Comments on: MetroLinks for 9/22/09 http://www.nextstopstl.org/1114/metrolinks-for-9209/ A Conversation About Transit Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:21:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: RTBones http://www.nextstopstl.org/1114/metrolinks-for-9209/comment-page-1/#comment-188 RTBones Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:18:50 +0000 http://www.nextstopstl.org/?p=1114#comment-188 I don't mind nice buses as feeders to rail/streetcars. That's the thing to me that gets lost in BRT -- it is still a BUS. I think it is fair to say that it is an established fact that trains draw more riders than buses (everything else being roughly equal). From Wiki... "In contrast to BRT, both Light Rail and rapid transit require the placement of rails for the whole line. The tram usually avoids the high additional costs for the engineering structures like tunnels that need to be built for metros. Rail tends to provide a smoother ride and is known to attract significantly higher passenger numbers than road-based systems." <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_rapid_transit" rel="nofollow"></a> I have ridden the Maxx in KC. It is nice -- but I dont consider it RAPID transit; it is public transit. I also saw the demo when it was here last year (it was parked outside the Scottrade for a little while.) Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t mind nice buses as feeders to rail/streetcars. That’s the thing to me that gets lost in BRT — it is still a BUS. I think it is fair to say that it is an established fact that trains draw more riders than buses (everything else being roughly equal).

From Wiki…
“In contrast to BRT, both Light Rail and rapid transit require the placement of rails for the whole line. The tram usually avoids the high additional costs for the engineering structures like tunnels that need to be built for metros. Rail tends to provide a smoother ride and is known to attract significantly higher passenger numbers than road-based systems.”

I have ridden the Maxx in KC. It is nice — but I dont consider it RAPID transit; it is public transit.

I also saw the demo when it was here last year (it was parked outside the Scottrade for a little while.) Thanks, but no thanks.

]]> By: Jazzy Jeff http://www.nextstopstl.org/1114/metrolinks-for-9209/comment-page-1/#comment-187 Jazzy Jeff Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:01:13 +0000 http://www.nextstopstl.org/?p=1114#comment-187 I was originally not "hip" to BRT. But after seeing and being inside it in person when they were on "demo" here in STL (last year) I changed my mind. Plus K.C. is doing some lines! As well I heard that Federal transit $ are more likely to go to BRT than to light rail. I was originally not “hip” to BRT. But after seeing and being inside it in person when they were on “demo” here in STL (last year) I changed my mind. Plus K.C. is doing some lines! As well I heard that Federal transit $ are more likely to go to BRT than to light rail.

]]> By: Jennifer http://www.nextstopstl.org/1114/metrolinks-for-9209/comment-page-1/#comment-185 Jennifer Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:20:34 +0000 http://www.nextstopstl.org/?p=1114#comment-185 Fair question, RT. My personal "fascination" with BRT probably stems from the discussion going on across the internet - if a certain number of transit-related posts and articles any given week are about BRT, chances are I'll be linking to something BRT-related. The question then becomes, why is the transit-advocacy community suddenly fascinated with BRT? I think that's worthy of a future blog post. Keep an eye out for it and I'll try to get to it this week, or (better yet) get one of our planners to guest post about BRT technology and why it may/may not be great. Fair question, RT. My personal “fascination” with BRT probably stems from the discussion going on across the internet – if a certain number of transit-related posts and articles any given week are about BRT, chances are I’ll be linking to something BRT-related. The question then becomes, why is the transit-advocacy community suddenly fascinated with BRT? I think that’s worthy of a future blog post. Keep an eye out for it and I’ll try to get to it this week, or (better yet) get one of our planners to guest post about BRT technology and why it may/may not be great.

]]> By: RTBones http://www.nextstopstl.org/1114/metrolinks-for-9209/comment-page-1/#comment-184 RTBones Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:15:11 +0000 http://www.nextstopstl.org/?p=1114#comment-184 Only recently found this blog. Beta or not, it is nice to have some place to discuss transit issues. Skimmed through some of the recent links. I have a question I keep returning to: what is the fascination with BRT? You can make the argument that BRT is nicer than regular buses. In the end, though, it is still a BUS. I offer the following link for discussion. Lots of discussion on various light rail systems and comparisons to BRT. <a href rel="nofollow">http://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_brt_2006-08a.htm</a> Only recently found this blog. Beta or not, it is nice to have some place to discuss transit issues.

Skimmed through some of the recent links. I have a question I keep returning to: what is the fascination with BRT? You can make the argument that BRT is nicer than regular buses. In the end, though, it is still a BUS.

I offer the following link for discussion. Lots of discussion on various light rail systems and comparisons to BRT.

http://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_brt_2006-08a.htm

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