Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and its Standards

Cities around the world are seeing their populations surge, and existing transportation systems are struggling to keep up, resulting in unprecedented congestion and pollution. For developing cities to compete globally, they urgently need high quality public transportation. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system offers a sustainable and economical solution to the transportation problem. With the right features, BRT is able to avoid the cause of delay that typically slow regular bus services like being stuck in the traffic and queuing to pay on board. BRT capital costs are generally less than ten percent of the cost of metro, and 30-60 percent of the cost of light rail. BRT can also be implemented much more quickly that rail-based transit, allowing systems to be created and expanded quickly to meet ever growing needs.

According to latest data, BRT has quadrupled over the last ten years. While growth has been strongest in rapidly urbanizing parts of the world such as China, Brazil, and Indonesia, there has also been substantial growth in the United States and France. China is the global leader in BRT, having added 538 kilometers of BRT in the last ten years, dramatically up from only one system of 14 km in 2004.

What is BRT?

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a high-quality bus-based transit system that delivers fast, comfortable, and cost-effective services at metro-level capacities. It does this through the provision of dedicated lanes, with busways and iconic stations typically aligned to the center of the road, off-board fare collection, and fast and frequent operations.

What is BRT Corridor?

A BRT corridor is a section of road or contiguous roads served by a bus route or multiple bus routes with a minimum length of 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) that has dedicated bus lanes.

The BRT Basics

There are five basic features that define BRT. These features most significantly result in a faster trip for passengers and make travelling on transit more reliable and more convenient.

1. Dedicated Right of Way – Bus-only lanes make for faster travel and ensure that buses are never delayed due to mix traffic congestion.
2. Busway Alignment – Centre of roadway or bus-only corridor keeps buses away from the busy curb-side where cars are parking, standing and turning.
3. Off-board Fare Collection – Fare payment at the station, instead of on the bus, eliminates the delay caused by passengers waiting to pay on board.
4. Intersection Treatment – Prohibiting turns for traffic across the bus lane reduces delays caused to buses by turning traffic. Prohibiting such turns is the most important measure for moving buses through intersections – more important even than signal priority.
5. Platform-level Boarding – The station should be at level with the bus for quick and easy boarding. This also makes it fully accessible for wheel chairs, disabled passengers, strollers and cart with minimal delays.

SERVICE PLANNING OF of BRT

Express, Limited and Local Services

One of the most important ways that mass-transit systems increase operating speeds and reduce passenger travel times is by providing limited and express services. While local services stop at every station, limited services skip lower-demand stations and stop only at major stations that have higher passenger demand. Express services often collect passengers at stops at one end of the corridor, travel along much of the corridor without stopping, and drop passengers off at the other end.

Control Centres

Control centres for BRT systems are increasingly becoming a requirement for a host of service improvements, such as avoiding bus bunching, monitoring bus operations, identifying problems, and rapidly responding to them.

A full-service control centre monitors the locations of all buses with GPS or similar technology and can:

• Respond to incidents in real-time
• Control the spacing of buses
• Determine and respond to the maintenance status of all buses in the fleet
• Record passenger boardings and alightings for future service adjustments
• Use Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD)/Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) for bus tracking and
• performance monitoring

A full-service centre should be integrated with a public transport system’s existing control centre as well as the traffic signal system.

Located in Top Ten Corridors

If the BRT corridor is located along one of the top ten corridors, in terms of aggregate bus ridership, this will help ensure that a significant proportion of passengers benefit from the improvements.

Demand Profile

Building the highest-quality BRT infrastructure in the highest-demand segments of a road ensures that the greatest number of passengers benefit from the improvements. This is most significant when the decision is made whether or not to build a corridor through a downtown; however, it can also be an issue outside of a downtown on a road segment that has a variable demand profile.

House of Operations

A viable transit service must be available to passengers for as many hours throughout the day and week as possible. Otherwise, passengers could end up stranded or may simply seek another mode.

Multi-Corridor Network

Ideally, BRT should include multiple corridors that intersect and form a network, as this expands travel options for passengers and makes the system more viable as a whole. When designing a new system, some anticipation of future corridors is useful to ensure the designs will be compatible with later developments. For this reason, a long-term plan is recognized, with an emphasis on near-term connectivity through either BRT services or infrastructure.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Passing Lanes at Stations

Passing lanes at station stops are critical to allow both express and local services. They also allow stations to accommodate a high volume of buses without getting congested with buses backed up waiting to enter. While more difficult to justify in low-demand systems, passing lanes are a good investment, yielding considerable passenger travel-time savings and allowing for flexibility as the system grows.

Stations Set Back from Intersections

Stations should be located at minimum 26 meters (85 feet), but ideally 40 meters (130 feet), from intersections to avoid delays. When stations are located just beyond the intersection, delays can be caused when passengers take a long time to board or alight and the docked bus blocks others from pulling through the intersection. If stations are located just before an intersection, the traffic signal can delay buses from moving from the station and thus not allow other buses to pull in. The risk of conflict remains acute, particularly as frequency increases. Separating the stations from the intersections is critical to mitigating these problems.

Centre Stations

Having a single station serving both directions of the BRT system makes transfers between the two directions easier and more convenient—something that becomes more important as the BRT network expands. It also tends to reduce construction costs and minimize the necessary right-of-way. In some cases, stations may be centrally aligned but split into two—called split stations, with each station housing a particular direction of the BRT system.

Pavement Quality

Good-quality pavement ensures better service and operations for a longer period by minimizing the need for maintenance on the busway. Roadways with poor-quality pavement will need to be shut down more frequently for repairs. Buses will also have to slow down to drive carefully over damaged pavement.

No matter what type of pavement, a 40-year life span is recommended. There are several options for the pavement structure to achieve that, with advantages and disadvantages for each. Three examples are described here:

1. Asphalt: Properly designed and constructed, asphalt pavement can last 40-plus years with surface replacement every 10 to 12 years. This can be done without interrupting service, resulting in a smooth, quiet ride. For stations, rigid pavement is important to use to resist the potential pavement damage due to braking;
2. Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP): This type of pavement design can have a 30-plus-year life. To ensure this life, the pavement must have round dowel bars at the transverse joints, tied lanes by the use of reinforcing steel, and adequate thickness; and
3. Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCR): Continuous slab reinforcement can add additional pavement strength and might be considered under certain design conditions. It is the most expensive option.

STATIONS

Distance between the Stations

In a consistently built-up area, the distance between station stops optimizes at around 450 meters (1,476 ft.). Beyond this, more time is imposed on customers walking to stations than is saved by higher bus speeds. Below this distance, bus speeds will be reduced by more than the time saved with shorter walking distances. Thus, in keeping reasonably consistent with optimal station spacing, average distance between stations should not be below 0.3 km (0.2 mi.) or exceed 0.8 km (0.5 mi.).

Safe and Comfortable Stations

One of the main distinguishing features of a BRT system as opposed to standard bus service is a safe and comfortable station environment. Stations should have an internal width of at least 3 meters (10 ft.). Stations should be weather-protected, including from wind, rain, snow, heat and/or cold, as appropriate to the conditions in a specific location. Safe stations that are well-lit, transparent, and have security— whether through security guards or cameras — are essential to maintaining ridership.

A clear intention to create attractive stations is also important to the image of the system and creates a sense of permanence and attractiveness that will attract not only riders but developers as well.

Docking Bays and Sub Stops

Multiple docking bays and sub-stops not only increase the capacity of a station, they help stations provide multiple services at the station as well.

A station is composed of sub-stops that can connect to one another but should be separated by a walkway long enough to allow buses to pass one sub-stop to dock at another. This reduces the risk of congestion by allowing a bus to pass a full sub-stop where buses can let passengers on and off. They are usually adjacent to each other and allow a second bus to pull up behind another bus already at the station. A station may be composed of only one sub-stop.

At minimum, a station needs one sub-stop and two docking bays. It is usually recommended that one sub-stop not have more than two docking bays, but at that point another sub-stop should be added. Multiple docking bays and sub-stops are important regardless of the level of ridership.

COMMUNICATIONS

Passenger Information

Numerous studies have shown that passenger satisfaction is linked to knowing when the next bus will arrive. Giving passengers information is critical to a positive overall experience.

Real-time passenger information includes electronic panels, digital audio messaging (“Next bus” at stations, “Next stop” on buses), and/or dynamic information on handheld devices. Static passenger information refers to station and vehicle signage, including network maps, route maps, local area maps, emergency indications, and other user information.

ACCESS AND INTEGRATION

Universal Access

A BRT system should be accessible to all special-needs customers, including those who are physically, visually, and/or hearing-impaired, as well as those with temporary disabilities, the elderly, children, parents with strollers, and other load-carrying passengers.

Integration with Other Public Transport

When a BRT system is built in a city, a functioning public transport network often already exists, be it rail, bus, or minibus. The BRT system should integrate into the rest of the public transport network.

There are two components to BRT integration:

• Physical transfer points: Physical transfer points should minimize walking between modes, be well sized, and not require passengers to exit one system and enter another;
• Fare payment: The fare system should be integrated so that one fare card may be used for all modes.

Pedestrians Access

A BRT system could be extremely well-designed and functioning but if passengers cannot access it safely, it cannot achieve its goals. Good pedestrian access is imperative in BRT system design.

Additionally, as a new BRT system is a good opportunity for street and public-space redesign, existing pedestrian environments along the corridor should be improved.

Good pedestrian access is defined as:

• At-grade pedestrian crossings where pedestrians cross a maximum of two lanes of traffic before reaching a pedestrian refuge (sidewalk, median);
• If crossing more than two lanes at once, a signalized crosswalk is provided;
• Well-lit crosswalks where the footpath remains level and continuous;
• While at-grade crossings are preferred, pedestrian bridges or underpasses with working escalators or elevators can also be considered;
• Sidewalks along corridor are at least 3 meters wide.

Secure Bicycle Parking

The provision of bicycle parking at stations is necessary for passengers who wish to use bicycles as feeders to the BRT system. Formal bicycle parking facilities that are secure (either monitored by an attendant or observed by security camera) and weather-protected are more likely to be used by passengers.

Bicycle Lanes

Bicycle-lane networks integrated with the BRT corridor improve customer access, provide a full set of sustainable travel options, and enhance road safety.

Bicycle lanes should ideally connect major residential areas, commercial centers, schools, and business centres to nearby BRT stations to provide the widest access. All such major destinations within at least two kilometers of a corridor should be connected by a formal cycleway.

Moreover, in most cities, the best BRT corridors are also the most desirable bicycle routes, as they are often the routes with the greatest travel demand. Yet there is a shortage of safe cycling infrastructure on those same corridors. If some accommodation for cyclists is not made, it is possible that cyclists may use the busway. If the busway has not been designed for dual bike and bus use, it is a safety risk for cyclists. Bicycle lanes should be built either within the same corridor or on a nearby parallel street and should be at least 2 meters, for each direction, of unimpeded width.

Bicycle Sharing Integration

Having the option to make short trips from the BRT corridor by a shared bicycle is important to providing connectivity to some destinations. Operating costs of providing bus service to the last mile (i.e., feeder buses) are often the highest cost of maintaining a BRT network; thus, providing a low-cost bicycle-sharing alternative to feeders is generally seen as best practice.

Reference: The BRT Standards by ITDP