Vehicle Options - Types of Transit
Enhanced Bus Service | Bus Rapid Transit | Light Rail | No-BuildIn addition to the no-build, options being considered for the Red Line are Enhanced Bus Service, Bus Rapid Transit, and Light Rail Transit. All of these options will be examined as the mode/alignment alternatives are developed for the Red Line so that an accurate comparison can be made.
Enhanced Bus Service
Enhanced bus service represents a range of lower cost operational ways to improve the existing bus services. The measures could include new park-and-ride facilities, additional express bus services, shuttle buses, and improved customer information. Enhanced bus service could improve traffic flow and provide timely transit information to customers.
Bus Rapid Transit
 Station with bus bays
Los Angeles, California |
 Station in tunnel
Seattle, Washington |
 Station
with curbside boardings
Boston,
Massachusetts
|
 Centro de Tránsito Northgate, Seattle,
Washington
|
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Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) uses standard transit vehicles or advanced technology vehicles, and operates on existing roads and/or exclusive running ways. BRT typically reduces bus travel times, improves service reliability, increases the convenience of users and ultimately increases bus ridership, possibly at a lower construction cost than rail infrastructure.
Fares can be collected before boarding the bus, allowing all doors of the bus to be used for loading and speeding up service. Bus Rapid Transit is also beginning to make use of new low-floor, clean-fuel buses, although traditional diesel buses are used in some cases.
A key attribute of a Bus Rapid Transit system is the ability to employ express buses and feeder buses. With a BRT system, a feeder bus loops through a neighborhood or business area picking up passengers close to their point of origin. It then enters the busway via a special ramp and serves stations similar to a rail line. It can then leave the busway near its destination and circulate through local streets.
To learn more about Bus Rapid Transit, click on any of the links below:
Federal Transit Administration - Bus Rapid Transit Initiative
Lane Transit District - Eugene , Oregon
Euclid Avenue - Cleveland , Ohio
Light Rail
 Suburban
station Baltimore, Maryland
|
 Downtown Station Houston, Texas
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Light Rail Transit is an electric railway system that operates single cars or short trains along rights-of-way at ground level, on aerial structures, and in tunnels. Light Rail can also operate in the street mixed with vehicular traffic, in the median of a roadway or on a separate right-of-way. Light Rail Transit gets its power from overhead electrical lines. Maximum speeds of Light Rail trains are normally around 60 miles per hour, with the average operating speed being closer to 45 miles per hour. The actual speed largely depends on the extent to which the train is separated from cars and pedestrians.
Depending upon the specific system, the distance between Light Rail stations is shorter than with heavy rail systems due to the type of propulsion and braking systems. Fare collection is typically done at the station before boarding the train and an attendant verifies fare-purchase while the train is in motion.
Light Rail currently operates in Baltimore along the 30-mile Central Light Rail Corridor between Hunt Valley, downtown Baltimore and Glen Burnie. Spurs also serve BWI Airport and Penn Station. Light Rail has been built in several other American cities:
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
Regional Transportation District of Denver
Metro (Bi-State Development Agency - St. Louis)
No-Build
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process requires the MTA must also consider the option to not build the Red Line. This is called the "no-build" option and is defined by the Federal Transit Administration as the future conditions of an area if a proposed project is not built. These future conditions could relate to any or all of the environmental characteristics studied in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).