Time to Start Discussing Bus Rapid Transit [[BRT) Systems

[SteveJ]

This is a half serious question. How fast can these buses top out at? If there are physical lane separations on Woodward and Gratiot, they get the automatic green lights at interchanges, and some new smooth pavement, couldn't these buses absolutely haul ass compared to routes in other cities? We're talking basically arrow straight roads here. It seems like the BRT could sell itself to motorists if traffic is backed up at lights and these buses go blazing through interchanges on Woodward at 60 miles an hour. Maybe when it comes time to bid out these buses, they could upgrade the horsepower and torque specs.

There is no way they are going to remove a traffic lane on Woodward to put up a bus lane for 20 people to get to Arby's to go to work.

[Pontiac6000]

Why not just expand the people mover into a light rail system and link it with Eastern Market, Dequindre Cut, Motown Museum area, WSU, and Corktown/ post office area back to downtown, and speed it up? Time it to connect with feeder buses so there are even more ways to get to transfer points- esp for people living inside the Blvd.

[erikd]

"IMO, this system has a far greater potential to contribute to building a successful regional transit system than the light rail. I was upset last night, but after reading all the posts and thinking it through, it almost seems like Snyder knew what he was talking about with his BRT plan. And this shift of Federal money right into that wheelhouse will get the system off the ground and limit the funding problem to operating instead of funding to build the whole thing from the ground-up. "

Maybe Patterson will fund ponies for everyone too? Where's the money going to come from to operate this system?

I am a big supporter of light rail and BRT in metro Detroit. The ideal situation would be one where we build a light rail line on Woodward and a BRT system to service other lines. These should be complementary projects, not opposing ones.

The demise of the Woodward light rail project is a perfect example of what is wrong with our region.

Metro Detroit and Michigan taxpayers have been paying for the construction of mass transit systems across the country for decades, and every time the federal government tries to give our mass transit funding back to us, we turn it down, because we can't cooperate as a region.

The Woodward light rail proposal was the result of private investors who were willing to put up $100 million to build a short section of light rail on Woodward, and our congressional reps who got the federal government to agree to let us use that private investment as the required local funding in order to qualify for an 80% federal funding match.

We had a $550 million light rail line paid for in full, with zero local tax dollars required for construction. The only thing we had to do was come up with a way to pay for the operating costs. Due to the fact that light rail is significantly cheaper to operate than busses, it would seem that the savings gained from the elimination of the DDOT Woodward bus line, combined with the savings of a reduced SMART Woodward bus line, would be enough to offset the cost of operating the Woodward light rail line. Even if the cost reductions of DDOT and SMART wouldn't quite cover the operating expenses of the new light rail line, the difference can't be more than a couple million bucks a year, which is relatively insignificant amount in a city with a budget over a billion dollars a year.

According to all accounts, the decision to scrap the Woodward light rail project was based on the fact that metro Detroit doesn't have a regional transit authority and enough dedicated local transit funding to ensure operation of the proposed light rail line.

This has been the main sticking point for years, but I don't see how the new BRT plan fixes that problem. To be sure, it will be easier to sell a regional transit authority and tax if there is an immediate plan for multiple lines stretching across the region, but the new BRT plan will require local governments to come up with a $100 million down payment for construction, and a significantly higher annual operating expense.

I am certainly in favor of a regional BRT system, but I think that it is insane for us to turn down a free Woodward light rail line that would only require a small annual expense to run.