to view Short Range Transit Plan FY 2007/2008 - Tri Delta Transit

CHAPTER4Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) OptionsThe term “bus rapid transit” (BRT) refers to bus systems that providehigher quality service compared to standard local bus service. PotentialBRT strategies include a wide variety of options: upgraded vehicles andstations, improved scheduling with faster more frequent service usuallyat least every 10-15 minutes all day, and infrastructure improvementsgiving buses their own right-of-way (ROW) separate from congestion.Strategies for insulating buses from traffic include dedicated, off-streetand/or grade-separated bus lanes, traffic engineering improvementssuch as traffic signal preemption, “queue jumpers,” etc. The objectivebehind BRT is to provide transit users with as close to the high speedservice of rail transit as possible, while keeping capital costssignificantly lower with greater operational flexibility.BRT may be a worthwhile investment in East Contra Costa Countysince eBART/BART rail extensions will take many years to construct,and even with completion of these extensions, the vast majority ofEast County residents will be outside easy walking distance to stations.By considering BRT, Tri Delta Transit may be able to provide highquality transit to within walking distance of a significant portion ofresidents compared to eBART/BART. Even with proposed transitorienteddevelopment (TOD) densities, about 90% of residents wouldstill live more than a half mile from an eBART station. In turn, this maystimulate bus transit ridership to levels substantially higher thanpossible with the current local bus system and rail transit alone.BRT ExamplesBus Rapid Transit capital costs can range from several hundredthousand dollars per mile in the case of surface BRT service on existingarterial (non-freeway) streets mainly through improved stops andtraffic signal priorities, to tens of millions per mile with full gradeseparation comparable to rail rapid transits. There are numerousexamples of BRT systems in the United States that have taken low,medium and high cost approaches.The least expensive BRT systems tend to operate on existing streetswith little or no dedicated ROW or lanes for buses, with mostinvestment in improved vehicles, upgraded bus stops and traffic signalpreemption. Such “rapid bus” examples on mixed flow arterialroadways in Northern California include AC Transit’s Route 72R on SanPablo Avenue between downtown Oakland, Emeryville, West Berkeley,Albany, El Cerrito, and Richmond; and Valley Transit Authority’s Route22 along El Camino Real between downtown San Jose, Santa Clara,Sunnyvale, and Palo Alto. Sacramento Regional Transit’ Route 50operates along Stockton Blvd. between downtown Sacramento andFlorin Mall; the San Joaquin Regional Transit District’s operates a newBRT route between north-central and downtown Stockton. The Los63