The Importance of Running True BRT Through Downtown

One of the reasons so-called Bus-Rapid Transit projects have been so contentious in U.S. cities is that urban street space is a precious commodity. Unwilling to give BRT exclusive lanes along the median, many cities route the buses into curbside lanes with mixed traffic. There, BRT must share the curb with turning cars, double-parked trucks, and other traffic conflicts — forcing the buses initially sold to the public as "speedy" to a crawl.

In other words, what feels like a compromise is really a critical error. American cities that fail to extend true BRT through the downtown area ensure that the systems receive their greatest visibility in places where they experience their lowest effectiveness. The result can be to sour public opinion on BRT at large, making subsequent expansions — there or elsewhere around the country — all the more difficult.