01589097

Component

BRT is commonly seen to sit within the hierarchy of urban public transport as a rapid transit mode, having more in common with surface light rail (tramway) systems than with local bus service operating in mixed traffic. Many attempts have been made to define what is BRT. These have revolved around both the type of technology and infrastructure commonly applied and the affect that it is supposed to achieve. Of the many “definitions” of BRT, virtually all share one trait. They tend to emphasize “hardware”—representing a preponderance of the engineering aspects, including exclusive running ways, vehicles, stations, Intelligent Transportation Systems, etc. Many BRT planning and preparation efforts leave the “software” aspects, including communications, branding, operations and institutional issues as the last planning considerations, often taken up after hardware designs are locked in. Based, in part, on an evaluation and synthesis of five BRT case studies, Lagos and Johannesburg in Africa, Ahmedabad and Delhi in India and Jakarta, this paper asserts that the success or failure of BRT as measured by the numbers of people that utilize it and its financial performance, is very much dictated by service/operations planning and institutional considerations. Equally important are the political economy aspects determining the role of multiple stakeholders and the overall environment of the decision making process. The paper concludes by suggesting that a neglect of the soft and political economy aspects during BRT planning is a mistake because of the time it takes to resolve them and their impact on the overall performance and deliverability of the respective application.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABE90 Standing Committee on Transportation in the Developing Countries.

01584066

16-2512

English

7p

2016

Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

References

Bus rapid transit; Case studies; Developing countries; Economic and social factors; Political factors; Transportation planning; Urban transit

Ahmedabad (India); Delhi (India); Jakarta (Indonesia); Johannesburg (South Africa); Lagos (Nigeria)

Economics; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2016 Paper #

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 5:07PM