CHARACTERISTICS OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT FOR DECISION-MAKING
1 INTRODUCTION THE NEED FOR AND PURPOSE OF CHARACTERISTICS OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT FOR DECISION MAKING 1 2 MAJOR ELEMENTS OF BRT 9 3 BRT ELEMENTS AND SYSTEM PERFORMANCE 89 4 BRT SYSTEM BENEFITS 171 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY 201 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION THE NEED FOR AND PURPOSE OF CHARACTERISTICS OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT FOR DECISION MAKING ONE OF FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION S FTA OBJECTIVES IS TO PROVIDE LOCAL AND STATE OFFICIALS WITH THE INFORMATION THEY NEED TO MAKE INFORMED TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENT DECISIONS WITH THIS OBJECTIVE IN MIND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT FOR DECISION MAKING CBRT REPORT WAS PREPARED IT PROVIDES TRANSPORTATION PLANNERS AND DECISION MAKERS WITH BASIC INFORMATION AND DATA TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT CONCEPTS AS ONE OF MANY OPTIONS DURING ALTERNATIVES ANALYSES AND SUBSEQUENT PROJECT PLANNING THIS REPORT DESCRIBES THE PHYSICAL OPERATIONAL COST PERFORMANCE AND POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF BRT S CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS BOTH INDIVIDUALLY AND COMBINED AS INTEGRATED SYSTEMS ITS INTENDED AUDIENCE INCLUDES URBAN TRANSPORTATION PROFESSIONALS AND OFFICIALS INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING HIGH PERFORMANCE TRANSIT SYSTEMS OF WHICH BRT IS ONE ALTERNATIVE 1 1 WHAT IS BRT BRT IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES DEFINED BRT AS A FLEXIBLE HIGH PERFORMANCE RAPID TRANSIT MODE THAT COMBINES A VARIETY OF PHYSICAL OPERATING AND SYSTEM ELEMENTS INTO A PERMANENTLY INTEGRATED SYSTEM WITH A QUALITY IMAGE AND UNIQUE IDENTITY 1 THIS DEFINITION HIGHLIGHTS BRT S FLEXIBILITY AND THE FACT THAT IT ENCOMPASSES A WIDE VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS EACH ONE TAILORED TO A PARTICULAR SET OF TRAVEL MARKETS AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS BRT S FLEXIBILITY DERIVES FROM THE FACT THAT BRT VEHICLES E G BUSES SPECIALIZED BRT VEHICLES CAN TRAVEL ANYWHERE THERE IS PAVEMENT AND THE FACT THAT BRT S BASIC SERVICE UNIT A SINGLE VEHICLE IS RELATIVELY SMALL COMPARED TO RAIL AND TRAIN BASED RAPID TRANSIT MODES A GIVEN BRT CORRIDOR APPLICATION MIGHT ENCOMPASS ROUTE SEGMENTS WHERE VEHICLES OPERATE ON BOTH MIXED TRAFFIC AND WHERE THEY OPERATE ON A DEDICATED FULLY GRADE SEPARATED TRANSITWAY WITH MAJOR STATIONS BRT APPLICATIONS CAN COMBINE VARIOUS ROUTE SEGMENTS SUCH AS THE ABOVE TO PROVIDE A SINGLE SEAT NO TRANSFER SERVICE THAT MAXIMIZES CUSTOMER CONVENIENCE UNLIKE OTHER RAPID TRANSIT MODES WHERE BASIC ROUTE ALIGNMENT AND STATION LOCATIONS ARE CONSTRAINED BY RIGHT OF WAY AVAILABILITY BRT CAN BE TAILORED TO THE UNIQUE ORIGIN AND DESTINATION PATTERNS OF A GIVEN 1 CORRIDOR S TRAVEL MARKET AS THE SPATIAL NATURE OF TRANSIT DEMAND CHANGES BRT SYSTEMS CAN ADAPT TO THESE DYNAMIC CONDITIONS MANY OF THE CONCEPTS AT THE HEART OF BRT HAVE BEEN IN USE FOR DECADES DEDICATED TRANSITWAYS BUSWAYS LIMITED STOP AND EXPRESS SERVICES AND EXCLUSIVE BUS LANES HAVE BECOME PART OF THE TRANSIT PLANNING VOCABULARY BECAUSE THEY HAVE ENHANCED SPEED AND RELIABILITY AND THUS ENCOURAGED TRANSIT USAGE HOWEVER THERE IS UNCERTAINTY AMONG ELECTED OFFICIALS AND EVEN SOME TRANSIT PROFESSIONALS ABOUT WHAT BRT IS AND HOW IT DIFFERS FROM CONVENTIONAL BUS SERVICES AND SYSTEMS THIS QUESTION IS DIFFICULT TO ANSWER IN PART BECAUSE THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR EACH BRT ELEMENT ARE SO EXTENSIVE THAT THERE ARE AN INFINITE VARIETY OF INTEGRATED BRT SYSTEMS BRT S INHERENT FLEXIBILITY MEANS THAT NO TWO BRT SYSTEMS WILL LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME WITHIN A GIVEN REGION LET ALONE BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT METROPOLITAN AREAS FORTUNATELY THERE IS AN EXTENSIVE BODY OF INFORMATION AND DATA DESCRIBING EACH OF BRT S CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS AND A GROWING BODY OF LITERATURE ON THE CUMULATIVE IMPACTS OF PACKAGING MULTIPLE ELEMENTS INTO INTEGRATED BRT SYSTEMS THIS REPORT COMBINES BOTH TYPES OF INFORMATION IN A SINGLE EASY TO USE REFERENCE TOOL FOR TRANSPORTATION PLANNERS GENERATING EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR USE IN SELECTING FROM THE LARGE ARRAY OF BRT ELEMENTS AND INTEGRATING THEM INTO COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEMS 2 1 2 BRT IN THE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROCESS UNDERSTANDING BRT S CAPABILITIES IS IMPORTANT FOR ASSESSING ITS PERFORMANCE AND POTENTIAL BENEFITS DURING AN ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ACT REQUIRES THAT ALL REQUESTS FOR CAPITAL ASSISTANCE FOR NEW START FUNDS BE PRECEDED BY AN ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS WHERE A FULL RANGE OF FEASIBLE POTENTIALLY COST EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVES FOR ADDRESSING SPECIFIC TRANSPORTATION NEEDS ARE OBJECTIVELY AND TRANSPARENTLY EVALUATED DESPITE THE FACT THAT BRT IS A BONA FIDE RAPID TRANSIT CONCEPT LOCAL PLANNING EFFORTS OFTEN DO NOT HAVE COMPLETE INFORMATION REGARDING BRT S PHYSICAL AND OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS RIDERSHIP ATTRACTION CAPITAL OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE COSTS PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF SPEED RELIABILITY AND OTHER MEASURES AIR NOISE AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ABILITY TO INDUCE SUSTAINABLE TRANSIT ORIENTED LAND USES UNFAMILIARITY WITH THESE CHARACTERISTICS OF BRT AFFECTS THE ABILITY OF PLANNING TO SUPPORT COMPLETELY INFORMED DECISION MAKING ABOUT INVESTMENTS IN ADDITION TO THE NEED FOR BETTER INFORMATION ABOUT BRT FOR USE IN ALTERNATIVES ANALYSES THERE IS ALSO A NEED FOR INFORMATION ON BRT FOR LESS COMPLEX FIRST CUT SKETCH PLANNING EXERCISES WHERE AN INITIAL LIST OF VIABLE POTENTIALLY DESIRABLE ALTERNATIVES IS DEVELOPED EXHIBIT 1 1 ILLUSTRATES THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE NUMBER OF ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED DURING SYSTEMS SKETCH PLANNING ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING AND OTHER PLANNING AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT STEPS TO THE LEVEL OF DESIGN DETAIL UTILIZED EARLY IN THE PLANNING PROCESS THERE ARE MANY ALTERNATIVES AVAILABLE TO SOLVE A SPECIFIC TRANSPORTATION NEED BECAUSE OF RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS ALL ALTERNATIVES CANNOT BE EXHAUSTIVELY ANALYZED IN DETAIL AT ALL PLANNING STAGES ONCE THE UNIVERSE OF POTENTIALLY FEASIBLE OPTIONS HAVE BEEN NARROWED DOWN TO A SMALL NUMBER THROUGH THE SKETCH PLANNING PROCESS A MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS CAN BE UNDERTAKEN INITIALLY SKETCH PLANNING TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO ESTABLISH THE RANGE OF ALTERNATIVES THAT MEET SCREENING CRITERIA RULING OUT THOSE ALTERNATIVES DETERMINED TO HAVE FATAL FLAWS OR WITH SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER PERFORMANCE THAN OTHERS IN ESSENCE IT SETS THE AGENDA FOR SUBSEQUENT AND MORE DETAILED ALTERNATIVES ANALYSES 3