Margareth Gutierrez
BRTData Enhances Indicators to Improve Accuracy and Comparisons
Since 2012, BRTdata.org has provided up-to-date information on bus rapid transit systems (BRTs) in more than 200 cities, from passenger data to coverage and costs. Developed in partnership with the Centre of Excellence for Bus Rapid Transit, International Energy Agency and Latin American Association of Integrated Transport Systems and Bus Rapid Transit, the site is the most comprehensive online database of […]
Jason Jackson
Do Bus Rapid Transit Systems Improve Equity? A Look at the Evidence
Dario Hidalgo Director Integrated Transport Practice WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities international August 1st, 2017 (Cross-posted in The City Fix) Some time ago, professor Christo Venter of the University of Pretoria sent me an intriguing message: Did I have data on how bus rapid transit systems, or BRTs, affect equity in cities? […]
How well does BRT perform in contrast to LRT? An Australian case study using MetroScan_TI
BRT is typically a relatively more popular transport investment in developing countries in contrast to the bias observed increasingly in developed economies towards LRT. While there have been a number of comparative assessments of BRT and LRT (in all of its possible manifestations), with a focus on one or more elements of patronage demand, and […]
The impact of bus rapid transit on housing price and accessibility changes in Sydney: a repeat sales approach.
New public transport infrastructure is expected to improve accessibility for local residents, and thus contribute to increased land value. The contribution that a bus rapid transit (BRT) system can make to increased land value is less certain than for rail-based systems, with the literature mostly containing bus-based examples from developing countries with extensive BRT networks. […]
BRT+ CoE representatives meet with authorities of VREF and Universidad Católica de Chile for renovation of support for our center.
SANTIAGO – On June 30th, UC and School of Engineering authorities received representatives from the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (VREF) and BRT+ Center of Excellence. The purpose of the meeting was to thank the funding and supporting given by VREF to the center for five more years. BRT+ CoE is the only one of ten centers, […]
Exploring the social and spatial potential of an intermodal approach to transport planning
Gilbert and Perl (2007 Gilbert, R., & Perl, A. (2007)) established how different epochs in human history came with specific “transport revolutions.” Our research suggests that intermodal approaches could constitute an invisible transport planning revolution. Based on a review defining “social” sustainability as it applies to urban passenger transportation, we consider the potential of an […]
Congratulations Anson Stewart, new PhD from MIT
Anson Stewart has earned a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His thesis was titled Advancing Accessibility: Public Transport and Urban Space. You can check it here. Anson has been an active member within the BRT-CoE and participated in Section 2 of our book «Restructuring Public Transport through Bus Rapid Transit», in the item […]
Lake Sagaris was interviewed at Velo-City 2017
Velo-City 2017 is the annual global cycling summit, which was recently held in Arnhem and Nijmegen, the Netherlands. For four days, the conference sought to immerse the audience in the “Freedom of Cycling” through international speakers and delegates, innovative ideas and research, excursions, and workshops. Lake Sagaris, member of BRT-CoE, was speaking in the sessions ‘Wise […]
The cooperation with VREF has been prolonged for 5 more years
“After a six year-period of trustworthy collaboration with the VREF, the Centre delivered most interesting results that proved to be most useful. The successful operation has now led to a renewed cooperation funded by VREF.” These were the words from VREF web site to BRT-CoE. The vision of Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (VREF), through […]
Autonomous Cars: Placing them in Context
David A. Hensher and John Stanley Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies The University of Sydney Business School 1 June 2017 The Roads Australia National Conference in Sydney (May 31, June 1, 2017) had a lot of presentations on autonomous cars (ACs); and despite some suggesting we should go directly to level […]
€1bn plan to increase bus patronage by 50% in Dublin by speeding up trips unveiled
A plan to increase bus patronage by 50% in Dublin through bus rapid transit and ‘next generation’ bus corridors has been unveiled by the Irish Government and the National Transport Authority. The ‘BusConnects’ programme aims to ensure that «just about everybody will be able to beat the congestion by using the bus rather than a […]
Buenos Aires integrated urban renewal project wins global transport award
Metrobus 9 de Julio project honoured at summit of transport ministers / Special mentions for iRAP road safety programme and Istanbul metro The successful inner-city renewal initiative in Buenos Aires. Argentina has been awarded the International Transport Forum’s Transport Achievement Award. The Award will be presented to the Transport Authority of Buenos Aires on 1 […]
2nd International Sustainable Transport Summit MOBILIZE
The 2nd International Sustainable Transport Summit MOBILIZE in Santiago (Chile), will be held on June 28-30th 2017. MOBILIZE is the annual sustainable transport summit of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), which brings together urban transport and development practitioners alongside world-class researchers to celebrate best practices and accelerate implementation of sustainable transport projects. […]
Our book was reviewed and published in JAPA
Our book called “Restructuring Public Transport through Bus Rapid Transit” was reviewed by Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA) on January 5th, 2017. Since 1935, JAPA has published research, commentaries, and book reviews useful to practicing planners, policy makers, scholars, students, and citizens of urban, suburban, and rural areas. JAPA publishes only peer-reviewed, original […]
Montgomery Co.’s new Bus Rapid Transit system to be called ‘Flash’
WASHINGTON — The Montgomery County Department of Transportation asked county residents to name its planned Bus Rapid Transit System, and they have: Flash. The county transportation department ran a contest from November to January, asking residents to vote on one of several proposed names, or suggest their own, and “Flash” received the most votes. “We […]
Evaluating BRT and LRT on a level playing field in developed economies: A cross cultural comparison
New generation of BRT in China
China has set the goal to implement 5,000 kilometers of BRTs by 2020, according to the Ministry of Transport in 2007. According to BRTdata.org, today 21 Chinese cities have implemented BRT systems and as this number continues to increase, it has become critical to identify the key factors that influence the operation performance and service […]
Meeting with WMATA: Sharing experiences
In the context of the General Assembly held on January 12th 2017 in Washington DC, a team of researchers of the BRT Center from Santiago, Chile, led by the Professor Juan Carlos Muñoz, met with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). This meeting was scheduled with the objective of sharing international experiences and discussing […]
BRT CoE Executive Board annual dinner was held
On January 8th, our annual dinner was held among some members of the CoE BRT Executive Board. As in previous years, we seize the visit from BRT CoE members to 2017 TRB Annual Meeting. In this occasion, the participants were: Ricardo Giesen (PUC), Darío Hidalgo (WRI), Corinne Mulley (University of Sydney), Juan Carlos Muñoz (PUC), […]
Event Wrap Up: General Assembly at TRB17
Our General Assembly this year was held on Wednesday January 12th, at the EMBARQ office at Washington DC. As in previous years, the General Assembly was proved to be a great success. We had a record audience, with almost 60 participants. Many of them were external to the Centre, providing important feedback to the […]
Impact of a Loan-Based Public Transport Fare System on Fare Evasion: Experience of Transantiago, Santiago, Chile
With the arrival of Transantiago, the integrated public transport system of Santiago, Chile, a new payment method was implemented: the smart card. A critical aspect for smart cards is the loading network. Transantiago had a weak loading network, and, to tackle fare evasion, a loan was given through the smart card to those with insufficient […]
Putting Chinese Commuters into the Fast Lane through BRT
Yichang, People’s Republic of China – Not long ago, it was difficult for 23-year old retail assistant Du Hua to get around this bustling provincial city. “Traffic was bad,» she recalls. Sitting along the Chang River, the city of Yichang has a buoyant local economy propelled by chemical and food industries. This creates a lot […]
Interview with Dan Chatman: Integrating Public Transport with Bus Rapid Transit in Developing Cities
Meeting of the Minds, a global knowledge sharing platform, spoke with Dan Chatman of UC Berkeley’s Department of City and Regional Planning about the integration of paratransit services with Bus Rapid Transit around the world. Dr. Chatman studies travel behavior and the built environment, residential and workplace location choice, “smart growth” and municipal fiscal decision […]
Decreasing fare evasion without fines? A microeconomic analysis
Fare evasion is a problem in many public transport systems around the world. Policies to reduce this problem are generally aimed at improving control systems and increasing fines for offenders. In this paper, we attempt to identify the joint impact of different variables explaining fare evasion using an econometric study. The variables found to be […]
Accessibility and equity: An approach for wider transport project assessment in Chile
There is increasing consent about the importance of incorporating wider impacts to analyse transport projects and plans. Recent research reports the need to assess equity impacts of urban projects to better allocate resources. This has an even larger meaning in Latin America, because of great inequalities present. Additionally, literature about accessibility highlights the readiness of […]
Understanding cyclist traffic behaviour: Contrasting cycle path designs in Santiago de Chile
Cities around the world have experienced an increase in the number of cyclists, which has resulted in a demand for more cyclist infrastructure. In Santiago de Chile, each local government is in charge of providing bicycle infrastructure according to its own technical and financial restrictions. Thus, infrastructure dedicated to bicycles has increased, but its quality […]
Postdoctoral Research Position in Analytical Methods for Sustainable Urban Mobility
The Department of Transport Engineering and Logistics (DTEL) at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, host of the BRT Centre of Excellence (www.brt.cl) and key member of the Centre for Sustainable Urban Development – CEDEUS (www.cedeus.cl), is currently looking for a post doctorate or experienced researcher to join our research group […]
Benefits of reliable transit: How transit agencies and planners should be talking about BRT
Bus Rapid Transit systems are beginning to pop up as quickly as fast-casual restaurants in the greater Washington region. Everywhere you look BRT systems are coming online – Fairfax, Arlington and Montgomery counties, and the City of Alexandria. And why shouldn’t D.C. be joining the ranks of New York, Chicago, and Barcelona? The region consistently ranks as […]
Experience conditioning in commuter modal choice modelling – Does it make a difference? (2016)
This paper investigates the impact of decision maker’s experience on model elasticities and predicted market share, using data collected in Sydney on commuter mode choice. Usage frequency is used as a proxy for experience and two separate mode choice models are estimated – one with experience conditioning choice and one without. Key model outputs are […]
Dario Hidalgo talked about BRT with students from PUC
Dario Hidalgo, Director of Integrated Transport at WRI and Senior Researcher at our center, visited Chile and had the opportunity to give a lecture in the course Public Transport at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. The subject of the talk was the role of Bus Rapid Transit for mobility in latin-americans cities. He discussed the […]
The BRT Standard is here!
Original post by ITDP The BRT Standard is the centerpiece of a global effort by leaders in bus transportation design to establish a common definition of bus rapid transit (BRT) and ensure that BRT systems more uniformly deliver world-class passenger experiences, significant economic benefits, and positive environmental impacts. BRT plays an important role in the global […]
Dar es Salaam’s BRT Could Transform Urban Life in Tanzania
Original Post by ITDP On May 16, Dar es Salaam launched interim services of the long-awaited Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (DART) system, the first true BRT in East Africa. DART is more than a public transport system—the corridor designs have also brought many improvements for pedestrians and cyclists. In central Dar es Salaam, the fully […]
Real-Time Prediction Of Bus Travel Speeds Using Traffic Shockwaves And Machine Learning Algorithms
Most transit agencies are trying to increase their ridership. To achieve this goal, they are looking to maintain or even improve their level of service. This is very hard, since traffic congestion is normally increasing. As a result, bus travel times are higher and less reliable, which makes harder to predict travel times and avoid […]
When and where are limited-stop bus services justified?
Although limited-stop bus services around the world have proven to benefit users and operators alike, there are few published studies on design methodologies for such services and little clarity on when or where they are best applied to a given bus corridor. This article reports on an experiment in which a design algorithm for limited-stop […]
With great participation was held “Sustainable Transport for Greater Temuco, Chile" seminar
Original post by Santo Tomás (in spanish) The growth of congestion in the Araucania region, especially the city of Temuco, was the subject of conversation and analysis at Santo Tomás University (Chile). In order to deepen and analyze how affable this is to the community, the seminar «Sustainable Transport for Greater Temuco» was held, with the collaboration […]
Toni Lindau talked about our book with NTU Urbano (Brazil)
In the last issue of NTU Urbano, a brazilian journal about mobility, Toni Lindau talked about the main topics of the book «Restructuring Public Transport through Bus Rapid Transit». Toni, member of our centre, has a PhD. and works as the Director of WRI Sustainable Cities. Here you can find the original interview and the whole […]
ITLS Research Team awarded $336,000 worth of supercomputer use
Original post by The University of Sydney The Business School’s internationally respected Institute of Transport and Logistic Studies (ITLS) has been given privileged access to a cutting edge ‘supercomputer’ to better evaluate transport, infrastructure and land use policies and projects. The ITLS has been awarded $336,000 worth of access to the University’s supercomputer, “Artemis”, to create […]
Our book was launched at Forum "Operational Challenges for New Alameda-Providencia, Santiago"
Original Post by Ingeniería UC Last Friday took place the Forum: «Operational challenges of buses for New Alameda-Providencia», the main street in Santiago of Chile. It was organized by the Centre of Excellence BRT and the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CEDEUS). The appointment was at the Extension Center of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, […]
Valuing crowding in public transport: Implications for cost-benefit analysis
This paper investigates the valuation of crowding in public transport trips and its implications in demand estimation and cost-benefit analysis. We use a choice-based stated preference survey where crowding levels are represented by means of specially designed pictures, and use these data to estimate flexible discrete choice models. We assume that the disutility associated with […]
Milwaukee BRT Proposal Teases Big Ridership Boost
Original post by Next City A proposed 9-mile bus rapid transit route connecting downtown Milwaukee to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, could save commuters up to 112 hours a year, reports On Milwaukee. According to the East-West BRT Feasibility Study, the trip is projected to take 35 minutes end to end, compared […]
Future bus transport contracts under mobility as a service regime in the digital age: are they likely to change?
The digital age has opened up new opportunities to improve the customer experience in using public transport. Specifically, we see the role of smart technology in the hands of customers as the new rubric to deliver services that are individualised to the needs and preferences of current and future public transport users. This frontline of […]
Evaluating how cycle-bus integration could contribute to “sustainable” transport
Scholars, practitioners and activists have been reconsidering the importance of cycling to create sustainable transport systems. A discussion of intermodal transport invites us to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of diverse modes, as they relate to strategic planning decisions and particularly land use, along with considering ways that cities could get more out of […]
Young Jakartans Explore Their City on BRT system Transjakarta
Original Post by ITDP Site Visit Busway is a program based in Jakarta, Indonesia aimed at promoting the city and their BRT system, Transjakarta. Transjakarta started operations in 2004 and is one of the longest BRT systems in the world. As of January 2016, the ridership is 320,000 passengers per day. This program, spearheaded and […]
The Publicness of Public Transport: The changing nature of public transport in Latin American cities
Public transport can be ‘public’ in multiple ways and without specificity when one public aspect changes there is no way to consider the impacts of that change. Currently there is a process of transit formalization taking place in Latin American cities that is changing the publicness of their systems. This paper identifies four publicness types- […]
‘Uberisation’ of Public Transport in the Digital Age ‐ what is in store in the next 10 to 20 years?
Opinion by Professor David A. Hensher The University of Sydney The Transport for NSW Future Transport Summit held on April 18-19 2016 looked to the future of transport. In the context of autonomous vehicles, big data analytics, internet of things, disruptive technologies and customer service in the digital age, there was much formal and informal […]
Sustainable Urban Public Passenger Transport: Is rail really cleaner and greener than bus?
Interview with Juan Carlos Muñoz: Why Bus Rapid Transit Makes Sense for Cities
Original Post by Meeting of the Minds Meeting of the Minds took a minute to sit down with Juan Carlos Muñoz about his new book on BRT. He and Laurel Paget-Seekins edited the recently published book: “Restructuring Public Transport through Bus Rapid Transit”. Juan Carlos is the Director of the Bus Rapid Transit Centre of Excellence, Director […]
NZ’S FIRST URBAN BUSWAY
Route plan for New Zealand’s first urban busway submitted, with a view to opening in 2021 A route and design plan for New Zealand’s first urban busway has been submitted to Auckland Council, Auckland Transport (AT) announced this week. The designated route for the busway is between Panmure to Pakuranga in Auckland’s eastern suburbs and […]
