Buses Over Rail Not an Uncommon Debate
Cayetano, who is running against Mayor Peter Carlisle and former Managing Director Kirk Caldwell, is opposed to Honolulu’s controversial $5.2 billion rail project.
No secret there.
But Cayetano’s proposed alternative to rail, bus rapid transit, or BRT, is becoming more attractive to cities across the U.S.
That’s at least according to a recent article published in Governing magazine, a publication that primarily focuses on public affairs.
But not all transit officials are convinced. Here’s an excerpt:
Generally, the thinking among U.S. transit officials is that “choice riders” — those who don’t have to take transit but opt to because of its convenience — are willing to ride subways, light rail and streetcars, but not buses.
Advocates of BRT argue that bus service itself isn’t the problem; it’s the way the service is implemented. Offer riders buses that are fast, clean and safe, they say, and passengers will embrace them.
“If you build it right, people will come,” says Janette Sadik-Khan, New York City’s transportation commissioner. “People aren’t going to get on dirty buses that are slow.”
The article also includes some rather interesting perspective about what has been happening around the country in regards to BRT.
In the 1990s, the Federal Transit Administration began organizing international trips for American transit officials to see BRT systems abroad.
At the same time, BRT started to make sense for American cities, as growing congestion coupled with fiscal realities meant not everyone could hope to build light rail, which can cost as much as three times the price of a comparable BRT system.
In the early 2000s, L.A. and Pittsburgh redoubled their BRT efforts, while later in the decade, places like Eugene, Ore., and Cleveland launched their own highly touted BRT services that today are considered the top American systems.
The successes of those projects helped inspire local officials across the country, who could finally point to examples of successful BRT in American cities instead of looking abroad as they tried to make the case for BRT.
Today, virtually every major metro area is considering or actively planning some degree of rapid bus service.
Obviously, these are just snippets from a much longer article about BRT and where it fits into the national discussion on transit.
If you’re interested in the subject, I suggest you read the story. You can find it here.
— Nick Grube
