Bus in the Fast Lane: A Forum on Bus Rapid Transit in the Bay Area

摘要

Bus Rapid Transit planning, development, and implementation in the San Francisco Bay Area was the subject of this public forum held November 12, 2004 in Oakland, California. It was another in a series of Mineta Transportation Institute Hot-Spot Forums designed to explore controversial topics and help participants reach consensus. Steve Heminger, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, delivered the keynote address which placed Bus Rapid Transit development in context with regional long-range transportation goals. A panel of transportation planners and elected officials reviewed the challenges and responses to the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency SMART Corridors Rapid Bus project on San Pablo Avenue. They also reviewed and discussed proposals for future rapid bus and dedicated Busway transit projects being planned for other corridors in the dense urban areas of the San Francisco region's East Bay. Questions from the audience supplemented discussions by the panel. A concluding capstone presentation aimed at tying together earlier discussions was made by Rex Gephart, Director of Regional Transit Planning for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He compared the local efforts to those of other similar programs elsewhere in the United States and the world. Another short question-and-answer period followed the presentation.