Archive for October 30th, 2013

New Busway in Buenos Aires

October 30th, 2013 Comments off

A new dedicated busway along “the widest street in the world” has reduced friction between buses and cars, but created some new friction between preservationists and government officials in Buenos Aires.

Median contraflow busway along Av 9 de Julio.

Median contraflow busway along Av 9 de Julio.

I just returned from my honeymoon in Buenos Aires. One of the first things I noticed while exploring the downtown “micro center” was a four-lane contraflow busway along Av 9 de Julio, often referred to as the widest street in the world.

Av 9 de Julio is literally a block wide — check out this jaw-dropping photo — with 7 traffic lanes in each direction in the main roadway and an additional 2 lanes of access road, also in each direction.  Up until recently, buses traveled in the access lanes, conflicting with cars and pedestrians.  A new four-lane busway facility was recently constructed along the center of this massive avenue.  The facility is well lit, attractive and fast:  the bus travel time down the three-kilometer roadway is expected to drop from 60 minutes to 20. Read more…