{"items": [{"author": "Josh", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/118273920476267337216", "anchor": "gp-1378864480548", "service": "gp", "text": "Isn't the issue there that those are a bunch of one-way streets? Could you safely let a bus drive the wrong way down them?\n
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\n(There are places where only buses can do certain things, and I think that's cool. But there's also places where it wouldn't make sense for buses to be an exception.)", "timestamp": 1378864480}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1378864968916", "service": "gp", "text": "@Josh\n\u00a0\"those are a bunch of one-way streets\"\n
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\nWe can change one-way streets to go the other way if needed, but in this case what we'd need is a change to the intersection at the top left to allow the bus to make a left turn. \u00a0This would be similar to the trackless-trolley-only left turn at the intersection of Waterhouse and Mass Ave:\u00a0\nhttp://goo.gl/maps/ZSgzh", "timestamp": 1378864968}, {"author": "Kim", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627754642542", "anchor": "fb-627754642542", "service": "fb", "text": "Aren't there some bus stops along that loop? If so, then if the bus didn't make that loop then some people would have to walk further to get to that bus. Looking around with Google Street View, I see just beyond the bottom right of that loop the City of Medford Senior Citizen Multi Service Drop in Center, with a bus stop right in front of it. So this particular loop might even be quite desirable.", "timestamp": "1378866736"}, {"author": "Steven", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627772801152", "anchor": "fb-627772801152", "service": "fb", "text": "But buses get these kinds of routes because they are serving dispersed suburban populations.", "timestamp": "1378879178"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627779847032", "anchor": "fb-627779847032", "service": "fb", "text": "@Kim: The loop is trafficky, and takes several minutes. The bus also only takes this route outbound, and rarely drops anyone off there.", "timestamp": "1378898120"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627779886952", "anchor": "fb-627779886952", "service": "fb", "text": "@Steven: this is all within easy walking distance.", "timestamp": "1378898153"}, {"author": "Steven", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627794502662", "anchor": "fb-627794502662", "service": "fb", "text": "Aha! Waste of taxpayers' money! Get rid of buses! Vote for the Tea Party. Get rid of senior citizens...", "timestamp": "1378912365"}, {"author": "Allison", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627797351952", "anchor": "fb-627797351952", "service": "fb", "text": "I have lived in cities where buses get special turning privileges at certain intersections.", "timestamp": "1378914491"}, {"author": "Daniel", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627800405832", "anchor": "fb-627800405832", "service": "fb", "text": "On the other hand, I'd argue that we'll never be able to build rail everywhere, but it would be easy to look for ways to speed up every bus route if someone important made it a priority. (And there are plenty of obvious ways to speed up rail that haven't been implemented either. Just take a ride down Comm Ave or Beacon Street and notice the lack of traffic light priority for trolleys.)", "timestamp": "1378916569"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627808534542", "anchor": "fb-627808534542", "service": "fb", "text": "@Steven: I can't tell what you're trying to say.", "timestamp": "1378921788"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627813838912", "anchor": "fb-627813838912", "service": "fb", "text": "In many European cities, streetcars are separated from traffic by laws or physical barriers, which helps some, though they are certainly still subject to intersections and other traffic crossings. It's harder to keep cars out of bus lanes, especially if you allow things like right turns or temporary loading/unloading, than it is to keep cars out of a physically separated area in the middle of a road. However, there's no reason you couldn't just build a physically separated bus / BRT lane there, and some places actually do (though tragically few of them are in the US).
I think a more fundamental problem is the layout of the city, not the route of the bus. Low density construction combined with finite funding for transit will always necessitate meandering routes with lots of stops.", "timestamp": "1378925817"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627814841902", "anchor": "fb-627814841902", "service": "fb", "text": "@Alex: \"Low density construction combined with finite funding for transit will always necessitate meandering routes with lots of stops.\"
That's definitely true some places, but in this case we're talking about the center of a relatively high density old suburb. This intersection has been in roughly it's current configuration since at least 1855: http://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/view/2569375?buttons=y", "timestamp": "1378926493"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/627748155542?comment_id=627815360862", "anchor": "fb-627815360862", "service": "fb", "text": "Jeff: ahh, that's a different story.", "timestamp": "1378926917"}]}