Re. CRD debates bus only lanes (News, May 1)
Four minutes.
This being the time advantage gained for the proposed expenditure of $600,000 to designate two lanes on Douglas Street as bus-only during rush hour.
This is so slight as to be meaningless, particularly when considered against expense.
Vancouver adopted a similar designated bus-only lane program in 2007 at an expense of $207,000, despite an earlier study (2004) warning that this was unlikely to produce relevant results. As predicted, the passengers didn’t reach their destination any faster after the money was spent.
Officials said most cars using the curb lane were turning anyway, so only caused minor delays.
Perhaps it’s time to consider a larger view.
Rather than continuing to take away traffic lanes on major roads in order to construct gardens why not consider that Greater Victoria will benefit from having proper traffic corridors that can accommodate the volume of traffic?
Traffic that is moving wastes far less fuel, and greatly reduces emissions.
With traffic flowing properly on major routes there will be less inclination for motorists to seek short-cuts through residential neighbourhoods, with obvious benefits. With traffic flowing properly buses will make good time without resorting to the unnecessary expense of infrastructure changes.
The counter argument will run that building new roads is contrary to the green ethic.
I agree absolutely. But by the same measure taking away existing routes causes longer delays with predictable consequences.
Stuart Eastwood
Colwood