Money for the Busway

Yesterday's announcement by the government of its transit plan included a bit for Victoria.

The biggest was the concept of a rapid bus out to Langford from downtown. This nicely mirrors what the region has been considering and shows that the government is ready to put in the money needed to make it happen.

The brochure had a picture of a proposed bus only overpass for the Mackenzie and Hwy #1 intersection. Interesting as an idea, but I wonder how much time this would actually save? I think you can get much further if you simply add a lane to the road for buses only. But, the picture is said to only be an artists concept.

I am sure there will be people complaining here in the CRD about the lack of anything to do with rail. When are people going to see that there is no viable business model for rail in the Greater Victoria area? We do not have the people or density to make rail an option. Can we really afford to turn over all the land needed for a single use?

I am sure that the Douglas busway is still going to have a long gestation period before it manages to come into existence on the ground in this city.

Here is a suggestion that will get more people out of their cars. Make some of the lanes on Douglas and Hwy #1 transit only during peak hours. The buses would wiz out and the rest of the traffic would sit and not move. There would be enough of a time savings that people would be motivated to move out of their cars.