Source: Smart Cities Dive

Excerpt:

Priority lanes for transit buses, if kept clear, can be key to increasing equitable access to employment opportunities, said researchers behind a March study from the Urban Institute.

The study, which focused on Washington, D.C., found that if priority bus lanes were clear 100% of the time, the average D.C. resident would see the number of jobs reachable within 30 minutes jump by about 90%.

For a transit agency, clear bus lanes mean fewer buses are needed to serve the route, resulting in substantial cost savings, the researchers said.

“The way that bus priority lanes enable greater access to job opportunities is by letting buses go faster in those lanes,” said Alena Stern, chief data scientist at the Urban Institute and lead author of the study. 

Read more: To increase job access, try dedicated bus lanes, this study says