Not Your Average Bus - Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

Videos of an overlooked technology to revolutionize American Transit

I’m working on a longer article about Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), and why I think it’s a powerful, overlooked tool in improving mass transit in the United States. In the meantime, I’m sharing videos from MARTA (Atlanta’s transit agency), showing examples of successful, operational BRT systems in the United States.

According to ITDP, BRT is “a high-quality bus-based transit system that delivers fast, comfortable, and cost-effective services at metro-level capacities”. But the videos below will do a better job of explaining BRT than the definition.

Red Line - Indianapolis, Indiana

The Silver Line - Houston, Texas

The Van Ness Corridor - San Francisco, CA

By no means are these perfect systems. Indianapolis’ wider bus network still has low frequency (buses every 30 minutes or worse) and IndyGo was mired in obstructionism from the Republican controlled state legislature. Houston’s Silver Line was particularly expensive due to stretches that ran on highway overpasses, and a pandemic opening means it hasn’t hit its ridership projections. In San Francisco, the Van Ness BRT overran cost and time estimates, which resulted in a grand jury inquiry.

But they are still examples of high quality transit - two of which are in car-oriented cities in Republican states, which are not places you would expect to find high quality transit.