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By Barbara Knecht

Where the rubber hits the road

Roads, too, are a fixed system that can carry individuals virtually anywhere. Believing we can pave our way out of the congestion and gridlock, we have developed a high tolerance for road expansion, one that is much higher than our tolerance for rail expansion.

The Erasme Metro station in Brussels, by Samyn and Partners, is a combination of fiberglass and steel fabrics. The fiberglass fabric is formed into posttensioned “saddles” attached to arched steel frames. The architects chose a stainless-steel mesh, heretofore used only for sand separation in quarries. It is durable and provides natural ventilation. Photography: Courtesy Samyn and Partners (above) Photography: © Marie-Françoise Plissart (above and below)

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), sometimes called a surface subway, is not new. From Curitiba, Brazil, to Ottawa, Canada, communities have invested in highly successful roadway transit systems that use buses, separated in dedicated lanes, which have limited stops at identifiable stations, where fare is collected prior to boarding and service is frequent. Often cast as a substitute for light rail, it has characteristics of both bus and rail. Although it has dedicated lanes, they may either be physically separate or instead may include right-turning or emergency or other buses for some sections of the route. When the BRT bus shares the public road, it often communicates directly with the traffic signal system to get priority at intersections. Deviations from the route or changes are easier to implement with BRT than with fixed rails. New technology will further distinguish it from its conventional rail and bus siblings.

This summer, Las Vegas will be the inaugural U.S. site for the Civis bus rapid-transit vehicle manufactured by Irisbus of France. Called MAX by its owner and operator, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, it will have all the features of other BRT systems except the driver is aided by an optical guidance system, which uses cameras to follow painted lines in the road. For a vehicle in a dedicated lane, the guidance system keeps the bus on its course. There is a driver who can take over controls with the touch of the hand. Because MAX will share the road with other vehicles, the optical guidance system will be used for precise docking at each station. MAX will stop each time at the same place in front of the whimsical new shelters designed by Assemblage Studio Architects of Las Vegas.

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