Photo courtesy of the Chicago Department of Transportation
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) provides a safe and speedy alternative to driving alone.
Reliability. When it comes to the work commute, it doesn't matter whether we drive, take public transportation or ride a bike — reliability is the No. 1 quality we're looking for, according to several recent reports, including the local Regional Transportation Authority's Customer Satisfaction survey and a University of California at Berkeley study.
Unfortunately, a consistent and speedy commute is not the norm in metropolitan Chicago (or, to be fair, most major U.S. regions). The latest Texas Transportation Institute Urban Mobility Study found that the average Chicagoan who drives to work during rush hours loses 51 hours per year to travel delays. Likewise, train and bus delays due to equipment problems are more common than we'd like, which Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority all are addressing through fleet, track and signal upgrades and improved technology like bus and train trackers, which provide real-time travel information to reduce customers' wait times.
To further improve transit reliability, commute times and customer experiences, Chicago will launch a new Bus Rapid Transit service downtown next year. Funded with $18.8 million from a Federal Transit Administration grant and $4.7 million in local tax-increment financing, the Central Loop BRT route will improve connections between Union Station, the Loop and Navy Pier. The route will include bus-priority lanes on two miles of streets — Canal, Washington, Madison and Clinton — along with enhanced stations, protected bike lanes and signal priority.
Some Chicagoans have raised concerns about this plan. However, unlike current buses, which often slow cars and taxis as they merge in and out of traffic, BRT's bus-only lanes will establish more consistent travel patterns for bus riders, cars, taxis and even bicyclists. Because buses make up just four percent of vehicles traveling through the Central Loop but carry more than 47 percent of commuters coming into the Loop in a vehicle, BRT is a smart investment in getting thousands of people to and from work more consistently and quickly.
Many downtown business organizations are on board with BRT, including the Chicago Loop Alliance and Greater North Michigan Avenue Association. These groups recognize that what BRT has to offer goes far beyond travel benefits to the still-fragile economy: World Business Chicago's Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs identifies infrastructure investment, including a robust BRT network in Chicago, as a critical market lever to ratchet up the city's economic performance. BRT will add to our region's 2 million transit trips a day to further reduce traffic congestion and its hidden costs — which the Metropolitan Planning Council has documented at upward of $7.3 billion a year. BRT also provides a map for clustering new public and private-sector investments. When Cleveland developed its “HealthLine” BRT route in 2008, it spurred more than $4.3 billion in real estate development along the route.
It's no wonder Chicago has plans to develop a world-class BRT system. To learn more about the Central Loop route and other routes being planned, including along Western or Ashland avenues, attend a lunchtime discussion sponsored by the Metropolitan Planning Council this Friday, March 1, or listen in via YouTube.
MarySue Barrett is president of the Metropolitan Planning Council in Chicago.
This post originally ran as a Crain's guest op-ed on Feb. 28, 2013.