The Future of BRT

[thelakelander]

This is the negative side of BRT that planners won't tell you about.  Instead they'll tell you fibs about the possibilities of converting BRT into light rail in the future.

STREETWISE
Motorists may soon buy spots on Busway
Posted on Mon, Feb. 11, 2008

BY LARRY LEBOWITZ

Is there anything more maddening than idling in gridlock and realizing that just a few feet away lie two virgin lanes of asphalt and you can't use them?

Such is the plight of up to 100,000 woeful South Florida commuters stuck on the River of Gas that is U.S. Highway 1 between East Kendall and Florida City.

Tantalizingly within eyesight lies the Busway: two parallel 20-mile strips of practically virgin macadam, supporting a handful of popular, not-quite-express Miami-Dade Transit buses.

Imagine widening the Busway from two lanes to four and giving buses and carpoolers with at least three passengers a free ride.

Then sell the excess capacity to solo drivers willing to ''buy'' their way out of congestion with a variably priced toll that would rise when lanes are crowded and drop when they aren't.

Instead of encountering dozens of incredibly looooooong lights at the busy cross streets on today's Busway, imagine flying over all the major intersections as the government guarantees a reliable 50-mph journey from Dadeland to Florida City or the turnpike interchange near Southwest 112th Avenue.

It may sound pie-in-the-sky today, but that pie could be baking in the near future...

full article: http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/414360.html

[Lunican]

Yep, there is no doubt there would be an outcry to turn BRT lanes into regular lanes. Probably before they even open.

[Steve]

Well, if we end up spending a billion dollars on this thing here, we could charge adminssion to this thing to make up for the cost.

[thelakelander]

Unfortunately, it won't help most of today's congested spots like Blanding between Wells Road & I-295 or Southpoint.  Instead, drivers would be able to speed through Riverside and Murray Hill.