Anti BRT website

http://saveashland.com/contact.html

I can't believe they put a person on a bicycle on the front page.  Maybe I'm alone here, but I love the thought of the BRT bringing a more pedestrian friendly Ashland Ave.  I don't see how businesses wouldn't benefit from this other than the issues of delivery trucks; but I think they are working with that. 

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Permalink Reply by Davo on December 30, 2013 at 11:34am

I thought some of the MAB suggestions were pretty good. Putting stops every 1/4 mile and front boarding only/rear exit only to name a few. It would make sense to me to try this out before totally overhauling the system at a huge cost. BRT or the MAB would be a vast improvement to the system that is there now.

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on December 30, 2013 at 1:21pm

The problem with the Ashland BRT is that it has been badly thought out and has been crippled by the City's inability to properly deal with its streets due to the Parking Meter lease.     This is another neither fish nor fowl half-assed project which will make neither group happy and could ultimately be used as a weapon against properly designed BRT.  The real solution, like that in Bilbao Spain, is a single track light rail system with designated passing points and station access....

Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on December 30, 2013 at 6:11pm

We've been following the bus rapid issue closely over at Streetsblog Chicago, so you can check out some of our posts if you want to read about the topic from a pro-transit perspective: http://chi.streetsblog.org/?s=bus+rapid+transit

Permalink Reply by Shirlee Berman on December 30, 2013 at 7:04pm

I like the idea of thinning out the stops in their "MAB" plan. The local buses and stops should be eliminated once BRT goes in so that the one traffic lane has a chance of moving a hair faster than a snail's pace. (I also think the parking should be removed and changed to a bike lane, but that's dreaming, ha ha.)

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on December 31, 2013 at 2:44am

I still skeptical at this point when it comes to BRT on Ashland. Are there other successful examples of urban 4-lane arterial roads that were converted to BRT? 

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on January 4, 2014 at 2:47am

Anyone?

Kelvin Mulcky said:

Are there other successful examples of urban 4-lane arterial roads that were converted to BRT? 

Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on January 4, 2014 at 5:10am

I hate people assuming that cyclists can't be opposed or skeptical of BRT. I'm a cyclist and I am not a fan of the BRT plan. BRT is not the right solution for Ashland. It restricts the flow of traffic and makes Ashland a hazard to cyclists as well as the local neighborhood. An underground subway is the right solution for Ashland. Plus dedicated and protected bike lanes on the street.

I understand it's much more expensive, but I'd rather see the system built slowly over time than to build this cheap "plastic" solution in a rush.

Even though I don't agree with their all their motives, I think the businesses along Ashland are right when they say Chicago isn't [fill in mediocre city with BRT-like system].

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood." - Daniel Burnham

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on January 4, 2014 at 9:48am

Yea, I've read that. I was hoping for more.

The Healthline in Cleveland is the only cited similar example and runs through a lightly developed area (with much less traffic and businesses) to a healthcare and university campus. It was Cleveland's cheapo verison of light rail, basically like a metra line; taking people from the burbs to dense destination.  It also doesn't have a local busline on the same route like the Ashland BRT proposal. 

Edit: The Healthline is also half the length and also has a ridership of less than half of the current Ashland bus. I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not...

Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on January 4, 2014 at 10:06am

OP said: "I can't believe they put a person on a bicycle on the front page." Nothing personal against the OP because I think he has good intentions.

h' 1.0 said:

Who's doing that?

Tom Dworzanski said:

I hate people assuming that cyclists can't be opposed or skeptical of BRT.

Permalink Reply by Davo on January 4, 2014 at 12:19pm

Wont BRT eliminate a lot of stops if/when implimented?

h' 1.0 said:

I'm not sure how anyone who actually rode a bus and saw how hard it is for a lot of transit users to get around could think that eliminating every other stop was a good idea.  The MAB proposal is anti-transit and pro-personal vehicle from start to finish.  

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on January 4, 2014 at 12:22pm

I believe the current plan calls to maintain the current Ashland bus route in the normal traffic lanes in addition to BRT.

Permalink Reply by Davo on January 5, 2014 at 4:34pm

So Ashland would have the current bus along with a BRT route? 

Kelvin Mulcky said:

I believe the current plan calls to maintain the current Ashland bus route in the normal traffic lanes in addition to BRT.

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