Apparently, the idea is to have a transit-priority lane, not transit-exclusive, so traffic patterns aren’t too hurt by new BRT paths. The Regional Transportation Alliance (it sounds like it almost functions like a Triangle-specific transit super PAC?) seems to have been pushing for this.
Before y’all start flipping out about how this is dumb and will ruin Raleigh, though, remember this is a possibility too:
I stopped by the event tonight, and one of the reps from Kimley Horn shared that the study assumed dedicated lanes, but didn’t mention a physical barrier.
The streets downtown are so narrow that anything beyond paint there was probably never in the cards in the first place. Maybe some raised pavement markers or something. This being the case, enforcement - especially against deliveries and cars (read: Ubers) standing in the lanes will be key. Officers should be told to aggressively enforce this from day one, giving warnings for the first week or two, and then ticketing. Heavy enforcement for the first year will pay dividends in the future.
Keeping the busways on Blount/Wilmington at first makes sense, because Union Station will be a relatively minor destination until commuter rail is up and running.
I was really hoping for dedicated, separated median busways for much of the length of the corridors outside of downtown. Certainly the New Bern, Western, Capital, and South Wilmington corridors are wide enough for this. I am very concerned that we will be spending hundreds of millions of tax dollars to, in effect, build new right turn lanes for some of these roads. All of the benefits will accrue to drivers and the status quo will be maintained. If we can’t build truly dedicated lanes through the choke points in areas where we have the space for them (thinking especially of Western Blvd through NCSU) then, IMHO we shouldn’t even bother.
Worrying about stirring up controversy over empty bus lanes is stupid. If you build busways, those can’t be reclaimed by cars. Voters approved the transit tax in order to build and operate transit. If the busways will seem too empty then just run more buses.
Here! Here! 
Well said…full or truly dedicated BRT lanes or it really makes no sense to pretend that you are something that you’re not…
Also, it appears that these lans will have to stop for lights? I know that I am missing something or how is this different than just painting “bus lane” and putting more money toward another transit need? Please help me better understand! 
Buses always have to stop for lights, even in busways. Nothing unusual there. Actually most light rail lines do too! (Charlotte’s line, which ostensibly never stops for cars and has preemption with gates/flashers at every crossing is definitely the exception rather than the norm.) The only place I am aware of in the US that is even talking about preemption for buses is the LA orange line, which carries more passengers than Charlotte’s entire light rail system.
Busways mean that buses don’t have to wait in line behind cars at the traffic lights which saves time. Plus you can put in sensors that will make the light turn green sooner if a bus is waiting (or stay green for longer if a bus is coming) to prioritize buses.
The problem with painted “RED” lanes instead of busways is that their effectiveness is heavily dependent on enforcement. As I said before, in downtown, the streets are quite narrow so this was always the best we could ever hope for. This is also consistent with international best practices for similar built environments, so I am 100% fine with it. It is also a fairly small area and would therefore be feasible to enforce consistently.
I am really hoping for better than this in the outer stretches of some of these routes that are actually more congested. In my observation, New Bern is more congested between WakeMed and 440 than between downtown and WakeMed. Likewise, Western is most congested between 440 and Pullen. There is enough room in these stretches for a full busway. Just build it already!
Seems like paint plus some large raised reflectors or bumps (thinking Hillsborough St roundabout) will do quite a bit to preserve the lane. If like to see some sort of barrier, even if more psychological than physical.
How about some of those semi-permanent poles they put up recently on Boylan where they took out the lights. Seems like those would not take up much space, but still keep unwanted vehicles from using the lanes.
In your opinion, how will the RBUS compare to the Richmond VA “Pulse”?
Given the importance of adoption for success, I’m curious what others on this forum think about the the “softer” things that will help drive ridership. Sure, route alignment and lane dedication are important, but what about things beyond that, like branding? I’ve heard elsewhere about the idea of calling BRT “trackless trains” and the impact that had on adoption. What creative ways could we promote BRT adoption for a Raleigh user base?
Depends on what aspect you’re looking at, but I’m a big believer in getting all the details right and being driven by purpose. Specifically, I think anything that can help Raleigh’s BRT marketing and perception is worth investing in; we should do what we can to make BRT feel convenient, intimate, and useful.
The single biggest obstacle to transit use in the US is competing with cars, which lets the driver be aware and in control, and gives a sense of privacy and control. The best “little” thing you could do, I think, is to have lots of little opportunities for potential riders to feel like they’re in control and don’t have to bend over backwards to accommodate BRT (whether it’s to construct it or to use it).
Making bus seat and station/shelter designs that are well-lit and easy to see (if not iconic) are a must. But so would maps at stations, or easy-to-read and informative onboard stop indicators (which could double as ads for local businesses). Basically a combination of things Chicago and Hong Kong does:
You can also get more community buy-in by letting stations’ future neighbors have a say in station designs, or make branded gear made by local art or industrial design students to increase their visibility/portfolio while reducing costs. Durham pulled off a similar thing before too.
Want to go further to encourage kids and families to use transit? Why not hold a competition for Wake County schools to come up with a jingle for each station to alert passengers at stations of a departing bus? Japan has lots of these quirky tunes.
It might not be bad to think about buy-in from potential/current employees, either, just like how the SNCF in France did.
In the North Central CAC meeting this week the BRT people presented and they are proposing an intelligent stop light solution that will give priority to incoming busses to keep them on schedule.
FYI - there’s an international organization that rates BRT systems (ITDP - Institute for Transportation & Development Policy) and gives the highest performing systems bronze, silver or gold ratings.
Their definition of BRT: What is BRT? - Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
“Scorecard”/Rating System - The Scorecard - Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
System Ratings - BRT Rankings - Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
(Seems like the Wikipedia article is more up to date: BRT Standard - Wikipedia)
I have been thinking about this. I still can’t escape the thought that we are failing if the corridors actually designated as BRT in the plan don’t get mostly dedicated transitways.
HOWEVER. Using the concept of “RED” lanes as extensions of these corridors and as a way of speeding up other transit lines is an awesome thought. The biggest impact here would be from taking the rightmost lanes of Capital Boulevard north of the beltline and doing this. Those lanes already mostly function as contiguous right turn lanes and bus lanes (if you are driving through you probably won’t be using those lanes even today.) This would just make it official. There are a few short segments between Spring Forest and Old Wake Forest where the fourth lane is not yet complete, so finish those (even spending transit money to do it), paint the lanes and stripes, and the job is done. Capital Boulevard stands out as a place where this could happen with minimal cost and effort - but it could work elsewhere too, like Glenwood, South Saunders, New Bern, Western Boulevard west of the Beltline, and even a widened Six Forks.
Many of these ideas are quite interesting. At the Raleigh4All meeting on Wed. last week, an architectural student from NC State mentioned that students are often very eager to contribute to design when it is posed as a sort of “competition.” Perhaps this would be a nice way to engage students, neighborhoods, and transit structures?
A few ideas.
Since the plan that was presented was the Downtown Transportation Plan - I am under the assumption that it was primarily concerned with the sections of the BRT corridor that were in downtown - which is why it only discussed the red lanes. If memory serves, the original GoRaleigh rhetoric (for whatever that is worth) for BRT was targeting somewhere between 50-70% of the entire 20-mile network to be dedicated/separated right of way.
I do agree that the red lanes could be implemented to “extend” the BRT routes and to enhance the “frequent” network to be more useful.
I live near this area, so I keep tabs on the zillow updates around New Bern. This one popped up and seems like a really good example of non Transit Oriented Development (TOD).
$779,000 5 bed, 5 bath, 6,104 sqft, on 1.37 acres.
https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/6387129_zpid/globalrelevanceex_sort/35.782333,-78.597758,35.77873,-78.603525_rect/17_zm/e28565b61fX1-CR25rdyt5ok7su_136akp_crid/
Maybe (NTOD) and will eventually change?
Home was built in 1961, on the edge of civilization at the time. The 1960 census had just reported Raleigh’s population as 94,000. There will always be anomalies like this.
Created this mashup of the near, mid, long term maps for a blog post for this week, wanted to pass it along here.
