It’s time for policymakers and planners to see our bridges and highways for what they are: a valuable transportation asset that must be leveraged to deliver efficient, reliable, sustainable and equitable transportation.

Tens of thousands of commuters each day pile into the more than 80 regional express bus routes that use the Bay Area’s freeways and bridges. These routes provide essential links and often go where trains don’t — growing suburban neighborhoods, corporate campuses, office parks and dense urban neighborhoods. But without an uninterrupted network of transit-only lanes that work, transit can’t do its job and it — and all other vehicles on the road — are just stuck in traffic. To provide real mobility for the region, we have to facilitate fast, uncongested transit service, and transit-only lanes are a great way to do so.

The Bay Bridge, the region’s most congested link, is a logical place to start. Successful implementation of transit priority lanes on the Bay Bridge could be a catalyst for dedicated transit infrastructure on freeways and bridges around the region.

Policymakers are considering converting a lane on the Bay Bridge to a bus-only lane. SPUR strongly supports this idea. Improving the efficiency of buses on the Bay Bridge and the approaches can deliver immense benefit: A transit-only lane on the Bay Bridge would dramatically improve bus speed and reliability. It could, in fact, make bus service as efficient as rail. A transit-only lane would encourage an additional 10,000 riders into the city, while providing a well-deserved upgrade for existing riders who are forced to slog through bumper-to-bumper traffic even after choosing the more efficient and sustainable transportation option.

Crucially, a transit-only lane on the Bay Bridge would allow the region to leverage its significant investment in the Transbay transit center. Fewer than 150 buses per hour use the bus deck in the peak times when it can accommodate up to 300 buses per hour. In other words, it’s only operating at half capacity. Maximizing the bus deck at the transit center is almost the equivalent of adding another BART station — only more quickly and without the high price tag. When buses can reach the transit center more efficiently, they can get back out on the road more quickly to do another run, bringing down costs and increasing efficiency.

In order to deliver the full value of transit-priority lanes on the Bay Bridge, the region must also tackle the terrible congestion that buses confront at the approaches on and off the bridge, not only the bridge itself. Any new proposal for a transit-only lane on the Bay Bridge should be paired with plans to deliver bus priority access at these critical points.

Giving buses priority on the Bay Bridge is not a new idea but it’s an idea whose time has come.

Now is the time for action on transit efficiency across the Bay Bridge and beyond. Climate change is nearing the point of no return. Passenger vehicles are the single greatest source of carbon emissions produced in the Bay Area and California. Too many neighborhoods, particularly those traditionally housing vulnerable communities, have been hurt by the volume of cars pouring onto and off of highways. We have a governor who is serious about delivering on climate goals. BART and AC Transit are in agreement that our regional express buses can and need to do more. This is the moment to forge the state, regional and transit partnerships necessary to demonstrate great freeway- and bridge-based bus solutions.

The region’s bridges and freeways can go from frustrating to functional. They can serve many more transit riders with one simple change: transit-only lanes on the Bay Bridge.

Arielle Fleisher is transportation policy director for SPUR, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that promotes good planning and good government.