Bus Rapid Transit

Chris Constantinou

Diego Velasco

ARCH 494

IntroductionBus rapid transit (BRT) can be defined, according to wordiQ.com, as a term for urban

mass transportation services utilizing buses to perform premium services on existing roadways or

dedicated rights-of-way. BRT encompasses a broad variety of modes, including those known or

formerly known as express buses, limited busways and rapid busways. Buses have been

servicing urban population centers for decades. When a BRT system was first introduced in

1974, it created a new model for how other cities can improve transit systems. Since its 1974

implementation, around 120 cities world-wide use a BRT system. Over 90 of these systems have

been created in the past 10 years alone. The system in Curitiba, Brazil, is the crown jewel of the

bus rapid transit system.

This paper will focus on two areas:

Case studies of BRT usage:

1) Curitiba, Brazil

2) Ottawa, Canada

BRT implementation in San Diego, California

Curitiba, Brazil1

The “Model City,” the “Ecological Capital of Brazil,” and the “Green City,” are

nicknames given to Curitiba which is located in the southern portion of the Brazilian state,

Parana. Curitiba was founded in 1683. Today, the city boosts a population of over 1.8 million

people and over 3.2 million in the metropolitan area. Curitiba ranks among the best

environmentally green and eco-friendly cities around the world. In 2007, the city was ranked

third out of fifteen in the world in being a “Green City” by Grist magazine. The city’s name

comes from the Tupi, one of the indigenous people of Brazil. In their language, the words “kuri

tyba” means “many pine seeds.” During a military regime change in 1969, the city became the

capital of Brazil for three days.

Urban planning has been at the forefront in Curitiba since the 1940s. A Brazilian

architect, Alfred Agache, was hired by the city to produce a master plan. He planned out major

boulevards and downtown amenities. Along with that, Agache planned on an extensive sanitation

system. However, the plan was too expensive and was scrapped. The population was exploding

by the 1960s, as over 400,000 residents were then living in the city. Mayor Ivo Arzua chose

architect Jaime Lerner in 1964 to produce the Curitiba Master Plan. The master plan created by

Lerner called for control of urban sprawl, downtown traffic reduction, and a new affordable

public transit system. Lerner reworked the major roadways leading into the center of the city to

limit traffic. He also originated an idea of taking flood-prone areas within the city and turning

them into massive and beloved city parks. As a result of the impressive and innovative work of

Agache and Lerner, today the city has been highly praised world-wide for its urban planning.

The city has won many awards for its city planning accomplishments. One example took place in

1996 at the Habitat II conference held in Istanbul, Turkey. At the UN-held conference, the

committee claimed that Curitiba was “the most innovative city in the world.” The city is

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constantly ranked as one of the best cities to live in. In 2010, the city received the Globe

Sustainable City Award for “excellent Urban Development.”

Cities are where people live — by the billions. So they're also where the planet's

environmental problems need bold solutions. No one understands that better than

Jaime Lerner, 72, a former mayor of Curitiba and an ex-governor of Paraná, in

Brazil. Over the past 40 years, Lerner has left a magnificent legacy of urban

sustainability. He turned Curitiba's main downtown street into a pedestrian

corridor. His decision in the early 1970s to allow only nonpolluting industries

presaged modern models of green business. He pioneered the bus-rapid-transit

systems now in use around the world. “There is no need to be scared of

simplicity,” Lerner has said.

The quote above was written by the mayor of Vancouver in Time’s 100 Influential People, 2010

edition . Jaime Lerner has been one of the most innovative urban thinkers in the 20th-21st century.

Jaime Lerner graduated in 1964 from the Federal University of Parana in architecture.

The following year he helped to create the Institute for Urban Planning and Research of Curitiba

or IPPUC. He was the architect/city planner who created the city’s third master plan in 1968. The

master plan was implemented in 1971 during his first term as mayor of Curitiba. Between the

years of 1971-1992, Lerner was the mayor three separate times. During the 1990s, he became the

governor of the state of Parana. The main reason why Lerner promoted bus rapid transit as part

of the city’s master plan was for cost reasons. He stated that the construction of building and

implementing subways in Curitiba would be, “over my dead body.” One of his famous quotes is,

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“If you want creativity, take one zero off your budget; if you want sustainability, take two zeroes

off your budget.”

A map of the RIT

One of Lerner’s main accomplishments as mayor was the creation of the Rede Integrada

de Transporte (Integrated Transportation Network ) or RIT, created in 1974. Various sources

estimate the use of the RIT by the city’s residents as ranging from 70% to 85%. This widely

utilized bus system spreads from downtown to the suburbs of the city. The bus lines are in the

form of a star and have five different routes out of the downtown core. The buses used in the RIT

are bi-articulated, or referred to as “bendy buses” because it has an accordion-like fold in the

middle, and can hold 270 passengers. Because of excellent planning the bus system was an

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instant success and remains extremely popular. Citizens refer to this transit system as

“SpeedyBus” because it gets people to where they want to go in a quick and efficient way.

Unfortunately, the system has been plagued by problems recently. The bus system, used

by tens of thousands of residents, tends to be overcrowded. A majority of residents live within

walking distance of bus stops. Curitiba has the most automobiles per capita in Brazil which has

led to increased traffic in the city’s downtown area which hasn’t occurred since the Master Plan

was implemented. RIT faces a new problem because people are starting to view the car as a

status symbol and are opting for different modes of transport to get from place to place.

Nevertheless, with brilliant leaders such as Jaime Lerner, currently 75, Curitiba will find

a way to solve the problems currently facing its highly praised transportation network.

Ottawa, Canada

Ottawa was founded in 1826 and made the capital of Canada on December 31, 1857.

Ottawa comes from the word “adawe” which means “to trade” in the Algonquin language.

Urban planning has been a vital part of the city’s history. In the late 1940s, French city planner

Jacques Greber was chosen to create a master plan for the National Capital Region. He was

influenced by the City Beautiful Movement that took place in North America between the 1890s-

1900s. The Greber Plan, implemented between 1946-1950, created a Greenbelt around the city

to control urban sprawl. The greenbelt surrounds the city with 205 square miles of parks.

Another implementation of the plan was the improvement of transportation in the city. The plan

removed downtown railroad tracks and established a train station outside of downtown. The

Greber Plan has made Ottawa one of the greenest capital cities in the world.

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A typical transitway in Ottawa. Buses are separated from traffic.

Transportation within the city was initially under the control of the Ottawa

Transportation Commission. In 1973, the transit organization was renamed OC Transpo. OC

comes from the words Ottawa and Carleton, the former name of the historic county name no

longer in use. In the 1980s, Ottawa had a population of over 500,000 people and currently has

over 880,000. In 1983, the first transitway was implemented in the city. A transit way is defined

as “a network of mostly grade-separated (above or below) dedicated bus lanes within their own

right-of-way and having full stations with Park & Ride facilities further supported by on-road

reserved bus lanes and priority traffic signal controls.” These transitways differ from the

Curitiba model yet they have similar applications. The similarity is that a separate bus lane is

utilized. The difference is that in Ottawa, buses follow routes on a bus-only elevated or sub-level

section of a separate road free from public traffic. Emergency vehicles are allowed to use the

transitway when needed. There are nine lines operated by OC Transpo. The use of transitways

makes getting from one part of the city to the other quick and a cheap for many citizens. The

buses are not only limited to transitways but serve major streets. In 2001, the city implemented a

light rail line. The O-Train runs from the suburbs to downtown. A second line is being

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constructed and will be completed by 2018. Bus transportation in Ottawa has seen success and is

used by many residents.

BRT in San Diego

San Diego has had a long history of public transit since the 1880s. The city of San Diego

was incorporated in 1850. Since its incorporation the city has grown to over 1.3 million residents

and over 3 million in the county. It is estimated that by 2050, the region will have over 4.3

million residents. Many new transport options are being planned or constructed. One of the main

problems that San Diego faces unlike Curitiba and Ottawa is that California has always been

very auto-oriented. Cars are seen as a status symbol for many. Californian culture was and is

built around the automobile with cities spreading in all directions. Public transportation in San

Diego does not see the same ridership levels as other cities around the world.

The Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) oversees the transportation in San Diego. The

San Diego Association of Governments or SANDAG is responsible for regional transit planning.

MTS was established in 1975 and has 93 bus routes and three light rail lines. Bus transport

within the region is structured for two different ways: local routes and commuter routes. Local

routes are on a block by block basis and mostly serve the congested areas in the city. Commuter

routes link suburbs to downtown. One such bus route is MTS 20 that links downtown San Diego

to Escondido. BRT is currently being implemented in different parts of the region.

The Mid-City Rapid proposal is the first of many proposed BRT lines in the city.

According to SANDAG, “The Mid-City Rapid will provide North Park, City Heights, and

College Area residents, students, and workers with a fast and reliable service in a key transit

corridor in the region.” The BRT line will link San Diego State University to Downtown San

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Diego via Park and El Cajon Boulevards. Mid-City Rapid is similar to Curitiba’s system because

it will be built in the middle of a major street. Mid-City Rapid will take less than 40 minutes to

travel from SDSU to downtown, which will be a significant improvement. Construction has

already begun and will be completed by the summer of 2014 at a cost of $44 million. Buses will

run every ten to fifteen minutes during peak hours. In the renderings, it appears that Park

Boulevard will have a dedicated transitway located in the middle of the street whereas on El

Cajon, buses will remain incorporated into the traffic flow. It would be best to have a transitway

on El Cajon to keep the buses separated from the traffic. This proposed system is intended to

have faster travel times between stations. During rush hour times, buses will take much longer

between stations because traffic will get in the way. A dedicated bus-only lane is needed on El

Cajon which has enough room for a bus only lane.

A rendering of how Park Boulevard will appear

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Rendering of BRT on El Cajon

There is a second BRT route in San Diego Country is being planned and will start

construction in 2014-2015. The South Bay BRT will link Otay Mesa and Chula Vista to

downtown San Diego. Like Mid-City, buses will run 10-15 minutes on this 21 mile route. This

plan will operate on State Route 125 and Interstate 805. Buses will run on the 805 in the HOV

lanes and have Direct Access Routes as well as stations that link them to the street. No

renderings have been published yet, but a route map has been rendered. The plan does utilize the

freeway to get from one part of the city to the next in a quick manner. This plan uses the Curitiba

idea but improves on it by placing a bus line in the middle of the freeway for a faster route.

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A rendered map of South Bay BRT

SANDAG has published the 2050 Regional Transportation Map that is updated every few

years. New BRT lines are being planned, one of which serves my focus area: Normal Heights.

The BRT will not be built on Adams Ave but on I-15. The plan is to build a bus lane separated

from the traffic. This plan is well done because busses will be separated from the traffic flow on

public streets and on the freeway. In the Interstate 15 plan, SANDAG includes a case study

based on a freeway in Los Angeles. This freeway has a light rail line in the middle of the freeway

with a station underneath an overpass crossing the freeway. They use the train example in

SANDAG’s report to show how this can also be applied to buses in San Diego’s case. This plan

of putting buses in the middle of the freeway is a great idea. I hope to see it completed in the next

few years.

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The next 50 years of transit in San Diego are going to be unique. How effective will the

SANDAG plan link up the region be? So much of California is car-oriented that it will be

interesting to see what SANDAG can accomplish.

Conclusion Bus transit plays an important role in urban areas. Two positive aspects of using this form

of transport are expense and flexibility. Buses systems are much cheaper to build than a light rail

line. Light rail vehicles themselves are also much more expensive than a bus. Another advantage

is that bus lines can be put anywhere and there can be more of them, making bus availability

more direct and closer than a light rail line. Unfortunately, the fact that a bus line can be placed

anywhere means that it may not be as permanent as a light rail line. Another problem that bus

transit faces is that it is often associated with the poor. That idea that bus ridership is for the poor

is due to the fact that people who tend to use the bus do not own a car. People who have a car

tend to drive their own car and get to work without needing a form of mass transit.

Regardless of these problems, transit planners are finding new ways to design and

implement bus transport systems in many cities around the world. The bus rapid transit system

started in Curitiba, Brazil and has proved that there can be a cheap alternative to moving people

from one part of the city to the other. A 2001 report from the United States General Accounting

Office stated that the average cost per mile for using a BRT was $13.5 million. For light rail, the

average cost per mile is $34.8 million. Bus transit is the best form of public transit for cities with

a low population and a tight budget. Much bigger cities tend to build a light rail if it is deemed

affordable and convenient. Bus transit in California may be the best way of getting around in the

future as urban planners focus on transit orientated developments.

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