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Tools
Generally, the methodological approaches taken and the planning
tools used in the study of bus rapid transit systems for purposes
of ridership forecasting, operations/maintenance costing, etc., would
ordinarily be no different than those employed to study other transit
travel mode alternatives, such as light or heavy rail transit in
the overall larger context of transit planning
and project development ,
beginning with the execution of the Alternatives Analysis Process.
Examples of the types of models/tools employed include transit network
models, travel demand models, and simulation models.
There has been, however, until recently, a shortage of information
about bus rapid transit, especially in the area of the potential
benefits and costs. In response to this information deficit, BRT-specific
approaches and tools are being developed at the national as well
as the state level to support BRT planning and analysis. A number
of these additional tools are described below.
- FTA’s ITS
Enhanced Bus Rapid Transit – BRT
uses Intelligent Transportation Systems technology, modern land
use planning, and transportation policies to support new concepts
for rapid transit systems based on bus-like vehicles. The success
of some of these implemented BRT systems have shown that they are
capable of providing heavily-used high capacity rapid transit at
a reduced cost. This research explores the relationship between
BRT and ITS technologies to determine the best set of ITS enhancements
to optimize overall BRT performance. Specifically, this research
recommends appropriate sets of ITS technologies for various BRT
operational scenarios.
- FTA’s Characteristics
of Bus Rapid Transit for Decision Making - A compendium
of information describing BRT experience to date, including physical,
operational, service, cost, and performance characteristics.
CBRT serves as a first cut, “sketch planning” tool
and as a source of reasonability-checking information for detailed
planning.
- FTA’s ITS & BRT
Assessment Tool (IBAT) - Intelligent Transportation Systems
(ITS) play a key role in the operation of BRT systems. Collectively,
ITS are an integral part of BRT system characteristics and enable
BRT to provide higher quality of service in terms of safety,
speed, comfort, and convenience. Thus it is important to understand
which ITS technologies that are relevant to BRT. It is also critically
important to be able to test the various requirements for an
integrated BRT system. As a follow-on to its ITS Enhanced BRT
and Characteristics of BRT for Decision Making, FTA has proceeded
with the development of the ITS-BRT Assessment Tool or IBAT,
an analytic tool that allows for quick, flexible, and customizable
estimation of the impacts of various ITS packages on BRT system
performance. The tool allows users to quantify corridor-level
travel time savings, link delay, and system capacity through
multiple refinements of ITS packages.
- National BRT Institute’s (NBRTI) web-based
image
and video library
This resource, originally prepared under the Transit Cooperative
Research Program/s BRT Guidelines project A-23, is a compendium
of hundreds of BRT images and video clips from around the world.
The intent of the on-line database is to assist planners in preparing
presentations, videos and reports for a host of communications
and planning purposes.
- TCRP Project A-23, BRT Case Study Synthesis and
BRT Implementation Guidelines, TCRP Report 90, Volumes I (Case
Studies)
and II (Implementation
Guidelines)
The focus of these two documents is on BRT planning and implementation
from both the perspective of each individual element of BRT and
from the perspective of packaging. It is not a prescription but
a practical “how to do it” guide.
- TCRP
Project A-23A, BRT Practitioner’s
Guide A logical extension of the BRT Implementation Guidelines.
This document will focus on a number of important planning activities
such as ridership forecasting and traffic operations analysis as
well as the determination of the relative cost effectiveness of
various BRT treatments.
- BRT
Case Study Evaluations An
extension of the 26 BRT case-studies documented and synthesized
by TCRP Project A-23, a large number of BRT case study evaluations
are in the process of being documented by CUTR and other institutions
under the auspices of FTA.
- The Institute for Transportation and Development
Policy has produced
BRT
Planning Guidelines,
which is oriented to BRT systems in developing countries. These
guidelines are much more policy and process oriented then TCRP
Guidelines which focuses on specific elements of BRT.
- FTA’s BRT Evaluation Guidelines This document presents guidelines for planning, implementation,
and reporting the findings of an evaluation of a BRT implementation
site selected for the FTA BRT Demonstration Program. The document
will provide a common framework and methodology for developing
and then executing the evaluation of individual BRT demonstrations.
There are other resources of value to BRT planners
and developers. Some uniquely deal with BRT, but others deal with
individual BRT issues and elements (e.g., bus technology, ITS,
traffic engineering for transit, service planning, fare collection
planning for transit oriented development or TOD), while others
may deal with issues of relevance to BRT, but were originally prepared
for LRT – e.g.,
improving the safety of street-operations.
Author: Mark Miller
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