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ConfiaEnElProceso t1_iy3ckxu wrote

Reply to comment by JohnnyZack in Opinion: A PennDOT study puts Philly closer to a potential Roosevelt Blvd subway by WHO_POOPS_THE_BED

I don't know. Where have you seen bus Rapid Transit that doesn't suck? All the models including this article point to Bogota Colombia as an example with their Transmilenio system. I lived in Columbia for 3 years and can tell you that it is absolutely awful especially when compared with an actual Metro in Medellin. This project already has the ridership to supporta subway.

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JohnnyZack t1_iycn3ic wrote

I found the BRT line in Guadalajara, Mexico to be pretty great. And Pittsburgh has its issues but it mostly works. (Still too much potential for it to be held up by gridlock, poorly behaving drivers, etc., in my view. You've gotta clear and protect the whole route or it's just a bus.)

To be clear, I would absolutely support a rail project if the conversation were about, say, the state legislature significantly increasing funding for SEPTA and the various ways we might use that new infusion of cash. (I think the width of the boulevard still counsels in favor of something above ground, but there's no reason that can't be rail.) I'm making this argument in the context of (1) SEPTA's meager capital budget, and (2) the existential need to eliminate as many car miles as possible as quickly as possible.

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ConfiaEnElProceso t1_iyct90u wrote

My understanding is that the rail proposal is being pushed now in part bc of the federal funds available in the infrastructure act. If the density is already there for rail it seems like a waste to settle for BRT.

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