Austin planners are considering a law designed to ensure bus service performance by requiring drivers to allow buses to merge after making a stop, but transit advocates point to a body of research that casts doubt on the efficacy of such laws.

Caleb Pritchard reports from Austin: "Mayor Steve Adler’s sales pitch for his successful $720 million transportation bond promised the creation of new bus pullouts along major city corridors so that, in his words, 'cars can keep on going when the bus pulls over.'"
That's where the challenge arises. "Transit advocates and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority countered that notion with concerns that endless platoons of zooming vehicles would pin buses inside the pullouts, thus kneecapping City Council’s directive to staff to use the bond money both to ease congestion and improve transit operations," according to Pritchard.
Thus a new state or local law is under consideration to "require drivers to yield to buses attempting to re-enter the flow of traffic," but the track record of such laws in other states and cities has not made a case for the potential success of the law in speeding up transit service.
FULL STORY: Corridor plans could yield new traffic law, but buses might not benefit as promised

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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