Monday, May 6, 2013
Residents are asked to weigh in on a 79-mile, 10-route bus rapid transit system that aims to relieve congestion for commuters.
Would dedicating one lane of traffic on major thoroughfares like Rockville Pike and Colesville Road for buses reduce overall traffic? Planners proposing a 79-mile, 10-route bus rapid transit system think so. Now, members of the Montgomery County Planning Board want to hear what you think. A public hearing is planned for Thursday, May 16, at 6 p.m. at the Park and Planning Headquarters auditorium, 8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. To sign up to speak, visit the planning board's website. Bus Rapid Transit would focus on highly traveled routes within the county and provide connections to Metrorail, MARC and the planned Purple Line. Recommendations included some dedicated lanes with high-speed buses, along routes that include Rockville Pike/…
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The planning board will once again take up a bus rapid transit concept, including a proposal to dedicate Colesville Road/Columbia Pike travel lanes for the high-speed buses.
The Montgomery County Planning Board will decide Thursday whether to advance a proposal for a 79-mile, 10-route bus rapid transit system into the public hearing stage. As a part of the proposal, Montgomery County planners are recommending that that one or more travel lanes of Colesville Road/Route 29 in Silver Spring be re-purposed as dedicated rapid transit bus lanes. Recommendations for corridors across the county vary from buses driving in mixed traffic to developing new busways separated from traffic. Planners are also recommending taking out travel lanes to make way for the buses along certain sections of roadways in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Germantown, Gaithersburg, Rockville and Takoma Park. Planners say the system will help …
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Planners say the system will help Montgomery County meet an increasing transit demand as population and employment grows.
Montgomery County planners are recommending that one or more travel lanes of Colesville Road/Route 29 be re-purposed as dedicated rapid transit bus lanes. The areas of the Route 29 corridor being considered are Georgia Avenue to 16th Street in downtown Silver Spring and Lockwood Drive to Southwood Drive in White Oak. The recommendation is part of a staff draft of a Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan presented to the Montgomery County Planning Board Monday evening. The master plan includes a proposal for a 79-mile bus rapid transit system using 10 routes across the county. The draft will undergo an extensive public hearing process before it’s submitted to the Montgomery County Council this fall. Planners say the system …
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Columbia Pike & Lockwood Dr, Silver Spring, MD
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Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett says the county cannot afford to build a 10-route bus rapid transit system.
The bus rapid transit system proposed by Montgomery County planners for major county routes received a blow on Monday: Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett said the system would be too expensive to build, The (Washington) Examiner reported. "Instead, Leggett suggested a significantly smaller system with fewer bells and whistles than the proposed high-end bus rapid transit, or BRT, system," The Examiner added. The planners' proposal was for a 10-route system, which would have cost less than the 23-route bus rapid transit system proposed by the all-volunteer Transit Task Force last spring. The task force put its system's price tag at $1.8 billion, while Montgomery County Master Planner Larry Cole figured the 23-route system would have …
Monday, November 12, 2012
It could be a tight squeeze to dedicate traffic lanes for a proposed rapid bus network along some of the county's most congested corridors.
If transportation planners have their way, drivers in some of Montgomery County’s most congested corridors could start losing some of their traffic lanes. The reason: a sprawling network of high-speed buses that will need dedicated lanes, particularly in Silver Spring, Bethesda, Germantown and White Oak. Unlike decades-old proposals for mass transit lines like the Corridor Cities Transitway—which has nearly all of its 15-mile right-of-way already set aside—the Bus Rapid Transit network would have to find room along county roadways. That has raised concerns of even more crowded roadways and increased commute times for those who can’t—or won’t—shake their driving habits, reported The Washington Post. “Is there a risk here? Yes,” Mark Winston…
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
The task force's 150-page report was unveiled Tuesday.
A county-commissioned task force Tuesday called for a “comprehensive” bus rapid transit network across Montgomery County that would span 160 miles, providing an alternative to congested roads. A bus rapid transit network was first envisioned four years ago by County Councilman Marc Elrich (D-At Large) of Takoma Park, The Gazette reports. The task force unveiled a detailed report Tuesday outlining their vision for the transit system. The group refined the vision over a period of 15 months, meeting more than 30 times to create the 150-page report, The Washington Post reports. Officials have touted the system as the “future of transportation” in Montgomery County, according to The Gazette. In a statement Tuesday, Elrich called the group’s …
Monday, April 23, 2012
Transit Task Force recommends system operational within nine years, the Washington Examiner reports.
What’s the price tag for a world-class bus rapid transit system in Montgomery County? Estimates put it at $1.83 billion in capital costs and another $1.1 million per mile to run, so says a county-commissioned task force, according to the Washington Examiner. Findings by the Transit Task Force are set to be presented to County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) this week, the Examiner reported. The group is recommending a 161.5-mile bus rapid transit network be up and running in nine years, featuring “sleek and stylish” vehicles running along 23 county routes, including three partially in East County. The system should be built in three phases, the task force suggests, according to The Examiner. Thoroughfares that should be targeted for the first…
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Montgomery County has changed its recommendation for the Corridor Cities Transitway from the light rail to bus rapid transit.
Bus Rapid Transit may be in Montgomery County's near future, extending the county's transportation services into the upcounty. The Montgomery County Council unanimously voted Tuesday to support County Executive Isiah Leggett’s recommendation to use Bus Rapid Transit instead of Light Rapid Transit as the preferred mode on the Corridor Cities Transitway. This recommendation is a switch from the county's previous decision to support light rapid transit as the preferred mode of transportation. "There's a couple of advantages of shifting to this mode," said Councilmember Hans Riemer (D-At large). "The flexibility of the system is that buses can leave the route or enter the route at various points along the way. That is something that might be…
Corbetto
8:56 am on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Unless the plan includes adding a NEW dedicated lane to these thoroughfares for the rapid transit buses, there is absolutely no way that such a service does anything the opposite and increase congestion. Any plan that reduces the existing number of lanes, on roads like Rockville Pike, available to the general car-driving public would do nothing but cause substantial increases in wait times at … more ›