Davis pushing for bus rapid transit

As transportation planners consider alternatives to moving people around the Wasatch Front in future years, one option continues to present itself as both efficient and inexpensive:

Deseret Morning News graphic Bus rapid transit Requires Adobe Acrobat.

The bus.

Wait a minute. Those clunky exhaust-producers that can't seem to meet their scheduled arrival times? That unsexy, tiresome transit mode with a reputation for being society's last choice in transportation options?

No, not that bus. This is bus rapid transit, or BRT. Think light rail on wheels.

Bus rapid transit has become a desirable alternative to light rail, trolleys and the regular bus system in cities across North America, from Vancouver, B.C., to Eugene, Ore.

The design of BRT cars and stations makes the system look and operate like light-rail networks. In some cases it's hard to tell the difference — except for the absence of rails or power lines.

BRT also costs less to build than light rail — only about $10 million a mile compared to between $25 million and $50 million a mile for light rail, according to Wasatch Front Regional Council planner Greg Scott.

Those are some of the reasons the WFRC is studying the possible use of BRT in Utah's urban areas.

WFRC planners have just completed a South Davis Transit Needs Analysis, which is now undergoing internal review. It should be released within the coming months. The study recommends BRT and trolleys (streetcar) as a possible transit mode between Farmington and Salt Lake City along U.S. 89.

The potential south Davis County BRT line could use a dedicated lane on Beck Street as it meets I-15.

"The thing about BRT, a little less so with streetcar, is it can be done incrementally, and so we'd have the potential for some bus lines — if it's a BRT or some right-of-way for the future streetcar — in the next year," Scott said. "But before you saw a full-fledged (BRT system), we're talking probably 10 years."

Davis County leaders are pushing to have the system sooner. While commuter rail is on track for completion in 2008, South Davis mayors say BRT will be a better alternative into Salt Lake City.

"Commuter rail is good, but for the people on the south end, it's not good for us," said Bountiful Mayor Joe Johnson. "We're not going to go under the freeway, drive two miles and end up on the west side of (Salt Lake City.) What we need is a different form of trans portation."

Johnson has been organizing South Davis mayors, encouraging them to contribute money to the study. Further donations may be needed to complete environmental studies for BRT potential in South Davis — something Johnson says mayors should support, considering the tight race for federal transit dollars.