Comments on: Purple Line BRT vs. LRT, Round 2

By: Matt Young

Matt Young — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:52:00 +0000

It is the flexibility of BRT designs that allow planners to match service with needs. From full blown BRT that can even mimic High Speed Rail to simple express buses. Planners cannot get that range of options with rail.

For steel rail advocates, you are facing a very powerful foe, silicon intelligence that makes advanced transit on rubber so flexible.

By: THE CITY FIX: Exploring Sustainable Solutions to the Problems of Urban Mobility » Blog Archive » NYT on BRT: Great to See, A Bit Disappointing to Read

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:17:11 +0000

[...] a BRT advocate, it was really exciting to wake up this morning to a front-page, above-the-fold article in the New [...]

By: TheCityFix DC: Sustainable Mobility in the Nation's Capital » Blog Archive » NYT on BRT: Great to See, A Bit Disappointing to Read

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:02:21 +0000

[...] a BRT advocate, it was really exciting to wake up this morning to a front-page, above-the-fold article in the New [...]

By: The Overhead Wire

The Overhead Wire — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:08:50 +0000

Gettin fired up! In all seriousness, there are few bits of history that might be of interest here. The silver lie travels a similar route the the Orange Line el that was torn down in 1987 and pushed underground several blocks away leaving the existing neighborhood without transit. The silver line was supposed to rectify that but you can imagine if people who lived then are upset they didn’t get the same service back.

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/03/us/boston-s-elevated-orange-line-goes-underground.html?scp=1&sq=Boston+Elevated&st=nyt

In addition, the Orange Line in LA is on the West Side while the El Monte HOV/Busway is on the East. The transit village planned was at El Monte which is the East side hub of bus activity and a commuter rail station a half mile away. You can read more in depth about it here:

http://www.reconnectingamerica.org/public/display_asset/htai_elmonte

By: BeyondDC

BeyondDC — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:37:39 +0000

>So the question is whether you think that in this place, at this time, they will invest sufficiently.

If decision makers decide now to take the cheaper cost-cutting measure, why in the world should we expect them to invest sufficiently in the future?

By: Noah Kazis

Noah Kazis — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:03:52 +0000

BeyondDC: Agreed, but my point in telling the story is to point out that cutting quality doesn’t just happen, it happens for a reason. I don’t think too many community activists in Roxbury were surprised to see their half of the line be built on the cheap. So the question is whether you think that in this place, at this time, they will invest sufficiently.

By: BeyondDC

BeyondDC — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:03:47 +0000

>For some reason, this one project turned out completely differently on the two lines.

This always happens. It’s one of BRT’s biggest problems. It’s *so* easy to just chip away a little bit to save money, it’s *really* easy to get carried away and cut your quality transit line into something much less. And since the whole premise of BRT is that it’s supposed to save money, people often go into it with cost-cutting in mind.

And as the 395 busway proves, the chipping away doesn’t end with the design of the project. It continues years later.