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Comment by planetguy | Hacker News Reader

Instead of a subway line, would it be possible to close off one of San Francisco's many east-west streets (Geary if you like, probably a couple north-south of there would be better) and run a light rail line (using Muni Metro or similar cars) on an east-west route?

You could adjust the timing of the traffic lights to ensure that the rail line always (or usually) has priority and cross the whole city in ten minutes.

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There's a plan currently under discussion for bus rapid transit on the Geary corridor, which is sort of the el-cheapo version of that idea (http://www.sfcta.org/content/view/37/70/). Give the bus a dedicated, physically separated lane to reduce traffic problems, and build light-rail-esque, less frequent stations in the median with level boarding. Not a full solution, but the hope is that it'll raise the average bus speed significantly.

I hope they plan to raise the average bus quality too; riding Muni is less like public transport and more like a homeless shelter. I couldn't imagine doing it every day.

I really think both the Geary and Van Ness corridors need at least a monorail to handle the capacity. BRT seems like a band-aid, to me. Of course, it's cheaper and quicker to deploy. Long term, though, if they build the Geary corridor as envisioned (dense housing) then I think something like monorail would be suitable.

> You could adjust the timing of the traffic lights to ensure that the rail line always (or usually) has priority and cross the whole city in ten minutes.

Not if you wanted to pick up or drop off passengers. :)

But I've ridden N-Judah, and not loved it. Unless it's elevated or subterranean, it's going to be slow.

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