue, replacing 18 bus routes that will enter the tunnel.”
- MDT’s Buses on the shoulder program is going well. With 50% fewer late buses the pilot program is looking good thus far along the Killian routes.
- Last year’s fastest growing Transit System, Tri-Rail, is working the kinks out of its latest “service enhancements.” The agency is still struggling to gain dispatch control from CSX and last week experienced a dismal on time performance between 50-60%…
- Remember those stupid trucks with billboards which drive around and cause congestion, pollute, and obstruct your view? Here are the people responsible…
- Sunpass will be selling at half price to placate 13,000 people who live in sprawl-land, or something of the sort…What I’d like to know is when we’re going to wake up and start using toll money to finance real transit projects… (Via SOTP)
- New Blogs added to the Miami Blogroll: Miamism, Miami-Forum, South Florida Theatre Scene
I’m going to take some time to address some “fan mail” I have received via e-mail, forum commentary, or blog comments. Here is one from a forum friend of mine Paul:
Sorry, Gabe. This one is going to hurt. The vote to prioritize the South Link Metrorail extension (Alternative 5) over the Bus Rapid Transit System (Alternative 6) for Kendall failed by one vote on June 22nd! The Miami Planning Organization voted 8-8 for Commissioner Katy Sorenson’s motion to prioritize Metrorail expansion over the other alternatives. The board then voted for the Bus Rapid Transit System which won by a popular vote of 8-5. This system will provide an extension of the current Metorail track to US-1 and 104th. From this stop an elevated busway will take passengers from the 104th station to 312th street, over the existing busway, which will be turned into an express toll lane. We can all thank Coral Gables Councilman William Kerdyk for leaving the country without making his opinion known or making a proxy vote cast (Mari… Monday Candidate?). His vote, which would have been in favor of the extension according to Robert MacDougall, would have been enough to approve the metrorail extension plan. Instead we will get a raised busway and two more lanes for US-1. We can also thank Commissioner Jimenez, who represents Pinecrest, for leading the front against the metrorail. Find out more about MPO’s decision in The Kendall Gazette or the United Citizens for South Link website.
Ouch, yeah that did hurt. Thanks Paul. I actually wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, after I attended the UCSL meeting. The MPO is really in the wrong hands. Jimenez (like all our commission members) is completely oblivious to what the constituents really want and is basically doing what he pleases. Extending metrorail to 104th is meaningless and will do nothing to improve our local traffic issues, enhance our public transportation, or increase ridership. Honestly, it should extend south to The Falls mall at least in order to make some sort of positive impact.
The elevated busway you speak of is actually just a bunch bridges placed at key intersections. This appears to be some sort of a ploy to help traffic flow on US-1 so that cars may turn westward unimpeded. This will however allow the busway to serve as a genuine BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) Line. This is crucial for the 10,000-15,000 daily busway users and has proven to be a success in other cities with dedicated ROW’s for buses…
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