Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

Northwest Mesa to I-25

The Rio Metro Regional Transit District held a kick off meeting on February 23, 2010 to discuss Bus Rapid Transit between the Northwest Mesa and I-25.  This was just the first in a series of meetings that will be held on this subject.

See the power point presentation (PDF)

Project Synopsis

• Paseo del Norte is the primary highway serving Northwest Albuquerque and is one of only three bridges crossing the river.

  PDN now runs close to capacity and is susceptible to recurring congestion during peak hours, especially at Coors in the west and at Jefferson/I-25 in the east.

• Continued growth and development on the west side means that travel demand to cross the Rio Grande will continue to increase without abatement.
  
• By doing nothing, Northwest residents will be exposed to increasingly severe congestion over extended hours of the day, longer commute times, more serious daily traffic delays, and reduced levels of mobility.

• The prospects for new bridges crossing the Rio Grande are low. There are few opportunities for widening existing roadways.

• One way to substantially increase capacity is through a transit program - using the remaining limited right-of-way available for a high capacity busway serving express bus routes to Albuquerque job centers.

• The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility and potential performance of a busway program between the Northwest Mesa and the I-25 corridor.