Non-curb lanes are essential in NYC for buses to move any faster. There is simply too much competition for curb space that will disrupt the flow of buses and effective enforcement is not something we can rely on yet.

And the idea of contra-flow bus lanes in the middle, keeping bus doors on the right, can work in another sense because contra-flow lanes are self-enforcing. You really want to go head to head with a bus? Probably not.

Finally, while many don't consider crosstown routes to be candidates for true BRT (given how closely the stations would be spaced at each avenue), I believe they are the best candidates given the longer, unobstructed running way. The Avenues are tough because no matter how good the lane treatment, you still have cross streets coming every few seconds. The key in Manhattan is giving buses the chance to actually move for more than an instant before another turn movement/signal/lane blockage slows things down.

Give me a break. How many buses and drivers are you going to need to pull that off? And how much surface space are you going to have to take that could instead go to pedestrians or bikes?

Second. Let's put to bed the idea that BRT can be a mix and match of a number of different features. If it doesn't have its own lane, it's just rapid bus and if its just a rapid bus, don't call it BRT. Because once you do that, you get all the boosters saying you can carry as many people as the Second Avenue Subway with a bus that skips a few stops.

And could we stop with saying a bus that has a sleek design looks just like light rail? No one cares if it looks like it, they care if they're going to get thrown to the ground every time the bus starts, stops or hits a pothole.

My final complaint is all these "BRT" and Rapid bus lines are running on fossil fuels. If we're serious about better health and air quality, we need to stop letting cheap get in the way of doing it right. If BRT is going to be the mode, let's stop fueling it with dead dinosaurs.

Again, most people have never heard of the Lincoln Tunnel XBL. It's not on any map. There's no Intelligent Transportation System, no killer vehicles (except maybe in the literal sense), nothing branded or particularly attractive, and if the Port Authority is iconic of anything it's not customer friendliness. It's just a machine that shifts a row of jersey barriers every day.

And yet, Jersey riders don't just say "so what." They ride it in droves. Whether they think of it as Academy, DeCamp, Shortline, Suburban Transit or the Spanish Vans, they know that it gets them to work faster than driving for less money, so they take it. And that high ridership in turn cross-subsidizes all the off-peak service that's available even when the XBL isn't. If we had one of those on the LIE, the BQE or the Bruckner you'd see a tremendous jump in bus ridership.

When I'm walking on 34th Street and see a bus coming, I don't want to walk halfway around the iconic station to find the turnstiles and swipe my metrocard, only to find that the bus has come and gone. I want to walk up and get right on the bus. Yes, on a cold night I'd appreciate an enclosed place to wait, but otherwise it undercuts the value of pre-payment.

I think there's a place for big stations, especially transfer stations, on express bus routes. Not on Manhattan avenues, but on highways and boulevards in the outer boroughs, the suburbs and New Jersey. Places like Northern Boulevard, Southern Boulevard, Kennedy Boulevard and Central Avenue. On Route 3, Route 9 and Route 440.

and of course the best thing about center lanes is trucks and cars dont double park there

why not run the buses in the opposite direction than shown in the rendering so they can use normal buses? if the barrier/curb between the adjacent traffic is a little more pronounced this reverse direction travel shouldnt be a problem.

but on the whole this is an awesome project that we need more of... i have no problem with BRT if it is like this.

To be called BRT, a line must be a package of physical and operational components (stations, vehicles, running ways, passenger information, services, fare collection, traffic signal priority and other Intelligent Transportation System applications) that form a permanently integrated, customer-friendly, high performance system with a unique identity.

Again, what value does the identity bring?

The most important thing is the stations.

I thought the most important thing was getting people where they wanted to go quickly.