3 ms·

Buses are transit yo. The thing about busways is that the buses get to the end of the busway and can then go around different areas and pick people up in place

• bobthepanda 7y ago
  > The thing about busways is that the buses get to the end of the busway and can then go around different areas and pick people up in places it would be impossible or uneconomical to lay track. This is only useful if you have a city geography and demographics conducive to this. A busway would be great in Pittsburgh, which is confined to narrow corridors, but not in Miami, which has a sprawling grid layout and the buses should reflect that. The main problems with busways are that buses have lower driver/passenger ratios (so running costs are higher) and they require a lot more platform space and roadway space for the same capacity. The Lincoln Tunnel XBL in New York is an extremely busy busway, but even the current multistory terminal complex is not enough room to serve all the buses that go there. Likewise, the bus tunnel in Seattle has been converted to LRT because the LRT is much higher capacity. And so has the busway in Ottawa, and they're looking to do that in Los Angeles with the Orange Line as well. You can have tree-branching LRT, like Muni Metro or Philly's Subway Surface or the Boston Green Line. It is more expensive upfront, but LRT also has advantages - being confined to rail, there's less lateral movement and smaller tunnel diameter requirements, and rail systems have lower ventilation requirements.