🚀 go-pugleaf

bay_bridge_tgv@yahoo.com (bikerider7) wrote in message news:<d35d6005.0307161019.45cfa32d@posting.google.com>...
> rrkap@yahoo.com (Ronald Kappesser) wrote in message news:<1bc609ad.0307151133.adbba8@posting.google.com>...
> > As an addendum to the BRT discussion that happened on these groups a
> > few days ago, I figured I would post an article from the San Francisco
> > Chronicle about AC Transit's new bus line that is modeled on the L.A.
> > Metro Rapid lines.  I do wonder if AC transit's express buses will be
> > frequent enough along this route for headway based schedules to save
> > people time.  12 minutes is a really long headway.
> 
> There are other 72's in that corridor so wait times are not necessarily
> that long. The real problem is that the 72R only runs until 7pm. Also, 
> the 72R is not technically a BRT because it does not have an exlusive bus 
> lane -- but generally San Pablo is free flowing so that is not a major
> impediment.
> 

I agree that the 72R isn't BRT.  That's why I described it is rapid
bus.  However, I think the 12 min headway is a problem because it
eliminates the speed advantages that it has.  One of the reasons that
Metro Rapid has been successful is that service is both fast enough
and frequent enough to attract new riders.  I think that the risk of a
12 min wait or being stuck on a slow bus is enough to make the service
much less desirable.  Also, I don't think having the 7PM end in the
service is as much of a problem, because there is other service along
that route.

> The 72R is the first of several "BRT" routes AC wants to implement. Because
> it could work without lane removal, it was the low-hanging fruit that could
> be done first. Some of the others could be more contentious.
> 

This is also the case with the first Metro Rapid lines

> The 51, for instance, often bunches up as it makes its way along College
> Ave. A few years ago, AC proposed a modest plan to remove up to a dozen
> parking spaces so that they could create a queue-jumping lane for buses
> at Ashby during peak traffic times. The cretins in the Berkeley Public 
> Works dept vetoed the idea for fear of upsetting merchants -- basically 
> favoring several dozen shoppers over the needs of >10000 bus riders.

LA has also had big problems on the 720 getting on street parking
removed.  The compromise has been rush hour only bus lanes.