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ElectricStar87 t1_izpsvsz wrote

Reply to comment by Desertortoise in Baltimore rail transit lines vs. population density by Left-Indication

Express buses would accomplish this just as easily.

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sit_down_man t1_izpy96r wrote

They would not. I love a good BRT line but a light rail or subway would be preferable for sure. The main difference is that BRT could be ready to go within months, versus a subway line taking almost a decade to complete.

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ElectricStar87 t1_izq0g29 wrote

“Preferable” is a subjective term, and not a dimension that really bears much emphasis unless it’s accompanied by data.

Subway and light rail are not remotely in the same category.

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ThisAmericanSatire t1_izsbjku wrote

The biggest problem with busses is that they have to share the road with cars. This has two pitfalls:

  1. busses get stuck in traffic

  2. BRT infrastructure (i.e. Bus lanes) can easily be given back to commuter cars if some elected rep thinks happy drivers are better than happy bus riders.

Trains don't have these problems, especially if they are grade-separated.

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ElectricStar87 t1_izsfcet wrote

Trains simply have other liabilities. Route permanence, high cost of implementation, single points of failure, etc.

They also have to negotiate traffic crossing, even if you plan to have light preemption that actually works.

To be clear, I am not fundamentally opposed to the red line — the argument simply seems insufficiently made so far, and bus options, both for the short and long term, and as a quick half-measure for hypothesis testing, does not seem to have been considered. Also note that the red line targets 50K riders per day. The existing light rail targeted 33K per day, never really reached that, and is currently at 9K per day (there are other issues with that light rail obviously, including the fundamental logic of its placement and route).

The red line also doesn’t address the needed last mile issues that will still only be possible through bus; red line is not a magic transportation panacea in and of itself, but that’s what it’s often portrayed as.

The dedicated bus lanes in the city are operating quite well. My understanding is that this has increased average speed from 9 miles an hour on average to about 12 miles an hour (apologies for lack of source). I suspect the relatively high frequency of stops for buses also contributes to lower speeds. Note that the red line claims a targeted 18 MPH. Unclear what this specifically means and broadly that’s achieved through the length of the route.

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