[sustran] Exclusive bus lanes - curb side vs. centre

[Shyue Koong Chang (Jason)]

Dr.Rajeev Saraf wrote:

> Our minister just retuned from Curitiba where they have implemented
> exclusive bus lanes in the centre of the carriageway. We have been
> proposing a bus lane on both sides of the carriageway near the curb.
> We would like to know the pros and cons of one approach vs. the other?
> Under what conditions is one prefereed over the other.
> BTW, I am talking about Delhi and large number of people are using public
> transport ( bus -based).
> Any reference or comments would be appreciated.
> Thanks.
>
> ___________________________________________________________________________
> Dr Rajeev Saraf                 |
> Urban and Transport Planner     |
> SENIOR PROJECT SCIENTIST        |      PHONE : 91-11-6858703
> APPLIED SYSTEM RESEARCH PROGRAM |      EMAIL : sarafrk at cbme.iitd.ernet.in
> IIT DELHI 110016                |      FAX   : 91-11-6862037
> INDIA                           |
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Dr. Saraf:

I am conducting a project of assessing exclusive bus lane and network in
Taipei City. The more than 40 km exclusive bus lanes/network have been
completed and implemented in seven streets in Taipei for 14 months. Of which
two of them with total 7 km were designed on the second lane from the curb and
have been implemented for more than four years. Most of the new exclusive bus
lanes are designed and implemented in the center two lanes of the road.

The main reason for the center lane design or "non curb" arrangement is that
we have heavy proportion of motorcycles. The exclusive bus lanes and network
is running very well. A recent evaluation indicates that the travel speeds
increase significantly for various modes, i.e., private car, taxi,
motorcycles. The bus ridership also increases from 1.75 million per day to 2.0
million per day based on a before and after study. These results encourage our
transportation department to have a plan of expending the current network.
That is the project I am conducting now.

I will send you some materials presenting the basic ideas of the system and a
preliminary assessment conducted two years ago. Please let me know if you need
further information.

Sincerely,

Jason
--
Shyue Koong Chang (Jason)
Professor
------------------------------
Transportation Division
Department of Civil Engineering
National Taiwan University
Phone: 886-2-3625920 ext.304
Fax: 886-2-3639990
email: skchang at ccms.ntu.edu.tw