Richmond Seeks to Expand Bus Rapid Transit
After seeing impressive ridership growth, Richmond s transit agency wants to expand bus rapid transit to more destinations in the region. December 31, 2020, 11am PST | Diana Ionescu |
Richmond, Virginia s Pulsebus rapid transit line, launched in 2018, sought to rectify the legacy of disinvestment in the city s transit and introduced more efficient bus service with dedicated lanes and signal prioritization. Now, the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) is putting forward expansion plans that would add a north-south bus rapid transit (BRT) line and expanded coverage to key destinations.
Despite the challenges posed by this year s pandemic, civil uprisings, and loss of funding, the GRTC has high hopes for the future. Just before COVID-19, the agency experienced record growth in ridership. Local routes have retained 94% of their passengers even through the pandemic. There are more positives on the horizon for us if we lean into ou
This article was first published on August 7, 2019. As the future of transit, especially during the pandemic, continues to be an important issue throughout the region and beyond, we wanted to share this piece with you again.
Today, in Richmond, “transit” means the bus. One might think that the city which debuted the world’s first electric streetcar would have bucked the trend against transit after World War II. But rather than preserving its historic transportation system, the city literally burned it, and the local transit network has never entirely rebounded.
On November 25, 1949 city officials hosted a formal celebration to torch its trolleys and usher in a new era of modern transit based on the bus. Despite the switch from rails to wheels (or perhaps because of it), the Virginia Transit Company (VTC) Richmond’s premier choice to get around town since 1860 remained unprofitable for decades.