Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner's Guide (2007)

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Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide Page 1-1 Introduction CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW The Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide is intended to aid transportation practitioners in planning, assessing, and implementing bus rapid transit (BRT) systems. The Guide shows transportation professionals how to identify the costs and impacts of different features that make up a BRT system. It covers the main components of BRT: running ways, stations, vehicles, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) applications, service planning, fare structure, and operating practices. It also sets forth a process for the most efficient packaging of components into an integrated system given financial, environmental, and institutional constraints. The Guide was developed through TCRP Project A-23A, “Cost and Effectiveness of Selected Bus Rapid Transit Components.” It is a follow-on to the TCRP project that produced TCRP Report 90: Bus Rapid Transit (1), which contains 26 case studies from cities around the world that have or are planning to implement BRT systems (in Volume 1) and planning and implementation guidelines for BRT systems (in Volume 2). The Guide also complements the FTA document Characteristics of Bus Rapid Transit for Decision-Making (CBRT, 2). In recent years, a growing body of information has become available on the costs and effectiveness of various BRT components. The synthesis and evaluation of this information can help transit agencies determine which components are most effective for application. This Guide sets forth the component costs and impacts of BRT components and shows how they relate. Impacts include, but are not limited to, effects on ridership, system performance, and community development. The Guide also establishes a process for estimating ridership impacts associated with different BRT components, the attractiveness of which can be further identified through preference surveys of users and non-users and the application of elasticity factors or more elaborate mode choice models. Thus, the Guide complements and goes beyond the information and guidelines contained in TCRP Report 90 (1) and CBRT (2) by showing how best to package different BRT components, given their costs and effects while recognizing local financial, environmental, and institutional constraints. NATURE OF BRT Definition BRT has been defined by the FTA as a “rapid mode of transportation that can provide the quality of rail transit and the flexibility of buses.” In TCRP Report 90 (1), the definition of BRT was expanded to “a flexible, rubber-tired form of rapid transit that combines stations, vehicles, services, running ways, and ITS elements into an integrated system with a strong image and identity.” BRT is an integrated system of features, services, and amenities that improves the speed, reliability, and identity of bus transit. The Guide addresses costs, impacts, and packaging of BRT components. BRT is an integrated system of features, services, and amenities.

Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide Introduction Page 1-2 Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide Components/Features The main features of BRT systems include the following: • Dedicated (bus-only) running ways (preferably, physically separated from other traffic) • Accessible, safe, secure, and attractive stations • Easy-to-board, attractive, and environmentally friendly vehicles • Efficient (i.e., off-board) fare collection • ITS applications to provide real-time passenger information, signal priority, and service command/control • Frequent, all-day service • Distinctive system identity All BRT systems must have running ways, stations, and vehicles. Other major components include service design, the fare collection system, the application of ITS technology, and branding. Service design is the key to system design. The individual components must be compatible and must support the service design. The type of each component varies among systems. Running ways include special physical facilities such as busways, and operational treatments such as bus lanes, queue jumps/bypass lanes, and transit signal priority (TSP). Stations can range from smaller passenger waiting areas with simple shelters to large-scale terminals with many passenger amenities. BRT vehicles typically are large- capacity, stylized vehicles with low-floor boarding and different degrees of ITS integration, such as automatic vehicle location (AVL), next-stop annunciators, and driver-assist systems. Fare collection systems can be located either on- or off-board vehicles and can integrate new electronic media such as smart cards. Service design can range from BRT serving as a new line-haul service with limited stops to BRT serving as a feeder service that extends the reach of rail transit. Finally, branding the system creates a unique logo, color scheme, and/or marketing strategy that distinguishes the BRT service from other transit services. Major BRT components addressed and incorporated into the Guide include the following: • Use of exclusive right-of-way, including busways, exclusive lanes, and bypass lanes for buses at congested intersections (“queue jumping”) to reduce vehicle running time • Use of limited-stop service, including express service and skip-stopping; • Application of ITS technology such as TSP, AVL systems, advanced security systems, and customer information systems • Use of advanced technology vehicles (e.g., articulated buses, buses with modern propulsion systems, and low-floor buses) and new, specially designed vehicles that may have doors on each side • Design of stations • Use of off-board fare payment, including smart cards and proof-of- payment systems • Branding the system • Use of vehicle guidance systems (mechanical, electronic, or optical) • Other strategies that enhance customer satisfaction A BRT system must have running ways, stations, and vehicles. Service design is the key to system design. The Guide covers nine major BRT components, including running ways, stations, vehicles, operating strategies, ITS, and branding.

Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide Page 1-3 Introduction QUESTIONS COMMONLY ASKED There are many reasons for communities to consider BRT as a rapid transit option: • BRT can be implemented quickly and incrementally. • BRT can be the most flexible rapid transit mode for cost-effectively serving the broad variety of urban and suburban environments and markets found in the United States and Canada. • BRT can operate > On arterial streets, > In freeway medians and on freeway shoulders, > Alongside freeways, > In railroad and other separate rights-of-way, > On aerial structures , and > Underground (in tunnels). • BRT can accommodate express and limited-stop services on a single facility. • BRT can provide sufficient transport capacity for most urban corridors in the United States and Canada. • BRT can be less costly to implement than a rail transit line while providing similar benefits. • BRT can have very little additional implementation cost over local bus service. • BRT can have modest operating costs for most urban corridors in the United States and Canada. • BRT can be effectively integrated into the surrounding environment and generate significant urban development benefits. There are many important questions that transit planners and policy-makers must ask as they evaluate whether BRT is the appropriate transit mode to apply in a particular corridor or region. How Well Does It Work? BRT may be considered an alternative to rail, particularly light rail transit (LRT), in an urban area. BRT can provide rail-like operating characteristics in terms of operating speed, capacity, and dependability. To what degree do running way, station, and vehicle characteristics play a role? Is It a Viable Rapid Transit Option? With suitable operating characteristics, will a BRT system attract sufficient ridership at a reasonable cost to make it a cost-effective alternative to rail? Will the passenger amenities associated with BRT be perceived as comparable to those associated with rail systems? There are many reasons to consider BRT in the U.S. and Canada. BRT has flexibility in operation and can be developed incrementally.

Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide Introduction Page 1-4 Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide What Are Its Costs and Benefits? What are the costs of different elements of a BRT system and their benefits? In particular, what is their impact on travel time and ridership? Which Components Are Essential? Given the limited financial resources of many transit agencies and local jurisdictions, which BRT components will provide the greatest benefit at a reasonable cost? What is the best packaging of BRT components given physical and financial opportunities and constraints? How Can Community Support Be Achieved? With the scale of a BRT system identified, how does this system fit into the community in terms of compatible stations and vehicles and the overall branding of the system? What land development impacts associated with BRT might be expected, and will they be compatible with local land development objectives? How Can BRT Be Integrated with the Existing Bus System? What is the best service design for a new BRT line or system? How can BRT interface with local bus service in a corridor, and what type/degree of feeder bus service might be appropriate? What changes in local bus services are needed? WHAT THE GUIDE COVERS The Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide is divided into five remaining chapters. The Guide has been developed in a format similar to TCRP Report 100: Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual, 2nd Edition (3), with sidebars provided to highlight or summarize certain points made in the document. The guidelines can complement locally derived values on costs, ridership gains, travel time savings, improved reliability, and land development effects. They can also serve as a benchmark to which locally derived values may be compared. Chapter 2 - Planning Framework This chapter presents a planning process for assessing the needs, demand, alternatives, components, and configuration of a new or enhanced BRT system. A critical focus is how the costs, impacts, and effectiveness of different BRT components should be addressed in relation to ridership demand, alignment, options and service design alternatives, and a final BRT system configuration. The relationship to the FTA New Starts and Small Starts programs associated with the new SAFETEA-LU federal transportation funding reauthorization is also discussed. Chapter 3 - Travel Demand Estimation This chapter describes BRT ridership experience. It also discusses methods and assumptions for estimating ridership changes resulting from implementing a BRT service. Key topics include mode choice models, elasticities, and BRT component synergy. Some judgments were made for the potential ridership gains of various BRT features. Six chapters give planning and evaluation guidelines. The guidelines should be used in conjunction with locally derived values.

Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide Page 1-5 Introduction Chapter 4 - Component Costs and Impacts This chapter reviews a number of individual BRT components, including running ways, stations, vehicles, fare collection, passenger information, and service design. Guidelines are set forth for each component in terms of estimating (1) location and scale of application; (2) capital and operating costs; (3) likely impacts, including impacts on BRT ridership and travel time; and (4) analysis methods. Implementation issues including likely community acceptance are also addressed. Chapter 5 - System Packaging and Integration This chapter gives guidance for packaging and integrating different BRT components and assessing their effects. It shows how BRT components can be packaged, and it gives parameters and procedures for estimating costs and effects. It also gives examples of estimating BRT impacts for various BRT development scenarios. Chapter 6 - Land Development Guidelines This chapter reviews existing documentation of land development impacts associated with recent BRT projects, as well as public agency and developer perceptions of how BRT service and BRT components impact land development location, design, and decision-making. The perceptions were obtained from a BRT land development survey conducted for two existing BRT systems: the Transitway in Ottawa and the Silver Line in Boston. Transit-oriented development (TOD) policies were obtained from Ottawa and Pittsburgh. Guidelines are provided for assessing the likely land development impacts of new BRT systems (or system improvements) and determining what land development policy and design standards might be applied to encourage TOD around BRT facilities. REFERENCES 1. Levinson, H., S. Zimmerman, J. Clinger, S. Rutherford, R. Smith, J. Cracknell, and R. Soberman. TCRP Report 90: Bus Rapid Transit: Vol. 1, Case Studies in Bus Rapid Transit, and Vol. 2, Implementation Guidelines. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2003. 2. Diaz, R.B., M. Chang, G. Darido, E. Kim, D. Schneck, M. Hardy, J. Bunch, M. Baltes, D. Hinebaugh, L. Wnuk, F. Silver, and S. Zimmerman. Characteristics of Bus Rapid Transit for Decision-Making. FTA, Washington, D.C., 2004. 3. Kittelson & Associates, Inc., KFH Group, Inc., Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglass, Inc., and K. Hunter-Zaworski. TCRP Report 100: Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2003.

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