SEE IT! Boston’s Bus Rapid Transit is Working

BRT bus lane Boston

SB Donation NYC header 2

It was a momentous 2018 year for bus riders in greater Boston as municipalities around the region took bold steps to pilot elements of Bus Rapid Transit. Empowered by grants, the city-led regional effort showcased small but salient service and street design improvements that garnered public and political support for better buses and the vision of Gold Standard BRT.

The demonstrated BRT elements included dedicated bus lane segments, queue jumps, transit signal priority and level platforms, and were enhanced by creative art installations and community group partnerships.

This short film shows how easily other cities could adapt these strategies:

  • Courtney

    Why don’t they do this for AM AND PM rush hour?

  • crazyvag

    I wish they would comment more on how they got over complaints from people who driver their own cars?

  • Nancy

    What I see is a traffic jam caused by an EMPTY BUS transit lane, causing congestion in shared Lanes.

    Pathetic!

  • ocschwar

    The lane looks empty. The buses are not.

  • Daisy’s World

    A pop-up bus lane on West Broad Street? That’s one of the ideas that came out of a transit innovation weekend held last month at the Idea Foundry. The event, called Thrive Columbus and hosted by the national organization Purple Aisle, brought together a group of about 100 local residents, neighborhood leaders and transit experts for an intense weekend of brainstorming, refining, and then presenting a wide range of ideas on the theme of equity in transportation. A busy stretch of Massachusetts Avenue underwent significant changes this month to make the street safer and more convenient for cyclists traveling between Cambridge and Boston. At the same time, the roadway reconfigurations will ease congestion for public transportation and improve pedestrian mobility. http://www.daisylimo.com

  • Nancy

    Bus transit agencies are subsidized by drivers of cars paying taxes on their fill-ups. 25% of bus fares cover bus / transit agency expenses. 25%! Arguing that buses should have a dedicaded lane while cars sit idle in congested lanes polluting our air is just plain ignorance. And it’s difficult to discuss logic with ignorant folks who for unknown reasons worship the altars of any given bus transit agency.

  • ocschwar

    And the roads in MA are subsidized by non-drivers, especially the city streets you see in this film. Those cars you see sitting idle have one passenger each, so it’s easy for a whole block to have cars carrying only 20 people, while each of those buses regularly carry 60 people.

  • Nancy

    Tell that to the mothers trying to get her kids to school and then to soccer practices, etc.

  • ocschwar

    Ever been to Boston? These bus lines happen to connect to schools and park facilities.

  • Courtney

    You do realize single occupancy vehicles cause the majority of traffic, right?
    It’s much more efficient to move 100 people via bus or train than every one of these 100 people hopping in a car.

  • Davida Burns

    Thank you!

  • qatzelok

    Women (or men) driving massive SUVs near children’s activity centers and schools… is very dangerous and callous. SUVs kill at low speed and are particularly dangerous for small humans whose foreheads are at hull level.

    Also, if the reasons people prefer transit and active transportation from a civic point of view elude you, just google it. The information is out there and available.

  • KJ

    Her kids can take the bus.

  • Sincerely

    As someone who has spent a good but of time in Boston, I can assure you that the city’s congestion is not caused by bus lanes. There are corridors in the metropolitan region where half of the people on the road during peak times are traveling by bus.

  • Frank Kotter

    Gladly.

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