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Running Ways

By virtue of BRT vehicles being rubber tired and steered (as well as guided in some cases), BRT services can operate in a variety of physical environments, ranging  from mixed traffic to  dedicated curbside or offset lanes, median arterial busways and bus-only transitways that may be at the surface, elevated or in tunnels. Most corridor applications utilize a combination of the above due to neighborhood and street/highway system conditions and constraints. Typical bus lanes are 11 to 12 feet (approx 3 meters) wide and depending on the applicable municipal standards or policies may have a different color wearing-course than the remainder of the street. Red and Green are two colors used to distinguish the bus lanes from those lanes available to general traffic. Almost all cities have different policies with regards to the use of bus lanes. For example, some bus lanes operate 24-hours per day, while some may be only dedicated to a particular peak period and then allow all traffic to use the lane in off-peak periods.

Some configurations of running ways may include provisions for optical, magnetic or mechanical guidance for the vehicles. These are introduced to yield benefits in terms of the travel speeds and safety and perhaps most important, facilitates precision docking at stops. The cost of these measures varies depending on what is selected.

The most expensive form of running way, but also potentially most beneficial in terms of user benefits is the bus-only transitway, whether at grade, elevated or in a tunnel. These options require the construction of costly new infrastructure, which will include land acquisition costs; therefore, feasibility has to be examined very closely. Clearly, there needs to be economic justification for such an undertaking. The benefits of such a route, however, can be very significant to the user. Given its separation from general traffic, BRT services on fully dedicated and grade separated transitways are not  subject to the same level of delay and traffic interference as regular bus services, and therefore could be equated to a light rail (LRT) project in terms of operating speeds, reliability and safety.

A lower cost alternative is the provision of a dedicated bus lane or busway on an existing street. In this instance, existing road space is allocated to BRT services within the dedicated lane. Pavement markings and signage are provided to distinguish the lane from general traffic. This is an option where space, traffic, parking and access conditions permit the provision of a dedicated lane. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the provision of a dedicated, on-street bus lane can be advantageous, as car drivers and passengers sitting in traffic are first hand witnesses to buses moving quickly through traffic, thus encouraging greater levels of mode change.

One of the greatest challenges to the success of such a running way is the enforcement of the bus-only rule. On occasion, drivers will use the bus lane to avoid heavy congestion. Enforcement can be supported through the use of physical barriers, roving police officers or traffic agents, appropriate signage, the use of buses with on board cameras equipped with license recognition software, and other options. Drivers in every city act very differently. In some cities drivers obey the rules and regulations presented to them and with little enforcement will observe the regulations, while in other places little will deter drivers from trying to gain an advantage on the road.

Most BRT systems display a range of running way configurations over a corridor or route, depending on the streets used, the areas served and space available at any given location.

The running way does not only refer to the actual surface treatment but also the intersection control along the route. In the vast majority of cases worldwide the running way is on a shared surface with other vehicles, and while maybe on a dedicated bus lane or HOV lane, the vehicle can still encounter traffic related delays at intersections. BRT schemes usually include some form of prioritization for BRT vehicles over general traffic. This can be done in a variety of manners, including vehicle detection/signal priority or some other method. These will be discussed further under the ITS heading.

Authors: Ian McNamara and Mark Miller