The Lavender Line

I’m about to venture into a topic that I know nothing about (and what else are blogs for?), but I couldn’t resist a little note about 21st-century bus systems. Don’t walk away. This is very exciting. I am referring to vehicles that look like buses but operate like European streetcars. A few key features are essential to their success, and the first is that you never have to wait more than five minutes for the next bus. Second, they have a dedicated lane so they don’t have to fight traffic, except at stoplights. Third, they do not stop at just any street corner whenever someone wants to embark, which has always been an inefficient way to operate buses that ultimately benefits no one. Instead, they stop only at dedicated stations at least six blocks apart. Each station has a platform, a special name and a turnstile. The experience is virtually identical to riding the subway or light rail. As a means of reaching your destination, it is just as elegant and nearly as fast. Mexico City has one of these bus routes (pictured above), integrated seamlessly into its subway system. In fact, it is represented on the map as if it were one of the train lines.

I can’t think of any similar buses in America off the top of my head, although there probably are some. The Silver Line in Boston is the same idea, but it seemed rather roundabout and slow the couple of times that I rode it. But there are a couple of important points here. The first is that efficient bus systems need to be explored far more often as transportation options. This could be especially useful in cities that are too small for trains and subways to be worthwhile, but it is also a way to overlap and strengthen the transit networks in larger cities. The main advantages of bus lines, which should be obvious, are that they are easy to build and relatively cheap. Once you agree to close off one lane to traffic, there is little additional construction required. This is highly relevant for those of us who live in an area where they have been fighting for many years about whether a new train line to Dulles Airport should be above or below ground in a certain neighborhood with expensive real estate. There is an important role for subways, especially in the way they help shape and define a city, but it may be that the future belongs to buses. It is well past time that we stopped thinking of buses as slow, uncomfortable things that we only board if we have no other choice.