Yes, RapidRide may sound like a false promise of a rapid ride right now, but I'd like to offer a little context for it to seem more like a step toward providing decent transit in Seattle.
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| I, for one, am not convinced that 15 minutes is "so often I don't need a timetable," but I do think there are redeeming qualities of RapidRide. (Source:King County Metro) |
Bus Rapid Transit (RapidRide's categorization) was invented in Curitiba, Brazil out of a need for a transit system without the huge capital costs of rail. Brazilian transportation engineers are now exporting their plans to cities such as Jakarta, La Paz and Mexico City. ("Brazil's Buses: Simply Successful" by Aaron Golub) For the last few years, Seattle has been getting on board with this worldwide trend, and just implemented the C and D lines to West Seattle and Ballard.
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| This Maryland County Councilmember is excited to board a Curitiba bus and report back "Lessons from Curitiba" (source) |
The description of RapidRide has several aspects that make me think it's, well, innovative.
- "RapidRide buses send signals to traffic lights, so green lights stay green longer or red lights switch to green faster.
- Real time passenger information at the stops and in the bus.
- Each RapidRide line has a fiber-optic backbone that runs the entire length of the route with a string of access points that provides continuous wireless coverage." (King County Metro)
The great thing about BRT is that elements can be added to the system in stages, so have a little patience and in the mean time you can feel like you're part of a movement.
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