‘Commute of the Future? The Bus’
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‘Commute of the Future? The Bus’
I agree with Patrick McIlheran that it costs less to build a bus rapid transit line than to build a similar rail line [Oped, “Commute of the Future? The Bus,” July 18, 2008]. However, I believe he overlooks many advantages that rail offers compared to buses.
For example, Mr. McIlheran states that buses cost less to purchase than rail cars. While that is true, reliable, properly maintained rail cars can last 30 to 40 years in regular service. Reliable, properly maintained buses last 12 to 15 years in regular service, which means the transit agency must buy new buses more frequently.
There is also the issue of capacity. Greater Cleveland RTA’s new BRT line will use 63-foot articulated buses that will offer significantly more capacity than standard 40-foot buses. However, a rail car offers more capacity than even a 63-foot articulated bus.
Rail cars can also be hooked into trains and be controlled by one operator in the front car. Each bus must have its own operator and buses cannot be hooked together to make one very long bus with the capacity of a train.
In order to equal the capacity of a train line, a BRT line would need to have buses running every two minutes or less. Even light rail vehicles, rail cars that are smaller than subway or commuter rail cars can carry more people than articulated buses.
As for speed, I disagree that BRT offers “rail-like service and speed.” On city streets? Not likely. Compared to a subway, light rail, or commuter train in its own right of way that is not shared with automotive traffic? Highly unlikely.
As for the so-called bus-only lanes, well, they don’t always live up to their name. Here in New York, we have bus lanes on Madison Avenue. Yet cars, trucks, and taxis are always driving in those lanes. What’s to stop cars, taxis, and trucks from driving in the bus lanes in Cleveland and Chicago?
There are some points in Mr. McIlheran’s commentary that are just plain silly, like Portland “banning suburbs” and that rail transit “is a force for making Americans change how they live.”
Last time I checked, there are plenty of suburbs with cul-de-sacs and drive-thrus that are served by train lines.
MICHAEL DEN
Court Office Assistant
New York County Clerk’s Office
New York, N.Y.
