Volguus, my opinion is that BRT has the capacity to handle higher capacities elsewhere because they have their own dedicated travel lanes whereas here in Philadelphia we only have space on selected roads (like Lehigh or Washington) to handle BRT lanes. Otherwise, Philadelphia roads are
just too narrow and what would be in theory BRT weakens to plain old busing.
Also: Hybrid buses = good
Electric buses / trolleybuses = better
Electric trolleys / light rail = best
One of the reasons why I'm proposing replacing our buses with trolleybuses on a city-wide basis (starting from the periphery and moving into the core) is that by constructing the catenary system now we can have partial infrastructure in place to restore rail along selected routes (remember most of our bus routes were originally trolley routes). Trolleys have yet a higher capacity than buses or trolleybuses (but not quite as high as BRT), and light rail higher still, higher than even trolleybuses. But light rail needs both rail and electric infrastructure, and if built with too much street running, as with BRT, the capacity gains caused by purpose-built right-of-way would be erased.
The eventual goal, of course, would be to have heavy rail routes running from the urban peripheries into the city core, along with core and secondary downtown circulators; (trolley)bus circulators feeding the heavy rail routes; commuter rail routes running from the suburban periphery to the core; circulation buses between the commuter rail and other notable suburban "destinations" (e.g. malls); and BRT between the rail hubs and communities inaccessible by rail (like Green Lane or Collegeville). This is a complex system that is only fragmentally built out now, and in its entirety would allow for multiple variant routes from the rail hub to the city core (a good example of what I'm looking for is the two routes to Center City from Lansdale T.S.: either straight down the R5 or along the 96--a route that functions in parts like a circulator, mostly around Lansdale and Norristown, and in others like BRT, mostly along DeKalb Pike--to Norristown T.C., where I could either 1) take the R6 straight down, or 2) take the 100 to the MFL). That is, the BRT should be peripheral to the normal functioning of the system, primarily hub-to-hub transport, but essential to the secondary functioning of the system, i.e., if a major accident or bridge washout leaves a rail line unusable for an
x amount of time.
As for Art Museum / U.C. connectivity, my answer: build a bridge! A multiuse-trail bridge across the Schuylkill between the Spring Garden and Vine Street bridges that directly connected with the ECG/Schuylkill Banks on one side and 30th Street Station on the other would solve this transportation issue most elegantly.
Edit: I just found this interesting
blog entry.