In the coming months, you're going to be hearing a lot about bus rapid transit. Mayor Karl Dean wants to spend 75 million building a special bus line. It would run from East Nashville through Broadway and down West End to White Bridge Road. Supporters say it could be just as useful as a similar line in Cleveland, Ohio, so we sent FOX17's Sky Arnold there to see how it works, and if it's worth the money. Cleveland's Healthline opened in 2009. These days, it's popular with students and people who work in medical facilities along a bus route that's designed to save time. It's the bus that wants so much to be a train."It's actually a good system," says rider Michael Hall.Buying his pass along one of 35 elevated Euclid Avenue stations, but that's not why Cleveland's Healthline is different."First Class is what we tried to do, First Class is what we delivered," says Cleveland RTA's Joseph Calabrese.Transit GM Joseph Calabrese says what really makes bus rapid transit so rapid, the buses have their own lanes, and shall we say, bus-friendly traffic lights. They cut commute times by as much as 10 minutes. These rapid transit buses don't go all over town, they just follow one route along one avenue. Corporate big shots included, Healthline served 4 million rides last year. It's considered a national model, attracting a tour group of Kansas City officials, and previously Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. Among the selling points, Calabrese says the project attracted new development to an ...

• published: 22 Nov 2012
• views: 38
• author: Roberta Petterson