BRT for Orange County
Submitted by William R. Cousert on 18 July, 2009 - 11:13am
in
Here's what I'd like to see.
1. Major streets with four or more lanes should have their left most lanes reserved for buses only.
2. Stations
a. Center islands would serve as stations, with ticket/pass machines. No fare collection on buses
b. LCD monitor showing time of next arrival along with a map showing current bus locations.
c. Stations would be limited, perhaps every mile or two and placed at major intersections with crossing BRT lines.
3. Buses
a. Electrically powered (overhead catenary wires) articulated buses, possibly double articulated.
b. Riders would enter/exit through the exits, which would be relocated to the left side of the bus.
c. Buses would be capable of overriding traffic signals
4. Hours of operation - 24 hours a day, as often as every five minutes during peak hours, perhaps every 30 minutes at night.
5. Funding
a. A county-wide .1% sales tax increase with 100% of the money going to the BRT system.
b. Advertising revenue
6. Upgrade - design the system for possible upgrade to rail, perhaps something like Portland Oregon's streetcar system.
Comments
Some comments. 1. To expand
Some comments.
1. To expand on this, I think major streets with four or more lanes should have their left most lane reserved for buses, and their right most lane reserved for bikes. It would never fly in Orange County.
2. a. They planned to do a Proof-of-Fare system on the rapid buses but it was scrapped due to cost of the ticket machines or something. Check some older entries on this blog for more details.
The participants in meetings about the new bus system showed a remarkable lack of understanding about what it was supposed to be. I don't knock them just for that, but it's like they willingly did not want to understand.
3. a. Overhead wires ruining the pristine Orange County sprawl? Never, says the OC Republican!
c. Also planned for Bravo! but cancelled at least in the short term.
5. a. Politically infeasible at this time.
6. Screw the bus altogether. Revive Centerline if you really want to go Blue Sky.
An even better idea:
We should have all center lanes (or at the very least, right shoulder lanes) reserved for buses, and make the entire freeway network in OC available for such buses (like Istanbul's Metrobus or the oft-cited TransMilenio system).
Metro's doing this with the 105 freeway (or 110?), I believe — they're starting new BRT service, the Silver Line, and knowing Metro, they'll promote the hell out of this. And even counties with smaller transit systems, like SamTrans, runs buses with bus stops on the side of the freeways.
The challenge is to find a practical way to promote this, such that voting citizens in the OC will demand this. That's a HUGE challenge.
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William, I love your dream. :) It's a pipe dream, I suppose!
I'm working on a map that
I'm working on a map that should explain what I want in a little more detail. I should have it ready by the weekend.
>Screw the bus altogether. Revive Centerline if you really want to go Blue Sky.
That would be nice! But my system would have a few hundred miles of track. There's no way OC could afford it.
Buses would be far cheaper to start with. My plan would have stations that could be upgraded to rail.
>William, I love your dream. :) It's a pipe dream, I suppose!
Maybe not! The biggest expense would be building the island stations. I think advertising could cover this.
Of course running the buses every five minutes is going to cost as well..
Would love to see this!
William, would love to see this! I'll publish it to the front page as soon as you're ready.
Seriously OCTA should've had
Seriously OCTA should've had a Rapid or limited stop line. it should not take 2 hours to get from newport to La Habra(route 43). The 60,and 57 are one of the many routes that need this. We dont need BRAVO. why waste time and money, Just make a 57 Rapid/Limited Stop and a Regular 57. Just like LACMTA has for their bus lines. Seriously OCTA.
Bravo! rapid bus program is getting axed
Latest transit committee agenda for tomorrow (Thursday) shows that Bravo! is getting axed completely and they're just going to "mitigate congestion" by synchronizing traffic lights.
Bravo! is getting axed completely
Won't they lose some federal funding if they do this?
I guess...?
....but not if they don't get caught. :) I've only glanced at the report at http://www.octa.net/pdf/transit1109.pdf — maybe you can find the details there? I'll try to post something on this soon.