Bus Rapid transit builds on the strength of buses (flexiblity and lower capital costs) and brings some of the speed advantages or rail systems. It has been proposed as a possible approach to bringing faster transit to the Charleston area. With track like guideways on some systems and specialized leval boarding stations for prepaid riders, you’ll be amazed at how fast a big bus can move people. However, there are many options and unless the steps to make bus transit faster are implemented, something called bus rapid transit can end up being little better than our existing bus service.
We know the Lowcountry wants faster travel with less stress. Getting delay and waiting out of the system is what speeds bus transit up. It’s not how fast our buses move, but how much time an hour they spend standing still which controls the speed of travel.
Video on Bus Rapid Transit
We know the Lowcountry wants faster travel with less stress. Getting delay and waiting out of the system is what speeds bus transit up. It’s not how fast our buses move, but how much time an hour they spend standing still which controls the speed of travel.
Video on Bus Rapid Transit
- BRT The Future of Public Transportation– Snappy upbeat video which focuses sharply on time and money issues.
- Best BRT Systems in major world cities – Good Detailed content about systems in Brazil, Australia & Columbia.
- Ottawa’s Unique Bus Rapid Transit System – This sped up video shows operation of a regular route through a variety of stations and road / transitway options. A line running into the City and over a bus way can operate like this, but it’s slower going downtown. The advantage is avoiding transfers.
- Cleveland BRT– The first American Bus Rapid Transit System, Amateur Video. Rider’s Perspective
- Cambridge England Bus Guideway– An option for getting buses on a dedicated guideway.
- Stories that Matter: Transforming Cleveland through Bus Rapid Transit – produced after the system had been running over five years, impacts on the surrounding area are documented. There are relevant parallels between this project and putting bus rapid transit on Rivers Ave.
- Guangzhou, China – 800 thousand Passengers a day in Chine, Asia’s largest BRT type system, English Translated
- Dhaka, Bongladesh– Prepare for a major shock, the nation which put a man on the moon is behind Bongladeash. Standing still in the 21st. Century has great risk. There's some different cultural content (women are seated separately) and the computer animation is odd, but the planning is pretty astonishing.