Getting on board

Regional leaders eye possibilities of rapid bus transit

Development of mass transit has been an idea hashed and rehashed in this region for at least a couple of decades now. While it has always had a degree of support, it has never taken off in any big way.

A local bus system has expanded its offerings enough to meet some of the most basic needs of people in the region for an alternative to the personal vehicle to get to and from work, school, medical appointments or shopping.

But the need for something more grows every day with the region’s population.

The focus for a long time was on the possibility of a light rail system running north-south and linking the four major cities — Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville — on a route parallel to existing railroads.

The thought was to get the right of way bought and begin the development before some of the infill that has already taken place. But the idea was expensive and the immediate need for improved highways in the region took priority.

The impetus now among forward-thinkers seems to be locked onto a bus rapid transit system that would share the highways with the ever-increasing automotive traffic.

Officials from the region were in Seattle recently, meeting with hundreds of other delegates from cities across the country. The event was the 25th Congress for the New Urbanism and the local delegation was there as guests of the Walton Family Foundation, which paid for the trip.

The foundation also partnered this year with Ozark Regional Transit on a mass transit feasibility study for the region. Its goal was to find cost-effective, unobtrusive ways to create a busbased rapid transit system along Northwest Arkansas’ U.S. 71B corridor.

Delegates apparently came home from the Seattle conference stoked by the prospect that such a system could become reality, allowing passengers to ride buses in dedicated traffic lanes.

Bus rapid transit, unlike light rail, is more flexible and obviously could cost less.

It may also be easier to sell to the public, which will most assuredly question the diversion of any money from highways to transit.

That reliance on private cars and trucks is a hard habit to break. Usually, talk of other choices comes when gas prices go so high that families start looking for an alternative to get around.

The region is also attracting new residents who come from places where mass transit is part of the infrastructure. Many of them are willing to park their cars and ride with others to where they want to go. They’re just waiting for the opportunity.

The Walton Family Foundation, which spearheaded the Razorback Regional Greenway, sees public transit as another piece in the puzzle to make Northwest Arkansas more livable. It’s worth their investment and fits with longer-term development of multi-mode transportation in the region.

Making a bus rapid transit system happen is still a challenge, but there seems to be real interest in this approach not only by the Walton family but also by some of the region’s officials.

Maybe it can happen here.