Study and Rapid Implementation of Transit Priorities on Roads Is Needed

Testimony to the Maryland Senate

Submitted by ACT President Tina Slater, April 4, 2011

The Action Committee for Transit (ACT) supports Senate Bill 623: Maryland Department of Transportation – Transit Review and Evaluation, which requires MDOT to study and make recommendations on various transit initiatives, and submit a report by December 31, 2012.

ACT especially supports the study of transit priority treatments, requested in the first part of the report. In a June 2009 letter to WMATA from the Transit First coalition (ACT is a member) we said:

“One important opportunity for savings is by giving buses priority in use of the streets. The less time a bus needs to complete its route, the less the cost for salary and equipment. Faster-moving buses simultaneously save money, improve service for bus passengers, and attract new riders. While there has been much discussion of Bus Rapid Transit plans that require capital investment, we believe that substantial savings are available without capital investment by changing traffic engineering policies to prioritize the movement of buses on existing streets.

“Examples of bus priorities that could be implemented with only negligible cost (for restriping, signage, etc.) are the following:

Adjust traffic signal cycles to minimize bus delays
Let buses drive on highway shoulders to bypass congestion
Let buses use right-turn lanes as queue-jumper lanes
Restrict curb lanes to buses and turning vehicles only (diamond lanes)
Improve enforcement of existing bus lanes

“While these improvements do not require capital investment, they do require a policy commitment and need some time for implementation. WMATA planners have pursued bus priority treatments in selected corridors, but progress has been limited in the absence of a commitment from the top levels of government to change traffic engineering policies. In the current climate of budget stringency, this issue takes on a new urgency.”

ACT is interested in the various recommendations for funding transit projects that MDOT will provide in the report. Meanwhile, we believe that substantial savings are available without capital investment by changing traffic engineering policies to prioritize the movement of buses on existing streets.