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MOTORINDIA
l
June 2012
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BRT is one of the fastest growing pub-
lic transport systems. Approximately 134
cities worldwide, from Bogota to Beijing,
have implemented BRT systems or priority
bus corridors, serving more than 22 mil-
lion passenger trips daily.
BRT is a mode of public transport that
flexibly combines stations, vehicles, serv-
ices, running ways and intelligent trans-
portation system elements into an integrat-
ed system.
“The new website provides reliable and up-to-date
data to help researchers, transit agencies, city officials
and NGOs understand and make better decisions to im-
prove BRT and bus corridors in their cities,” said Dario
Hidalgo, Director of Research and Practice, EMBARQ.
“This is the first time that all of this publicly available
data has been compiled in one place, but there is still
more information available. We invite transit agencies
and researchers to help us improve the knowledge base
by sharing additional data to fill in the gaps.”
The new website allows users to compare BRT sys-
tems and bus corridors in all 134 cities in 36 countries.
The database includes 95 different indicators on system
operations, design and cost, including metrics like the
number of passengers per day, commercial speed, and
the length of corridors.
There is growing interest and demand for BRT as cit-
ies seek low-cost, sustainable urban transportation
solutions. As the number of BRT systems in-
creases, it is important to have current,
accurate and complete information
about the existing and planned
systems.
The development of an
online database was a
joint data-sharing
effort. EMBARQ
and ALC-BRT CoE collected data mostly from Latin
America, and the IEA contributed data from other re-
gions.
“Previously, there was no single point of publicly ac-
cessible information about the worldwide BRT indus-
try, and it was especially difficult to get an assessment
of the industry’s size and how it was changing over
time,” ALC-BRT CoE Director Juan Carlos Munoz,
said. “We finally have the right tools to set standards for
this dynamic industry.”
Using information from this dataset, IEA has estimat-
ed the energy and carbon dioxide (CO
2
) benefits of BRT
implementation, and outlined several CO
2
-mitigation
scenarios that rely in part on modal shift from light duty
vehicles to public transit, including BRT. IEA plans to
recognize the extensive potential of BRT in its upcom-
ing biennial report, “Energy Technology Perspectives
2012,” calling for the total network length of BRT sys-
tems to double by 2020.
“BRT is growing in importance as a transit alterna-
tive,” said Tali Trigg, energy analyst at IEA. “This da-
tabase will be helpful to planners, and is an essential
component in calculating energy-efficient scenarios
which inform decision makers of practical ways of tran-
sitioning to a more secure, sustainable and affordable
energy future.”
Worldwide, 129 new corridors have been implement-
ed since 2000, and 37 since 2010. Latin American sys-
tems move more than 50 per cent of global BRT daily
passenger trips. As many as 25 Brazilian cities have 87
bus corridors, totalling more than 560 km, more than
any other country. Of Asia’s 24 BRT systems, 18 began
operations since 2006. Systems in 13 US cities together
carry nearly 600,000 passenger trips each day.
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road transportation