Well I guess that makes me an elitist

I have to agree with Rohit , this is certainly one of the better articles in recent times. Having said I disagree with him on highlighting what in my opinion is the weakest argument, and for drawing flawed inference.

Before I continue, I admit I have no idea how messed up BRTS really is, however since it is generating so much outrage, I assume that it's not a brilliant idea, for better analysis you don't have to go farther than the linked article.

My problem is that I place a much lower importance on aspirational angle, because emotional arguments are always difficult to factor in policy decision, and therefore unless the cost to ignoring emotions is huge, which is certainly not the case now, it is better to focus on tangible factors.

Similarly for the charge of elitism. Elitism, simply put is when a group carries the discourse in a manner which presumes that it knows what is better for the whole society, of course there is always an element of selfishness is involved in that, but it is more do with self perception that a group has about its capability. In that way whether we accept or not, most of the educated are elitist, the only distinction being how tight we draw the circle.

In contrast when people who already have personal vehicles seek to bar the entry of others, it is because they are being selfish in wanting to maximize their convenience, and as roads are a common resource and not in a sufficient amount, means that their effort to maximize for convenience means discomfort for others. This is understandable. However to frame a policy for a common resource the effort must to maximize the utility function of whole community.

The issue then boils down to how the utility function must be defined for the common resource that is to be be allocated and any policy must address this question.

Now in this particular case the opposing factors are access and convenience. In my opinion the best strategy is to levy a toll tax for entering busy roads and using the revenue generated for public welfare. But there might be variations on this.
For example, some may decide that convenience of residents is more important than access to non residents, or they may decide that everyone should be able to commute to earn their livelihood.

This brings me to another point, the policies reflecting these variations can be best decided and best altered according to the circumstances by local communities themselves. Left to themselves they will arrive at a decision which reflect their preferences.
Which is the one of the main problems with BRTS, in absence of participation by policymakers the decisions were taken by academicians sitting in ivory tower (As pointed by Rohit).