Bus Rapid Transit plan for the Detroit metropolitan area unveiled

[marmar]

from the Detroit Free Press:



Gov. Rick Snyder today will announce plans for a 110-mile network of sleek rapid transit buses in metro Detroit, operating within two or three years, that will move people as fast and conveniently as light rail.

A new Regional Transit Authority, made up of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties, will govern the system, paid for, with voter approval, by a $40 increase in vehicle registration fees. I've seen these buses work in Curitiba, Brazil -- at one-eighth the cost of light rail -- and I know people will use them here once they get a taste. Along with planned light rail on Woodward and a functioning city and suburban bus system, they can make mass transit real in southeast Michigan.

Rapid buses will run on dedicated lanes at about 40 m.p.h.

"People just love these buses because they get them where they're going as fast as light rail,'' SMART General Manager John Hertel told me this morning. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20111026/BLOG2505/111026019/Jeff-Gerritt-Rapid-transit-rolling-our-way-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE