Buses may get ticket to fast lane

Officials consider outfitting buses with a device to make green lights last a little longer.

By ADRIENNE P. SAMUELS
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 3, 2002

Starting next year, the best place to drive may be behind a bus.

That's because the transit gods might bestow upon some buses the equivalent of a magic wand.

It's a device that would allow public transit buses approaching a green light to keep that light green for a couple of extra seconds, allowing the bus -- and the cars in its pack -- to breeze through the intersection.

It's a time-saver called queue jumping.

Los Angeles has it. Boston is considering it. It might be coming soon to a busy road near you.

"This is an alternative to moving lots of people quickly without the major investment," said Roger Sweeney, executive director of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. "Other countries use it intensively."

There might also be a designated queue-jumping lane -- perhaps in the right shoulder or center median lane -- allowing only mass transit vehicles to scoot past traffic.

These ideas, and others, will be looked into next year during an extensive study of traffic on Ulmerton Road, one of the county's main east-west corridors. If it works, the PSTA will bring the device to Ulmerton Road and then will try to bring it to McMullen-Booth Road.

"It's an alternative to light rail projects because light rail is capital intensive," Sweeney said.

The $30,000 study starts in January, Sweeney said. The Metropolitan Planning Organization is working with PSTA on the project.

"We call it preferential treatment at certain intersections," said Dave McDonald, a program planner with the MPO. "There are lots of other things we'll look at. Intersection improvements, sidewalks, what we can do to enable people to use the express bus."

PSTA will have the delay-avoiding plan in action by March, Sweeney said. It is too early to tell how much it will cost to outfit buses with devices that will allow the lights to stay green for a few extra seconds.

The queue jumping program is the second part of a plan to improve bus service along Ulmerton Road. In April, the PSTA will start the $1.50-a-ride 300X express bus taking people from Ulmerton Road to downtown Tampa, but will stop only twice along the way. Those luxury buses will likely have televisions, expanded seating and laptop hookups. The 300X express bus service is geared toward upper-income wage earners, the PSTA said.

-- Adrienne Samuels can be reached at 445-4157 or samuels@sptimes.com .

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