Discussion on:

U.S. cities reinventing buses with bus rapid transit

Rapid transit cannot be interfered with by normal vehicle and pedestrian traffic. There is nothing rapid about being stuck in the same traffic as the rest of the road vehicles. This is slightly better than street cars in that no modification to the road foundation is necessary, but is still a very short-sighted solution that won't fix the problem.

Refusal to plan for the future is why all these urban areas currently have inadequate rapid transit.

How could cities developed a century ago have foreseen the glut of motor vehicles while the streets were crowded with horse drawn wagons and electric trolley cars? Tough? Look at old Europe and older Japanese cities with very narrow streets best maneuvered on horseback.

Today, the modern bus route would have clearly marked bus-only paths like that shown in the photo. Synchronized traffic signals, some with on-demand sensors would help, too. Where are the politicians who will offend the vast majority of four-wheeler drivers who vote?

Many east cost US cities had dedicated rapid transit. Trollys.

In bygone days you could jump on a trolly at the MA/NH line and be on Cape Cod a few hours later. The dedicated lanes were marked with rails.

They were ripped up to make room for more cars. With a little design work many cities could bring them back in short order.

I wonder on many barrels of oil it takes to keep these buses operating the most efficient. If they would start using synthetic oil, transmission fluid, and gear lube, they could save thousands of dollars, and reduce the amount of oil we have to refine. There is no crude oil in synthetic lubricants. The chemicals they use are derivatives of oil, but the chemist build the synthetic lubricant specifically for each and every application it is to be used for. Crude oil starts with the same base stock and then add additive after additive to get it to meet certain specifications. Green lubes are built by a company that has never bought or drilled for 1 barrel of oil. Any synthetic is better than mineral oil, but why buy from the big oil companies that are still drilling and importing crude oil everyday. www.lubragreen.com. STOP USING PETROLEUM OIL FOREVER.
Use code 166252 and buy at dealer cost.