Bus lanes

I recently did research about Bus Rapid Transit possibilities in Chicago. I came to the personal conclusion, that unless the government is willing to stick its neck out (and by government I mean governor, mayor, not the overall government, I would HOPE the American people wouldn't start a revolution over a bus lane) and risk losing a re-election to implement an effective bus lane. The city is planning a "tester" lane in southern Chicago. The lane will be about a mile long, and will have a carpool/bus dedicated lane.

First: If cars can drive in it, it is not BRT, and will not work like one.
Second: a mile long, really? I can walk that, and probably faster than the bus can drive on it.
Third: they are thinking of making this lane parking for 18 hours of the day further reducing the efficiency.

We need to work on something more like Bogota, Colombia for a BRT system. I'm not saying that a semi-dedicated lane is a bad thing, it will probably help efficiency of the system down there, but it will not be a solution to the congestion problem, nor will the test be an overall success if it is put under so many constraints.

Read this TransportPolitic article for a little more information (and secretly I have an intellectual crush on the person who writes these things, 90% of the time I find them interesting).

R