We don’t have a lot of details (blame the city for not providing more) but the proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) “issue” for Potomac Yards will be covered this upcoming Tuesday (April 4) at the city council meeting (7:30 PM, council chambers, 301 King Street, City Hall).
As I understand, the proposal is to run BRT in it’s own designated lanes along route 1. I (EZ) don’t know enough about alternative routes to say whether the route is good or not. I have heard from others who understand the issues better that this may not be the best choice of route.
I personally don’t like BRT and would prefer to see light rail (a trolley line). Why? Well, as best as I know there is not one single sucessful BRT line running in the USA. We don’t want to be the guinea pigs when light rail, though slightly more expensive up front (about the same cost or cheaper over the long run), has a 100+ year proven track record. Also, people don’t like to ride buses, you can’t plan communities around bus stops the way you can around rail stations (bus stops can easily be moved, rail stations are pretty permanent), … the list goes on.
So what do you think?
[update] Sarah found a presentation from December ‘05 which presents some basic information on the BRT plans. It can be found here: http://alexandriava.gov/planningandzoning/pdf/120605_pc_wrksession.pdf