Buses

Saddled with an aging fleet of buses and infrequent schedules, the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency has secured federal funds to replace most of its fleet and build a new transit center.

Extortion by street gangs has been a way of life for bus drivers in Medellin for years. But recent refusals to pay -- and subsequent murders of drivers -- has led to a massive bus strike.

Los Angeles' public transit authority has joined those of other major U.S. cities in providing a real-time tool for checking to see how soon buses will arrive at specific stops.

A private bus company with an internet-based reservation system is succeeding wildly, perhaps paving the way for successful bus transit (and away from rail).

In Seoul, Korea, buses are color coded to indicate which direction they're going, and how quickly. John Calimente says the system "goes a long way towards solving the bus legibility problem."

The new jobs in New York City aren't in Manhattan, but in the boroughs. For low-income workers to be able to access those opportunities, improved bus service will be necessary, says a new report.

Patrick Chovanec, an economics professor in Beijing, explains that the majority of Chinese have more time and less money, so prefer slower, cheaper modes of travel than the new, expensive bullet trains.

The city still known for its smog will not have its buses to blame - the last of its diesel-fueled ones retired Jan. 12 in a celebration. All but 7 of the 2,221 buses will be compressed-natural-gas powered; electric and gas-electric the remainder.

New dedicated lanes and limited-stop buses have entered the transportation picture in New York City.

Lax enforcement of standards created to limit exhaust from idling diesel-powered vehicles and buses shows that there is still work to be done in Mayor Richard Daley's quest to position Chicago atop the list of the nation's greenest cities.

The largest bus and transit expo in North America happened this week in Vancouver, and manufacturers showed off the latest in transit technology.

Business interests on a downtown commercial street complain a transit mall is making the area less attractive for retail.

A proposal in L.A. to use recently approved funding to push 30 years of transportation projects into the next decade has elicited a protest from the city's Bus Riders Union.

A Portland transit planner from the days when buses were the primary means of getting around says the system is headed in the wrong direction and service is declining.

Recent MTA budget cuts have forced New York City to axe a few of its bus routes, but they've had the effect of spurring a new wave of private bus initiatives.

Investments in rail systems in cities across America are pulling crucial funding away from better-used bus systems, according to this column from Joel Kotkin. He blames the "density lobby".

This feature from New York magazine looks at the increasingly attractive option of introducing more bus rapid transit lines into New York City.

A Queens 16-year-old teamed up with a Brooklyn entrepreneur to save the route after turned down by state legislators. The route was among three dozen others eliminated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as austerity measures on June 26.

More changes are coming to Manhattan as auto-space yields to bus-space on First and Second Aves. Will transit users comply with the honor system as boarding will take place from all three doors? The lanes will be 'terra-cotta brown' without barrier.

Los Angeles Times columnist David Lazarus offers broad suggestions for fixing public transit in L.A.