Pittsburgh named one of top cities for bus-based transportation (Greenville: transfer, costs)

[ferraris]

U.S. Cities Reinventing Buses as Modern, Efficient, and Effective (http://www.itdp.org/index.php/news/detail/u.s._cities_reinventing_buses_as_modern_efficient_ and_effective/ - broken link)

I think this graphic from the article is particularly cool. I hadn't realized how unusual bus ways are, especially in the US.

[raubre]

Apparently they haven't looked at the rest of the bus sysytem.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Really? With the issues the planet is facing with oil prices and oil supply (many say peak oil has already been passed) people are calling bus transportation "modern, efficient, and effective"? This article is trash.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

Oil prices are due to speculation. Our supply is fine, if artificially limited by production.

What we need to do is start drilling here in the US wherever there's oil to be had, build more refineries.

Adding a few new nuclear power plants wouldn't hurt things though.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Really? With the issues the planet is facing with oil prices and oil supply (many say peak oil has already been passed) people are calling bus transportation "modern, efficient, and effective"? This article is trash.

Efficient and effective is probably not referring to resource usage, but is instead comparing busway usage to alternative forms of transportation and transit. Busways are faster than regular bus services, and less expensive than rail and subways. And compared to the average American's commute by car, it's fuel efficient and reduces the costs of parking for everyone, as well as the number of spaces required.

[FreightTrainRunning]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Really? With the issues the planet is facing with oil prices and oil supply (many say peak oil has already been passed) people are calling bus transportation "modern, efficient, and effective"? This article is trash.

Buses might not be the most optimal transportation for the future but a bus full of commuters is still many times more efficient than having each of those riders driving their own cars on the same road.

[ClemsonJoy]

Actually by using a bus, you reduce your own carbon foot print and over all less oil is used. (Yeah, sounds crazy but it's true).

Using public transportation saves the equivalent of 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline annually. Research shows that by using public transit, the typical automobile driver can reduce individual daily carbon emissions by 20 pounds or more than 4,800 pounds per year.

I know here in Greenville, SC they're opening a new production plant to produce electric powered buses. Clemson itself has a fairly good bus system, especially considering it's a small community.

[BrianTH]

In addition to buses being more fuel-efficient than cars, you can also have natural gas buses, natural gas-hybrid buses, and even fully electric buses (aka "trolleybuses").

Edit: By the way, the local-to-express-with-no-transfer routes on the East Busway may demonstrate the best use of Busways (I am somewhat skeptical of their utility versus rail technologies if the buses just go back and forth on the busway).