“No perfect route”: City weighs pros and cons in planning for Bus Rapid Transit downtown
“No perfect route”: City weighs pros and cons in planning for Bus Rapid Transit downtown
By Mike Ivey, Isthmus
“City transportation planners have spent the past year planning the fine details for Madison’s Bus Rapid Transit system.
BRT utilizes longer specialized buses, dedicated lanes and fewer stops to move more people faster. City planner David Trowbridge says BRT would complement existing Metro Transit routes and be the city’s next big step toward a more sustainable local transit system.
The first phase of the system — which would connect East Towne and West Towne malls — is estimated to cost between $120 million and $130 million and could be running as early as 2022. A possible phase two would add another BRT route serving the city’s north and south corridors. Trowbridge says there is also potential to extend service through partnerships with Middleton and Sun Prairie.
For now, the city is focusing on where the BRT line would run downtown. “In order for the BRT system as a whole to work we really need the downtown to work,” Trowbridge explains…”