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Austin has two Rapid Bus Technology routes (801 and 803).  I rode the 801 yesterday from Tech Ridge Park and Ride to downtown.   The bus is easy to board - there are three doors.  My seat was reasonably comfortable, and the interior of the bus - reds and pastels - was pleasing to the eye.  The buses on the 801 route are articulated; the ones on the 803 route are not.  Presumably the anticipated passenger loads dictated using a smaller vehicle on the 803 route.    The ride was smooth were the pavement was smooth, but it was rough where the pavement is not so good. All up the train provides a smoother ride. The 801 runs the same route as the Number 1 bus, but it skips many of the stops made by it.  It takes 10 to 15 minutes less time to get downtown from Tech Ridge on the 801 than it does on the Number 1, which takes approximately 1 hour, 15 minues to get from Tech Ridge to the CBD.   The RBTs don't have dedicated lanes in Austin, but the operators are able to control the traffic lights, to a certain extent, to help speed them along.   The stations are clearly marked with an outsized red sign.  They have an electronic message board that shows the arrival time of the next bus plus the arrival time of the following bus.  They also provide some shelter from the elements. If I remember correctly it cost approximately $3 million per mile, including the cost of the equipment, to layout the 801 and 803 routes.  For comparative purposes, it cost nearly $50 million per mile for the DART light rail system.  This includes the cost of the equipment. On November 4th Ausin's residents will have an opportunity to say yea or nay on a proposed  light rail line.  It will run from the airport to downtown and on to UT and Highland Mall.  The opponents say that the cost of the light rail, which will be built from scratch and, therefore, will not be able to use former or existing rail rights-of-way, as was the case for most of the DART light rail system, will be more than $145 million per mile.  The highest previous estimate that I saw was $89 million per mile.  In any case, the difference between the cost of the RBT and light rail is impressive.
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