In the world of transportation planning, designated bus lanes are seen as an inexpensive and effective way to lessen traffic congestion. Giving buses their own lane and removing them from the flow of traffic means they don’t have to compete with cars for space on the road, and that improves the reliability and frequency of bus service.

Everett was the first city to create a designated bus lane in Massachusetts, followed by the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston. Now they are appearing in Arlington, Watertown and Cambridge, with more in the pipeline.

But they haven’t always been received so positively. What would have been Boston’s first priority bus lane never got off the ground.

Ten years ago, then Transportation Secretary Jim Aloisi proposed such a lane along Blue Hill Avenue — a major thoroughfare through Mattapan, Roxbury and Dorchester — from Mattapan station to Dudley Square. The proposed project was known as the 28X.

As I rode the 28 bus with him recently, Aloisi recounted what he thought would be an effective way to give people a much better bus transit ride.

But he said that instead of embracing the proposal, many residents of Mattapan, Roxbury and Dorchester were concerned about what the dedicated bus lane would displace.

“They wondered, 'Would it displace parking, street trees, and will it mean I can't double park like I normally do?'” he said.

State Rep. Russell Holmes of Mattapan said there was another big problem 10 years ago. Some communities thought that with a designated bus lane, they were getting a less desirable transit option.

“It became a white/black issue of white folks getting trolleys, and black people — and people of color — would get buses. And so folks just weren't buying the idea of a bus that could move as quickly as people wanted it to move,” he said.

And so, Holmes said, a big opportunity was lost to improve bus service along Blue Hill Avenue.

Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz of Jamaica Plain said things could be different this time around.

“The problem was really rooted in process rather than content," she said. "The 28X proposal was sort of a surprise to the community, as well as to the elected delegation. And there was a real feeling that it was sort of foisted onto the community on a rushed timeline.”

It was, in fact, a rushed proposal, because $170 million in Obama-era stimulus money had to be spent quickly on so-called "shovel-ready projects."

Chang-Diaz said there's always been a huge need for this project, and people know that.

“But that doesn't mean that folks want technocrats and bureaucrats to just sort of go into the ivory tower and come up with a plan and execute that plan without being in real consultation with the community," she said, "about ... the improvements that they would actually like to see.”

Holmes, though, said the success of designated bus lanes in other communities, like Everett and Roslindale, will help people in Boston realize how helpful those lanes can be.

And he thinks the 28X proposal has a better chance of being accepted today.

Aloisi said experience has taught him that although designated bus lanes can be very beneficial, the communities those lanes would pass through have to be fully engaged in the planning — especially along a road like Blue Hill Avenue.

"It's a long route. There are very different neighborhoods that have to be dealt with, different civic associations," he said. "It's a significant public engagement effort to do the entire route, but it has to be done."

It appears that officials have heard this message.

Vineet Gupta, director planning for the Boston Transportation Department, said the proposed redesign of Blue Hill Avenue is about more than a designated bus lane.

"Our approach to the redesign is to look at it comprehensively — is it safe to cross the road? ... Should we plant more trees? Create more gathering spaces?” he said.

Gupta said residents likely want better bus service, but that doesn’t necessarily mean creating a separate lane for buses.

"Whether that's done through a bus lane, or whether that's done through improved coordination between traffic lights giving priority to buses and new bus stops and shelters," he said, "we hope we can come to some kind of consensus with the community in what's the right approach.”

To build that consensus, the city's transportation department is now collecting public comment from those who live along Blue Hill Avenue. The city has pledged to hold public hearings later this year.

This article has been updated to clarify that Roslindale is a neighborhood in Boston.