S.F. Chronicle Editorial Supports BRT

From the editorial:

Now that San Francisco has completed the Third Street light-rail line -- after decades of planning and construction -- it is time to focus on the next essential extension of the Municipal Railway.

We refer to the proposed construction of dedicated rapid bus lanes or "corridors" in the middle of two of the city's most densely traveled streets -- Geary Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue. The lanes would provide easier access to a huge swath of San Francisco unserved by rapid transit -- San Francisco's northwest quadrant that stretches from downtown to the Pacific Ocean.

What's at stake is figuring out ways to make mass transit even more appealing than driving a car on clogged city streets. If a bus can't traverse a city faster than a car, then riders will inevitably abandon public transit. "If we lose those people, the city goes backward and the city gets more congested," said Jose Luis Moscovich, executive director of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. "We have to figure out a 21st-century way to make public transit attractive."

...
Rapid bus lanes like these should be a no-brainer. All city departments who need to sign off on them should work to make them happen ....

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/21/EDGC7N6NJC1.DTL