Van Ness BRT

After years of delay, the 2016 target date for the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit project seems more tangible than ever. The San Francisco County Transportation Authority recently released its draft environmental impact report and will select one of several proposed design alternatives in the spring.

With the announcement of this year's $1.8 billion in Federal New Starts and Small Starts grants [PDF], two of the Bay Area's Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects are set to receive much-needed money to maintain their viability in the face of severe budget cuts. The vote of confidence in the Bay Area's first two BRT projects is an important step, particularly given the proposed changes of criteria at the federal level for these grants, proposals that could make it harder for San Francisco and Oakland to compete with other national projects, say planners.

With overwhelming approval for the Proposition K half-cent transportation sales tax in 2003, San Franciscans  signaled they not only wanted to maintain a state of good repair and operational solvency for their transit system, they were willing to dedicate more than 25 percent of the tax to expansion, including a network of transit preferential streets and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).  The first two BRT corridors will be on Geary Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue, the latter with a target opening date by Muni's centennial at the end of 2012.