Post-Sandy commission: Bring 'true' bus rapid transit to New York
Lhota, Sadik-Khan and Bloomberg launch SBS in S.I. Spencer T Tucker
4:11 pm Jan. 11, 20134
New York City should build a real bus rapid transit system so it can better weather the next Hurricane Sandy, according to a new report from a commission appointed by Andrew Cuomo.
The governor created the NYS2100 commission in November, after Hurricane Sandy made clear how vulnerable the state's infrastructure is to climate change.
Today, that commission released its recommendations, and some soft criticism of the city's bus rapid transit program, which the report argues is actually "not true BRT" at all.
Bus rapid transit refers to the sort of ground-level, transportation system that has revolutionized mass transit in cities as diverse Bogota, Columbia, Ottawa and Cleveland. At its most effective, it features a rapid succession of buses moving along dedicated lanes, complete with off-board fare payment and traffic signal priority.
Here in New York City, the transportation department's and M.T.A.'s efforts to create that sort of system haven't gone very far, as I reported in November.
The commission's report argues that a true BRT system would help New York City weather the next big storm by making it less reliant on all the subway lines that run through flood-prone lower Manhattan.
From the report:
A BRT network would enhance the resiliency and redundancy of the overall transit system by supplementing existing rail transit and providing a complementary service for people who lack direct access to the subway system. Following Superstorm Sandy, when New York City subway tunnels were flooded, the MTA “bus bridge” improvised BRT-like service between Brooklyn and Manhattan, underscoring the need for redundant surface transportation options. BRT corridors should become integrated components of the overall transit system, providing connections to other modes. For example, a BRT route that runs through southern Brooklyn could connect Bay Ridge commuters who rely on the R train to the D, F, B and Q in Coney Island and Brighton Beach. Another eastwest corridor through central Brooklyn could provide riders of the above trains to connections to the 2, 5, 3, L, A and C.
The report also points out that the growth of job centers in the outer boroughs has led to "profound changes in travel demand that the current, Manhattan-centric subway system was not designed to handle."
Creating a true BRT system to handle those population changes is much, much, much cheaper than building new subways.
Read the whole commission report here, and my write-up of the city's bus rapid transit system here.
UPDATE: M.T.A. spokesman Adam Lisberg emailed the following statement: "The MTA’s mass transit system is the lifeblood of New York City region, and Governor Cuomo’s 2100 Commission recognizes both the threats it faces and the many promising opportunities to strengthen it. Superstorm Sandy demonstrated that New York needs to make its transportation system more robust by hardening legacy infrastructure, creating new connections within its network and expanding transit options. The MTA plays a critical role in the everyday lives of New Yorkers and in the functioning of the nation’s largest economy, and we look forward to working with the Governor, the Commission and the State Legislature to craft a long-range infrastructure agenda to accomplish the goals outlined in this report."
I hope that BRT improvements will be made to better non-Manhattan bound interborough travel. Direct Brooklyn to Queens travel is time-consuming by subway. Traveling from Queens either requires riding thru Manhattan or making multiple transfers to catch Franklin Avenue shuttle. The current bus between the Bronx and Queens is inadequate, also.
I cannot see for the life of me why this plan DOES NOT involve the building of some trolley and light rail routes in all five boroughs of New York City. As we have seen when the light rail line to J.F.K Airport from Howard Beach was built a few years ago, light rail Can be elevated at places and the very same thing can be said for trolley service too. Plus, I now understand that newer Light rail and trolley cars being built today now have their power sources built atop of the cars themselves so that they can run almost on their own power themselves. If a utility firm (Con Ed, Verizion, Cablevision etc) just to name a few utility firms ever wants to rip open a certain street in this City to do utility work, nothing is ever said by the Department of Traffic about any problems like rerouting traffic for a time for example.But, HEAVEN FORBID a certain contractor wants to come to New York City and build a trolley or light rail route anywhere in New York City, the Department of Traffic seems to stand at the ready with a very large bribe of some kind to keep the contractor from coming to New York City and building light rail or trolley route or, the Department of Traffic seems to want to scream BLOODY MURDER from about every rooftop in this city how much traffic is going to suffer if a trolley or light rail route is ever built anywhere in this city. Traffic might be a mess for a while along the route the trolley or light rail route serves but, eventually traffic will even itself out and everything will eventually get back to normal.For everyones information trolley and light rail car routes are being built all over this country.Why not New York City? Why do we have big major contractors working for New York City for? Our health?
This makes BRT sound like AAR's feeder service which impacts riders with disabilities if there is not an accessible station for the passengers to transfer to. More than once on the SBS service other passengers have refused to move from the seats above the wc space. We need truly designated bus lanes so that wc users can get on & off the vehicles from the curb. On a local bus, if a stop is parked in or otherwise blocked you can get off in a few blocks, it is very different on SBS!
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