As the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) considers the environmental analysis for a proposed bus rapid transit lane in Palo Alto, local officials are opposing the version of the plan that would remove parking for a dedicated bus lane.
"A proposal by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) to establish dedicated bus lanes and remove more than 250 parking spaces on El Camino Real in Palo Alto is meeting vigorous resistance from city officials, who are questioning the assumptions behind the ambitious plan known as Bus Rapid Transit and calling for the agency to consider alternatives," reports Gennady Sheynar.
Although planners at VTA have insisted in the past that dedicated bus lanes wouldn’t be considered for the project, the recently released Draft Environmental Impact Report for the project "includes dedicated lanes as a design option," according to Sheynar. And John Ristow, director for planning and program development at the VTA, recently made the case for dedicated lanes, saying that the more robust version of BRT would greatly increase bus ridership.
The article includes a lot more detail about the proposed BRT line and the political hurdles that remain before it will be complete.
FULL STORY: Palo Alto officials protest rapid-bus plan
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