1. MAXIMIZING THE AIR QUALITY BENEFITS OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT Walter Hook, BAQ Conference Agra, India, December, 2004 Funded by the US Agency for International Development

2. The Air Quality Benefits from Bus Rapid Transit Mode Shift from Private Vehicle to Bus Fewer buses moving the same bus passengers Cleaner buses

3. Because BRT is Much Cheaper than Metros, the Modal Shift from private vehicle to transit from BRT is potentially much higher per dollar of public investment. Catchment Area for Bogota’s TransMilenio Compared to JICA-proposed Metro, Same Capital Investment

4. To Get People to Switch from Private Vehicles to Buses, a New Busway Must Increase Bus Speeds Over Current Levels. The Capacity of the busway must be sufficient to handle the demand at a high speed. The busway needs to be designed carefully based on the projected demand for bus passengers. The Quality of Bus Service Must also Improve

5. If you put a busway where there are no bus passengers, nobody will use the system. Inaccessible elevated ring roads with no bus routes do not make good BRT corridors.

6. US BRT Systems handle 5000 passengers per day, and the highest has 5000 per hour per direction. Hence, US Busways do not have to worry about bus congestion. The big conflict is taking lane space away from private motor vehicles.

7. Bogota’s TransMilenio Bogota had Serious Bus Congestion.

8. First, Bogota put the old buses onto a two lane busway, Speeds were <15kph, slower than before the busway Further congestion and concentration of polluting old buses made air pollution in the corridor worse. Former Standard Busway on Ave. Caracas in Bogota before TransMilenio

9. With Bus Volumes Like These, Even three exclusive bus lanes may not decongest the corridor unless the system is fundamentally reorganized

10. In a situation like this, pedestrian conflicts ensure that bus speeds will be and should be slow. Pedestrianization should be explored with reasonable BRT access

11. CONFLICTS WITH TURNING TRAFFIC, STOPPING TAXIS, PEDESTRIANS CURB-SIDE BUS LANES Cannot get speeds up significantly even at very low demand levels. Jakarta bus lane before TransJakarta Guangzhou

12. Delhi’s Curb Lane bus lanes are bus restriction lanes, not bus priority lanes. They do not increase bus speeds. Area of Conflict in Delhi

13. Most Successful BRT Systems Use the Center Lanes Lanes of mixed traffic Bus express lane

14. Bus Shelter Can be On the Right or On the Left but… Here you need two Narrow Stations and Two Medians. Passengers cannot transfer from one direction to the other Putting Station in the Middle Consumes Less Road Space and Eases Transfers Quito Line 1 Quito Line 2

15. CONSTRUCTING BUSWAYS IN MEDIAN BOGOTA  No conflicts with right-hand turns, pedestrians, cyclists, and stopping taxis  No road space taken from taxis  Pedestrians must reach median area  Conflict with right-hand turns remain SAO PAULO

16. “Open” Systems versus “Closed” Systems Open Systems Feeder-Trunk technique

17. “Open” BRT systems Cheaper to build No New Buses Required No Changes in Bus routes Required No Regulatory Changes Needed Passengers don’t have to transfer

18. Problems with Open systems: People don’t appreciate them Bus Cueing at Intersections Low speed Low capacity No improvement in bus operational quality

19. Newly renovated ‘open’ BRT System in Sao Paulo has cues 23 buses long. Speeds are only 12kph

20. “Closed” BRT systems have much higher capacity but require a feeder system with transfers Quito’s Ecovia Line

21. Advantages of Closed Trunk and Feeder Systems Very High Capacity Very High Operating Speed Paying at the Station Rather than On the Bus Reduces Boarding Time Special Buses Can be Used Reduces the Total Number of Buses on the Corridor, Decongesting Mixed Traffic Lanes Allows for Fast Free Transfers in a Safe & Comfortable Place Makes Possible Self-Financing and Privatization

22. Quito and Bogota cut the old bus lines and reallocated passengers onto 1/3 as many much cleaner and larger buses, reducing air pollution

23. Bogota’s TransMilenio Bogota Banned All Old Buses on the BRT Corridor and Removed old bus routes. The Mixed Traffic lanes became LESS congested.

24. TROLLEY (MAIN TRUNK LINE) FEEDER LINES N Quito, Bogota, Curitiba all have free transfer from Feeder Buses operated by the same authority

25. TransMilenio 60% of the demand comes from feeder buses

26. Free Transfer Station, Quito Feeder-trunk transfers in Quito, Ecuador

27. Closed Terminals Can Create Free Transfers for feeder buses even on open systems. Sao Paulo’s transfer station between busway and Metro

28. Jakarta built Asia’s first ‘closed’ BRT system: It just breaks even. Why? No feeder system

29. TransJakarta did not cut parallel buses and does not have free transfers from feeder buses. Only 5500 out of 12,000 passengers take the BRT. The rest are on normal buses.

30. Larger capacity vehicles can add capacity when lane width is not available

31. TransMilenio buses have 4 doors 1.1 meters wide. This reduces avg. boarding time per passenger from 3 seconds to.3 seconds

32. Long Buses Require Long Stations Most TransMillenio Stations are 48 meters long.

33. Split buses by origin and run express and stopping services Multiple stations serving different lines that can pass one another was the key to TransMilenio’s high speeds and high capacity

34. Minimizing Long Term Emissions from the Bus Requires: Private procurement and ownership of buses. The technical specification should be as clean as possible without compromising the feasibility of private investment into the buses The competitive bidding process should give incentives to firms to exceed the minimum environmental standard Bus Operating contracts within the Busway should include emission standards The bus operations should be contracted in a way that allows the public authority to fine companies that fail to comply with this standard.

35. Infrastructure (Public) Corridors Stations Garages Complementary Infrastructure TRANSMILENIO S.A. Planning, Management and Control Operation (Private) Companies Buses Employees Billeting (Private) Equipments Smart Cards Trust Fund

36. Private Sector Bus acquisition, operation and maintenance Fare collection system implementation and operation Resources management (trust fund) Division of Responsibility and Financing Between Public and Private Sectors Public Sector Infrastructure construction (IDU) Planning (City, TM) Development; contracting service provision (TM) Control (TM) Contracts

37. Conclusion: Air Quality Benefits of BRT Systems Will Be Maximized If… The BRT system provides a faster, higher quality service than existing buses, and can attract passengers out of private vehices. The buses used are cleaner than traditional buses Fewer buses are needed to handle the same transit passengers The buses are properly maintained A system of penalties is put in place for poor service or air quality violations Many of these measures can be implemented without BRT but BRT creates an opportunity to negotiate a better deal for bus passengers and air quality.