Can Boston Become America's Best BRT Town?

As U.S. cities face more mass transit demands with less mass transit funds, they’ve started to pay closer attention to cost-effective bus enhancements. Features like dedicated lanes, prepaid fares, all-door boarding, and attractive stations are becoming more common. But true bus-rapid transit remains rare in the U.S., and even America’s most successful BRT lines—the HealthLine in Cleveland and the Orange Line in Los Angeles—don’t quite measure up to the best in the world.

An ambitious new plan for BRT in Boston would change all that. The local Barr Foundation has released the findings of a study group made up of local planning experts convened back in September 2013, with technical guidance from the sustainable transport organization ITDP. The report recommends five corridors that have the makings of “gold” standard BRT service, a vision that would vault the city into a bus model for the country. Its conclusion: