maximizing the air quality benefits of bus rapid transit walter hook, baq conference agra, india,...
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MAXIMIZING THE AIR QUALITY BENEFITS OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT
Walter Hook, BAQ Conference
Agra, India, December, 2004
Funded by the US Agency for International Development
The Air Quality Benefits from Bus Rapid Transit
• Mode Shift from Private Vehicle to Bus• Fewer buses moving the same bus
passengers• Cleaner buses
Because BRT is Much Cheaper than Metros, the Modal Shift from private vehicle to transit from BRT is potentially much
higher per dollar of public investment.
Catchment Area for Bogota’s TransMilenio Compared to JICA-proposed Metro, Same Capital Investment
To Get People to Switch from Private Vehicles to Buses, a New Busway Must Increase Bus Speeds
Over Current Levels.
The Capacity of the busway must be sufficient to handle the demand at a high speed.
The busway needs to be designed carefully based on the projected demand for bus passengers.
The Quality of Bus Service Must also Improve
If you put a busway where there are no bus passengers, nobody will use the system.
Inaccessible elevated ring roads with no bus routes do not make good BRT corridors.
US BRT Systems handle 5000 passengers per day, and the highest has 5000 per hour per direction.
Hence, US Busways do not have to worry about bus congestion. The big conflict is taking lane space
away from private motor vehicles.
First, Bogota put the old buses onto a two lane busway,
• Speeds were <15kph, slower than before the busway
• Further congestion and concentration of polluting old buses made air pollution in the corridor worse.
Former Standard Busway on Ave. Caracas in Bogota before TransMilenio
With Bus Volumes Like These, Even three exclusive bus lanes may not decongest the corridor unless the system is fundamentally
reorganized
In a situation like this, pedestrian conflicts ensure that bus speeds will be and should be slow. Pedestrianization should be explored with
reasonable BRT access
CONFLICTS WITH TURNING TRAFFIC, STOPPING TAXIS, PEDESTRIANS
CURB-SIDE BUS LANES Cannot get speeds up significantly even at very low demand
levels.
Jakarta bus lane before
TransJakarta
Guangzhou
Delhi’s Curb Lane bus lanes are bus restriction lanes, not bus priority lanes. They do not increase
bus speeds.
Area of Conflict in Delhi
Bus Shelter Can be On the Right or On the Left but…
Here you need two Narrow Stations and Two
Medians. Passengers cannot transfer from one
direction to the other
Putting Station in the Middle Consumes Less Road Space and Eases
Transfers
Quito Line 1 Quito Line 2
CONSTRUCTING BUSWAYS IN MEDIAN
BOGOTA
No conflicts with right-hand turns, pedestrians, cyclists, and stopping taxis
No road space taken from taxis
Pedestrians must reach median area
Conflict with right-hand turns remain
SAO PAULO
“Open” BRT systems
• Cheaper to build
• No New Buses Required
• No Changes in Bus routes Required
• No Regulatory Changes Needed
• Passengers don’t have to transfer
Problems with Open systems:
• People don’t appreciate them• Bus Cueing at Intersections• Low speed• Low capacity• No improvement in bus operational quality
“Closed” BRT systems have much higher capacity but require a feeder
system with transfers
Quito’s Ecovia Line
Advantages of Closed Trunk and Feeder Systems
• Very High Capacity
• Very High Operating Speed
• Paying at the Station Rather than On the Bus Reduces Boarding Time
• Special Buses Can be Used
• Reduces the Total Number of Buses on the Corridor, Decongesting Mixed Traffic Lanes
• Allows for Fast Free Transfers in a Safe & Comfortable Place
• Makes Possible Self-Financing and Privatization
Quito and Bogota cut the old bus lines and reallocated passengers onto 1/3 as many much cleaner and larger buses, reducing air pollution
Bogota’s TransMilenio
Bogota Banned All Old Buses on the BRT Corridor and Removed old bus routes. The Mixed Traffic
lanes became LESS congested.
ORIENTE QUITEÑO
LUCHA DE LOS POBRES
COTOCOLLAO
INCA
FLORESTA
SAN CARLOS
CONDADO
RECREO
LA Y
LULUNCOT
CHILLOGALLO
CARCELÉNCENTRO
HISTÓRICO
SOLANDA
COMITÉ DEL PUEBLO
BEATERIO
CO
LÓ
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PRENSA
MO
RÁ
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VA
LVE
RD
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PANECILLO
AMÉRICA
6 DICIEMBRE
OCCIDENTAL
MALDONADO AEROPUERTO
AMAZONAS
MARISCAL SUCRE
GALO PLAZA
TNTE H. ORTIZ
R. D
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CH
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DE
L M
AE
ST
RO
ELOY ALFARO
FERROVIARIA
MENA
TROLLEY (MAIN TRUNK LINE)FEEDER LINES
N
Quito, Bogota, Curitiba all have free transfer from Feeder Buses operated by the same authority
Closed Terminals Can Create Free Transfers for feeder buses even on open systems.
Sao Paulo’s transfer station between busway and Metro
TransJakarta did not cut parallel buses and does not have free transfers from feeder buses.
Only 5500 out of 12,000 passengers take the BRT. The rest are on normal buses.
Larger capacity vehicles can add Larger capacity vehicles can add capacity when lane width is not capacity when lane width is not
availableavailable
TransMilenio buses have 4 doors 1.1 meters wide. This reduces avg. boarding time per passenger
from 3 seconds to .3 seconds
190 m Services must have headways of 2 to 5 minutes 12 to 30 articulated buses/hour 2000 to 5000 pass/h/direction/stand critical
Split buses by origin and run express and stopping services
Multiple stations serving different lines that can pass one another was the key to TransMilenio’s
high speeds and high capacity
Minimizing Long Term Emissions from the Bus Requires:
• Private procurement and ownership of buses.• The technical specification should be as clean as possible
without compromising the feasibility of private investment into the buses
• The competitive bidding process should give incentives to firms to exceed the minimum environmental standard
• Bus Operating contracts within the Busway should include emission standards
• The bus operations should be contracted in a way that allows the public authority to fine companies that fail to comply with this standard.
Infrastructure (Public)•Corridors•Stations•Garages•Complementary Infrastructure
TRANSMILENIO S.A.
Planning, Management and Control
Operation (Private)•Companies•Buses•Employees
Billeting (Private)•Equipments•Smart Cards•Trust Fund
Private Sector• Bus acquisition,
operation and maintenance
• Fare collection system implementation and operation
• Resources management (trust fund)
Division of Responsibility and Financing Between Public and Private Sectors
Public Sector
• Infrastructure construction (IDU)
• Planning (City, TM)
• Development; contracting service provision (TM)
• Control (TM)
Contracts
Conclusion: Air Quality Benefits of BRT Systems Will Be Maximized If…
• The BRT system provides a faster, higher quality service than existing buses, and can attract passengers out of private vehices.
• The buses used are cleaner than traditional buses• Fewer buses are needed to handle the same transit passengers• The buses are properly maintained• A system of penalties is put in place for poor service or air
quality violations• Many of these measures can be implemented without BRT but
BRT creates an opportunity to negotiate a better deal for bus passengers and air quality.