> Interesting, though having a bus lane straight through a "car free area"
> seems very silly to me. I've never seen anything like that anywhere. Does
> anyone know why they came up with this? surely the bus could just run one
> street over from telegraph?

I think it's still worth having a "car free area" even with public
transportation buses driving through - keep in mind that cities will always
want paths for fire trucks and ambulancii

Ambulances and fire trucks can still go in pedestrian areas without a big fat bus lane as long as you don't literally barricade entry and exit, and sure, having buses only is better than nothing but so much worse than fully pedestrian. There is a big difference in the feeling of having to check for vehicles before crossing vs. just being able to freely waltz all over the place without a care in the world. The question is: Why campaign for such a suboptimal solution?