What Is ‘Arterial Rapid Transit?’

Atlanta is planning to build ‘BRT lite,’ a version of bus service that offers signal priority and fewer stops but keeps buses in mixed-traffic lanes.

1 minute read

June 7, 2023, 7:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Along with several new bus rapid transit (BRT) projects, The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) plans to build what it’s calling ‘arterial rapid transit’ lines along Buford Highway, or what David Wickert, writing in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, calls “BRT lite.”

According to Wickert, “MARTA is seeking public input on plans for an arterial rapid transit line along Buford Highway between its Doraville and Lindbergh stations. If all goes well, the line could open by the end of 2024.”

Arterial rapid transit, which will use buses, promises less frequent stops and prioritized traffic signals than regular bus service, as well as the ability to ‘jump the queue’ in front of other vehicles. But Wickert points out “they typically operate in mixed traffic,” one of the major contributors to unreliable service.

Monday, June 5, 2023 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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