I did not know that either!
You have little choice with a monopoly…
Had to correct that minor error in the headline, there.
Haha, BRT is a joke. Just look to Boston. It doesn’t increase public transit at all. They still have to stop at lights. We need a real transit system.
…or just make BRT that gets automatic green lights?
It’s my understanding that our BRT corridors will have signal priority. I certainly could have missed that change but am not aware that it has.
Boston doesn’t not have an adequate BRT system so I wouldn’t compare it with what we will have. Richmond, Bogota (Columbia), and Providence are good examples of successful BRT systems.
But all those cities are smaller than us. Now yes Houston has one but they also have light rail.
Houston is also more than triple our size and will be quadruple in a couple decades.
Bogota is a far larger city. 12.7m people in its metro area.
Boston’s Silver Line is infamous for being absolutely terrible. That’s like saying “light rail is a joke, just look at Norfolk.” You can’t just pick one of the worst examples out there and say “this proves all BRT is bad.”
The exacts are hard to nail down, but most of the stats I’m seeing from various years have the Emerald Express BRT line in Eugene, Oregon, carrying more than double the number of passengers that Norfolk’s The Tide light rail does on a daily basis, despite having 40,000 fewer residents! The mode of service is not nearly as important as the level and quality of service.
People will ride transit that is fast, frequent, and goes places that they want to go to. If you can use exclusive lanes and signal priority to get a bus to move as quickly as light rail (which is exactly what Raleigh is doing), than the only real difference is capacity. If you’re a mid-sized city with subpar transit ridership, BRT is an excellent way to quickly and cheaply build a flexible, scalable fixed-guideway service.
One last thing, and then maybe I’ll stop defending BRT for good on here because a) I’m getting tired of doing it and b) it’s happening regardless. When I push the subject, most people I’ve talked to who say they’d rather have light rail than BRT ultimately end up admitting some variation of “ewww buses are icky.” I’m not saying that’s you or anyone else here, it’s just an observation. That said, have you ever stopped to ask yourself why Americans think buses are icky? Could it possibly be a self-fulfillment thing, where bus riders are seen as “less-than,” so we don’t bother to invest in giving them decent bus systems? Buses in many other parts of the world are great, but the public perception here is that buses are terrible because we make zero effort to make them not terrible. New Bern BRT, then, is Raleigh’s first attempt to make buses not terrible. That’s all there really is to it.
I’ll just leave this here for you guys to bicker on! I’m tired of people not wanting but complaining about transit to the airport.
“As part of a new study” 
Yeah I wonder if any new details will be revealed now two highways surround RDU. Unless Glenwood to RDU or a transfer from Midtown/North Hills or Crabtree to the airport. It would be a long route from Downtown to RDU and hopefully it’s an express bus. But I could see some bus specific lanes, but looking at a map and how busy Glenwood Ave is, I wonder what it could look like?
The city is hiring new BRT planners so I believe her. I still want an avid biker and bus rider to be our next Mayor though🤞🏽
Hey, I think know that guy.
Ha! A study . Study it for 10 years until it’s a billion dollars. Do it South American style .
Does anyone else find it concerning that Western and Wilmington were just resurfaced? Almost as if they know BRT won’t touch these areas for at least another10 years. Am I missing the mark here?
10 years is congruent with the expected completion of the system. From the BRT page on raleigh.gov:
Bus Rapid Transit is coming to our region! Planning is underway for fast, reliable, frequent service along four key corridors and we expect service to be fully available by 2035.
So there’s nothing to worry about.
On another note, it sure is frustrating to see such long timelines (20 years from inception!) for red paint, new busses, and skeletal service.
One way to help fund the other lines and speed up the process could be a $100 to $200 fine for drivers who “accidentally” drive in the dedicated bus lanes. I’m sure it will happen quite a few times before the entire system is built out.
D.C. to start enforcing bus-only lanes with cameras in July…:
https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/1683519315142746115?s=46
