[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by rypinion

The 15 Mountain bus gets you downtown from the airport really quick. I don't know why more people don't use it. I use it to get to and from the airport, and it is super convenient, whether I am coming from home on North Main street by Chief Peguis, or coming from work at Portage and Main.

As kyle_olsen alludes to, the BRT in Ottawa is on dedicated roadways. If it wasn't, I don't think it'd be called BRT, it'd just be "the bus". I don't see a speed difference between a bus on a dedicated roadway, or a skytrain, except that the bus has the flexibility to go onto the regular road network when need be. (There are other advantages to a skytrain like system though, but I don't necessarily see speed as one of them)

Added: If you look at maps.google.ca and look at the map of Ottawa, you'll see little grey roads all over the place called "transitway". They appear to bypass most major intersections.

Calgary's BRT is a joke. I actually tool the BRT during the summer to a downtown connecting point for the LRT to head out to work. It travelled down Centre St. and was often caught in traffic. No dedicated roadways there. It functionned in the same manner as the regular bus system, and labelling it as a BRT is false advertisement, IMO.