12 BUS RAPID TRANSITSUPPLEMENT


Good quality public transport is a necessity for a growing economy and social well-being. In 2010 the Brookings Institution analysed 100 metro areas in the U.S. and found that the top 10 all had planned, regulated and comprehensive public transport systems. In a similar way it was notable that the top 10 ‘most liveable cities’ identified by the Economists Intelligence Unit1


all possessed


comprehensive public transport systems. Not all cities can support an underground metro or light-rail system either financially or politically and many may not desire its physical impacts. As


considerations alongside the type of vehicle, journey time and cost. Planning as a system sees the journey as a whole. BRT typically operates within segregated


lanes that protect it from the congestion effects of traffic, stops at high quality stations to serve passengers who have paid on entry to the station. It is supported by real-time information and a control system that manages bus headways and ensures priority at signalised intersections. But, it doesn’t have to have all these features in full. BRT is a flexible concept


revolution. BRT was implemented as a median system using metro style stations with buses running wholly in segregated lanes as part of a building-building re-design of the streets through which it passed. The system, named TransMilenio, opened in


May 2006 and daily ridership quickly reached 800,000 after the system opened. TransMilenio has since been expanded with ridership growing from 1,050,000 daily in 2006 to 1,400,000 by 2009. TransMilenio currently has nine routes serving 114 stations in the city of


Nantes Busway: high quality vehicle and station serving a segregated running way


such many cities are turning to BRT as a cost effective, low impact means of providing urban mass transit.


Bus Rapid Transit BRT is a system based approach to providing high quality public transport. It recognises that a traveller does not disaggregate discrete journey elements but makes an assessment based upon the whole journey before selecting a travel mode or deciding to travel at all. As such knowledge of the system; where it goes, how to access, how to pay and where are valid


Eurotransport Volume 9, Issue 6, 2011


that can be implemented to different levels, to meet local user needs and cultural/contextual requirements. As such many systems through - out the world exist in different, but equally valid, forms.


Bogotá TransMilenio Enthralled by the successful implementation of BRT in Curitiba and faced with rising congestion, pollution, high levels of crime and social malaise, Mayor Enrique Peñalosa embarked upon an ambitious comprehensive re-planning exercise that utilised transport as part of an urban


Bogotá. Seventy-five percent of Bogotáans rate the system as good or very good2


. TransMilenio is one of the most compre -


hensive applications of BRT. It operates in much the same way as a metro system in that no buses run outside of the segregated lanes, payment is on entry to stations and all system components are of high quality.


Brisbane South East Busway The Brisbane busway opened in September 2000 acting as a segregated link for buses from the outskirts of the city into the heart of the CBD.


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