Originally Posted by
professorscott
Well, I was one of the people that developed the current bus rapid transit document to which you refer, and I decided a long time ago not to lose any feathers over people's cynicism. BRT is an important part of the regional transit picture in cities as diverse as Albany, NY and Cleveland, OH.
We all have a big vision but that's not what the RTA's job is going to be. The RTA needs to focus on providing the best transit possible, constrained by the amount of money that can be made available. If you can figure out a way to fund ninety miles of subway, please let me know and I'll push for that as hard as I can.
I think the most important aspect of regional transit is that it moves people around the region quickly and reliably. Local buses aren't "quick" by nature and should be used to solve the last-mile problem. Right now, local buses are all we have. BRT is going to provide higher-speed transit covering a large part of the area, such that most metro Detroiters live within a few miles of a station.
I would have loved to propose something even faster and higher-end, but this work is always done in a fiscally constrained environment. The goal is to do the best we can with the funds likely to exist.