Herndon may be getting bus rapid transit, but plans presented to the Herndon Town Council show it might look a little different from the rest of the region.
Bus rapid transit (BRT) involves some form of dedicated bus lanes and other systems designed to prioritize transit on major roadways with the goal of making bus transportation more appealing.
Lisa Gilleran, director of Community Development at the Town of Herndon, said the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority’s goal is to have an interconnected BRT system, meaning Herndon’s system will hopefully connect to others in Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria rather than being a series of full independent BRT lines.
The preliminary designs presented to the Herndon Town Council showed options for BRT improvements, which included routes along Sterling Road and Elden Street.
Gilleran noted in the presentation that there are five basic types of BRT service:
- Basic
- Improved
- Advanced
- Dedicated
- Express
Gilleran said Herndon is considering basic, improved and advanced, but is not currently considering dedicated or express BRT service.
Basic BRT has buses share the road with regular traffic. The bus stops are enhanced and there is some intersection priority for buses and other amenities, but the BRT improvements are relatively barebones.
Improved is the next step up and would offer further bus stop enhancements, as well as short bus lanes to jump ahead of traffic queues at intersections and special signals just for buses.
Advanced BRT would have the other benefits, as well as bus-exclusive lanes and bus stations with large customer areas and extra amenities.
However, Gilleran said Herndon is not considering dedicated or express lanes.
Dedicated lanes are bus-only lanes separated from traffic, like the Crystal City Transitway in Arlington. The exclusive dedicated lanes offer the highest level of service reliability. Express lanes would be set on limited access roadways as on some of the interstates.
According to the staff report:
To date, NVTA has funded several BRT projects located in Alexandria, Arlington, and the eastern portion of Fairfax County. NVTA believes that BRT is an important transportation option for daily travel and supports its expansion. The intent of the NVTA BRT long-range plan is to ensure that any future BRT projects are systematically planned and provide an interconnected system throughout the region.
