Example of Rapid Bus Transit

[ghettopalmetto]

2. Number of stations: Once you leave, say, Braddock Road, there are only 10 stops to Crystal City. Twenty-two is counting both endpoints, and counting each intermediate station twice [[since there are separate shelters on each side of the busway). Ten stops in 3.3 miles is typical BRT, on the slightly-heavy side. Average would be eight.

Well, let's not jump the gun just yet. There aren't that many bus rapid transit routes in the United States. In fact, there are exactly *none* that match the operating speeds of a light rail line. The sample size is very, very small. So it's a stretch to use terms like "typical".

The existing subway line takes 7 minutes to go from Braddock Road Station to Crystal City. This bus route will eat a good 10 minutes just making the scheduled stops, and not including any travel time. So I'd go pretty easy with the term "rapid transit" at this point. WMATA's published schedule has the Metroway bus taking 19 minutes to travel between Braddock Road and Crystal City Stations--a whopping 10.4 miles per hour operating speed! So again, where's the "rapid transit" component?

By comparison, the DDOT 53 bus on Woodward Avenue has an operating speed of 14.3 miles per hour--nearly 40% faster than this "rapid transit" hoo-hah.

Detroiters deserve to know what their elected leaders and transportation professionals are selling them. So why do you hide this information, professorscott?