BRT in Cincinnati?

City Council has a pending motion in the Livable Communities Committee to require the City Manager to work with SORTA to develop a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system that works with current services and the proposed Streetcar system.

BRT allows more efficient use of buses and mimics light-rail by putting buses on exclusive rights-of-way.* Other systems implemented elsewhere have riders pay fares at the stops so that boarding is quicker and stops are set up more like rail platforms, giving a more comfortable experience for riders. Examples of this can be seen HERE, showing the level platforms more often associated with subway and rail, and HERE, showing a bus pulling up to a fully enclosed station. 

The motion would allow the City Manager to coordinate planning with SORTA, seek federal funding, and implement the plan. According to Metro, it would take about 4 years to implement. Federal funding is available and was used by cities like Chicago and Cleveland in the Midwest.

The motion identifies preferred routing along I-75 and 71, Reading Rd, Vine St, MLK, Madison, Queen City Blvd, and Harrison Rd and along publicly owned and abandoned rail rights-of-way.

What has me most excited about this is the use of abandoned rights-of-way. When I was in a studio in Spring of 2010, we worked on creating a comprehensive fixed rail transit system for the Cincinnati region. A major point of our routing was to use the existing public rights-of-way for the light-rail and commuter rail components. (Docs can be found HERE. From the link look at each separate neighborhood board. I will post the full map soon.)

It would be incredibly forward-thinking for council to leverage these existing rights-of-way for use in BRT. If, in the future, more money became available for true commuter rail and light rail lines, the BRT along the rail line and throughout the city could be converted to rail lines.

BRT is a great choice for today because it runs similarly to light rail with lower capital costs. It is not a true substitute for light rail, however. Conversion to true light rail in the future would be a best case scenario.

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* BRT runs on exclusive rights-of-way through a majority of their routing in most cases. This can mean anything from dedicated bus lanes alongside other vehicles as seen in this rendering of a proposed BRT line in New York or completely separate from other vehicular travel along independent rights-of-way as show in THIS image of a BRT line in Cambridge, UK.