Usually when it comes to dedicated street lanes for transit and bicycles, the more physical separation from car lanes there is, the better off you are. Better physical separation is why cycle tracks are better than regular bike lanes, and why busways are better than striped bus lanes.

Unfortunately, physical separation adds complexity and cost, so it’s not used as often as it might be.

That in mind, take a look at this picture from Guadalajara, Mexico, where a very affordable measure of physical separation has been added to a bus lane:

Photo by SoCalMetro on flickr.

This solution wouldn’t work in a lot of places for a lot of reasons, and even where it would work it isn’t as good as the expensive heavily-engineered options. But nevertheless it’s a cheap way to squeeze some separation into some bus lanes. It’s worth considering, wherever there isn’t a need for cars to cross over the bus lane, and where a more expensive solution isn’t practical.

The first cycle tracks in the US were heavily engineered and expensive, but we quickly learned that they needn’t be. Maybe it’s time to ask whether that same lesson can apply to busways.