Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
Question about Chicago's BRT plan:
How is it that Cleveland's Euclid BRT corridor is costing $200 million to build while Chicago will manage to build BRT on 4 different routes with $150 million in Federal dollars?
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Chicago's plan is MUCH less ambitious than Cleveland's. The Health Line in Cleveland is a real BRT, with 100% dedicated lanes and stations, along with bike lanes and major streetscaping along the entire length of Euclid from Downtown to University Circle.
Chicago's plan, on the other hand, simply involves clearing the parallel parking lanes during rush hours. At off-peak times, these streets will function exactly as they do now. The plan, of course, will include a few shiny new shelters and maybe a new paint job on some of the new hybrid buses, but the actual construction for this project is minimal.
Most of that $150 million will go towards:
1) signal priority to allow buses to extend green lights
2) the shelters and new buses
3) signage to prohibit street parking during rush hours
4) police enforcement/towing of violating vehicles.