Improving transportation and making city buses more hip were among the topics discussed by Gainesville residents Wednesday at a workshop sponsored by the Regional Transit System.
The workshop, held at Gainesville Regional Utilities' downtown headquarters, was part of the city's ongoing effort to remodel the bus system using the "bus rapid transit system."
Bus rapid transit systems are designed to cater to more passengers and run more efficiently. The cost of this system would be about $6 million to $10 million per mile, covering bus service and vehicles.
The workshop was a way to get community feedback, said Doug Robinson, chief transit planner for RTS.
"We're going to need local support for this to get going," he said.
Robinson said he thinks the benefits of a better bus system would surpass the costs.
With this system, buses could reduce wait time at traffic lights by having signal priority. With signal priority, buses send a signal to a receiver on a traffic box to change the light.
The system could upgrade buses, replacing current vehicles with more modern, aerodynamic and fuel-efficient models.
The proposal for Gainesville's bus rapid transit system will only focus on densely populated areas that face transportation problems, Robinson said.
"The idea is to start small and grow something that's successful," he said.
The current routes extend for about 38 miles.
The city plans to submit an application for federal funding, which requires applicants to submit information on traffic patterns and the number of riders, Robinson said.
"We need people to want to get behind this as something that is helpful to the community," he said.
There are 83 cities around the world that use versions of the bus rapid transit system, including Portland, Ore., and Los Angeles, said Jaime Lerner, the former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil, who helped his town remodel its transit system.
He said all cities have three issues in common: mobility, sustainability and coexistence.
Bus rapid transit can fix these problems because it reduces road congestion, which reduces carbon emissions. The system is efficient and increases riders, bringing more people together, Lerner said.
"We all are affected," he said. "We all are a part of this change."
