[sustran] Re: Perceived railmarket in Asia + BRT in Europe
Zvi Leve
zvi at inro.ca
Wed Feb 8 08:09:17 JST 2006
Hello,
>
>This will definately not quiet the discussion about appropriate transport for developing countries:
>
>
As has already been pointed out, in the context of developing countries
mass transit is attracting many people who would have alternatively used
non-motorized modes of transport (which presumably are more
"sustainable"). For example, in China, bicycle rights of way (ROW) are
steadily eroding as more and more road space is allocated to motorized
vehicles.
For BRT to be succesful, it should ideally have a completely dedicated
ROW and signal priority in the congested sections. Maintaining BRT ROW
often comes at the expense of completely prohibiting bicycle traffic on
certain roads.
Obviously the best solution would be to find a way to maintain (or even
improve) non-motorized accessibility while also improving public transit
accessibility. Given that these two goals may be at odds, how best to
procede?
From a 'sustainability' point of view: if BRT can move 15,000 people
per hour in a given corridor (in say 100 vehicles) at such and such an
energy consumption and cost, whereas the same road space could serve
3000 bicycles (clearly less "through-put") with no fuel consumption and
no emissions, what is the better use of the space?
Just some food for thought!
Zvi
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