[sustran] Planning Guide for Bus Rapid Transit Published

[Msholler]

Planning Guide for Bus Rapid Transit Published

-- Manual Provides Comprehensive Look at the Global Emergence of BRT,
Reveals Technical Secrets to the World’s Leading Systems --

Contact:  Matt Sholler +1 (646) 873-6004 or
		 Walter Hook +1 (212) 629-8001


New York, NY, June 18 – The Institute for Transportation and Development
Policy (ITDP), together with the United Nations Environment Programme,
Deutsche Gesselschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the Hewlett
Foundation, and Viva, announced today the publication of the Bus Rapid
Transit Planning Guide, the most comprehensive effort to date to provide
detailed technical guidance for developing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.
 

First developed in Curitiba, Brazil in the early 1970s, BRT uses high
capacity buses, dedicated bus lanes, metro-like stations, and pre-paid
boarding platforms to achieve a high-speed, high-quality customer service
that was previously achieved only using rail technologies, generally at more
than ten times the cost. 

BRT became a global phenomenon after the completion of Bogotá’s TransMilenio
system.  Moving 45,000 passengers per direction each hour at over 28
kilometers (17 miles) per hour, TransMilenio moves more people faster than
technical experts previously thought possible.  The new BRT Guide, with
contributions from the experts who designed TransMilenio and dozens of other
systems, is the first comprehensive effort to document how this was done.

In recent years, BRT has become the most important global phenomenon in
urban transportation since the introduction of the street car at the end of
the 19th Century.  In the last decade, new BRT systems have opened in cities
across the world, including Bogotá, Colombia; Brisbane, Australia;
Guayaquil, Ecuador; Beijing, China; Jakarta, Indonesia; Los Angeles, USA;
Paris, France; and Seoul, South Korea.  Dozens of additional cities around
the world, like Johannesburg, South Africa; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;
Guangzhou, China; and New York City, have taken active steps to develop BRT
services as well.  

By allowing cities to provide a functional network of public transport
corridors, BRT permits even cities with modest resources to develop a
high-quality mass transit system that serves the public’s daily travel
needs.

“The Planning Guide taps the considerable experience of mass transit
planners in Latin America, who have been the leaders in developing BRT,”
said Walter Hook, Executive Director of ITDP.  “Its aim is to share that
knowledge with audiences in the U.S. and in other countries around the
world.”

The BRT Planning Guide is intended to assist a range of parties involved in
delivering public transport services to cities, such as municipal planning
officials, consultants, non-governmental organizations and other
stakeholders in government, market, and civil sectors.

In total, there are 20 different chapters covering a broad set of planning
issues including communications, demand analysis, operational planning,
customer service, infrastructure, modal integration, vehicle and fare
collection technology, institutional structures, costing, financing,
marketing, evaluation, contracting, and construction planning.  The Guide
also lists a range of information sources that can assist a city’s BRT
planning efforts.

The BRT Planning Guide is co-edited by Lloyd Wright, Executive Director of
Viva; and Walter Hook, Executive Director of the Institute for
Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).  It was developed through
support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Global
Environment Facility/United Nations Environment Programme, and Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH.

Digital copies of the Guide can be downloaded on-line at
http://itdp.org/brt_guide.html.   The document is currently available in
English, but it will soon be translated to Spanish, Portuguese, French,
Chinese, and Indonesian.  Hard-copy versions will also be printed and
available to interested parties.  Details for placing mail orders on the
print version will be released soon on the web site and in a subsequent
announcement.

About ITDP

The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy is a leading
international non-profit organization founded in 1985 that promotes
environmentally sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide.  ITDP
works with city governments and local advocacy groups in Asia, Africa, and
Latin America on transportation projects that fight poverty, pollution, and
oil dependence.  See: www.itdp.org 

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