My nephew is obsessed with trains. In fact, last weekend he traveled from suburban New Jersey into New York City with my stepfather to ride the Number 7 subway line in his quest to ride every subway line in NYC from end to end. There are some folks here in Arcata and Humboldt County who seem to be almost as obsessed as my nephew, to the point of losing sight of what rail is for: moving people and goods from place to place.

One of the ideas espoused from time to time is to use the railroad right of way to build a light rail service between Arcata and Eureka. There are a couple of problems with the idea.

First, right now there is only one rail, so trains could not travel in both directions.
Second, we already have bus service that doesn’t run often enough and isn’t exactly packed.

So a train, which can carry more people, will never run frequently enough to serve our low-density population. We would basically end up with a very expensive amusement park ride.

Still, rail has its advantages. Trains load and unload riders more quickly because there are usually no stairs to climb, and passengers purchase tickets before boarding. Trains also don’t get stuck in traffic. There are often other amenities like electronic display of train arrival times at the station, a smooth ride and infrequent stops so you get where you need to go quickly instead of stopping every hundred meters.

Fortunately, there is a type of bus system that does all these things, costs a fraction of what rail transit costs (both to build and to run), can be built incrementally, and can serve smaller populations more viably than rail. It’s called Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and it is taking the transportation world by storm.

Here is how it works. In congested areas, lanes (or streets) are dedicated to bus use. At traffic signals, BRT buses go to the front of the queue in their own lane, and then get signal prioritization to take off first. Sensors can be installed in traffic lights to alert them to change to let the bus through as it approaches, so buses don’t even need to slow down. Raised platform “stations” or low floor buses are often used so riders can walk straight on. Versions of this system have been put into use in around 20 cities in the U.S. One in Eugene, Oregon just came online.

The buses can use non-congested freeways that already exist to cover ground between cities. In congested areas, prioritization features kick in. Here in Humboldt County, such a concept could be developed gradually using a long-range plan. Once routes are planned, improvements could be made section by section, first designating some lanes in the most congested areas and installing signal prioritization technology on existing buses, then expanding to cover other areas.

We could develop a rapid transit system in this fashion. Would my nephew approve? Maybe not. He would probably prefer to ride a train, since he is in it for the fun. But I would rather have rapid transit than talk about it. We just have to get past the idea of the amusement park ride and focus on transit convenience and viability.

Imagine stepping onto the bus, settling into your seat and relaxing with the paper on the way to work. Occasionally you gaze out the window at the traffic congestion you are passing. You bask in the great feeling that you are doing your part to save the planet from global climate change while reading paper. Does it matter that there are rubber tires beneath you instead of
metal wheels and rails? You arrive at your destination feeling relaxed.

OK, you think, it wasn’t much of an amusement park ride, but it felt good. And hey, the wound-up look on my co-worker who drove instead of riding BRT is kind of amusing!

Chris is waiting for his thesis back from the graduate coordinator, again. He is a member of the Arcata Transportation Safety Committee. He says you can read about the new Eugene BRT system at ltd.org and general BRT info at busrapidtransit.net.