In search of a cheaper way to make its connections to neighboring Boston more reliable for commuters, the town of Everett tried out a simple bus experiment: a week-long bus lane replaced parking, and was separated only by cones.
Stephen Miller of CityLab reports that the trial proved popular, and after a week it was decided that the bus lane will become permanent:
Only about a quarter of the parking that was removed had been used during the morning rush, according to city observations, and there are plenty of places to park on the other side of the street or in nearby parking lots. Trips are now shorter by four to eight minutes for Broadway’s 10,000 daily bus riders, and Monty says car drivers have saved time, too, since buses no longer block traffic while they weave in and out of bus stops.
The quick pace of the change, and simple materials involved, offers a lesson in experimentation to other cities considering their own transit improvement projects.