Think Green Live Clean

Sasha Aickin

In a slightly more visionary departure from my previous post about hand soap, I’d like to wax poetic about my college-days crush:  bus rapid transit (or BRT). During my Urban Planning undergrad days, BRT first caught my eye during lecture. And it whispered in my ear, “I’m different from all the others…I’m the kind of bus you could really love.”

And so, even though taking up with bus rapid transit is not as easy as switching hand soaps, I’d like to introduce you. Readers, BRT. BRT, readers. First of all, before you get the wrong idea, BRT is not a party bus. It’s clean, relatively disease-free, almost always on time, and really considerate of your feelings. And it’s Brazilian!

Best and most famously done by the Brazilian city of Curitiba, BRT is a system of transit that’s vastly cheaper than subways or trains. While it’s one of the world’s foremost examples of successful planning that got people out of their cars, and helped the city expand without falling ill to symptoms of sprawl, I personally like it best for superficial reasons.

With Curitiba’s BRT, bus stops aren’t poles in the cement. They’re raised, cool-looking glass tubes. Riders pay the fare before the bus comes–and since they don’t have to wait on the corner, getting assailed by passersby (and splashers-by, if it’s raining), they don’t feel like conspicuous, uncomfortable unfortunates without a car. They relax in their mini-station, and when the bus comes, subway-like doors slide open at the same level as the station. Such a polite date.

Manners matter, the designers knew–people won’t switch to public transit if it’s not enjoyable. The raised tubes, in addition to making the system faster, are safe and climate-controlled but cheap to mass-produce. If you ever wonder why more people in America don’t take public transit, don’t. No one with another option wants to sit on a street corner at the mercy of the elements.

BRT also has exclusive lanes, plus being a million times cheaper and more adaptable than trains.  Faster, cool accessories too- we could all love BRT. Hopefully this won’t be a long-distance thing forever.