david hubbard
The BRT Standard sets the bar for quality Almost everyone in the transit industry has a concept of bus rapid transit (BRT), some with a more vague idea than others. According to recent studies conducted through funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, a great number of people remain unenlightened to the chief characteristics of BRT, or that commuter coaches are fully capable of providing quality transit service. For that reason, BUSRide will be giving this intriguing industry segment a thorough investigation in coming issues. Much of the content will emanate from recent important research that identifies and establishes standards and best practices for BRT systems in use and under development. As of now, a BRT Standard is in place to help create and measure efficiency and sustainability and passenger comfort in systems of every size. Undertaken in 2011 by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), New York, NY, and introduced as a pilot program last year, the BRT Standard Committee established standards for the public transit community and transportation professionals to design, build and implement top-quality systems. The purpose of the BRT Standard is to create a singular international definition of best practices. It certifies their efforts as Gold, Silver or Bronze based on results of the BRT Standard Scorecard. The new Standard will be helpful in recognizing and comparing current systems in terms of quality. The standard will help decision makers evaluate how close their vision comes to international best practices and show where certain changes could improve the system. The scorecard awards points only for elements of system design that generally improve operational performance and quality of service, or at least minimize adverse environmental impacts of the traffic system. ITDP says the BRT Standard weighs all systems according to the same criteria. It does not differentiate between high, medium and low-demand BRT systems. It applies easily and equitably to a wide range of operations. The measures included in the BRT Standard will usually tend to improve performance in corridors designed properly for the ridership. The standard also assigns penalty points for systems in service already in service that still do not meet certain baseline criteria. The standard suggests poorly designed BRT systems or corridors create the risk of only worsening congestion. The BRT Standard intends to complement and not replace cost-effectiveness measurements, cost-benefit appraisal tools and system-performance evaluations.
BUSRide
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Publisher / Editor in Chief Steve Kane steve@busride.com Associate Publisher Sali Williams swilliams@busride.com Editor David Hubbard david@busride.com Managing Editor Richard Tackett rtackett@busride.com Account Executives Maria Galioto mgalioto@busride.com Andy Pieri apieri@busride.com Production Director Valerie Valtierra valerie@busride.com Art Director Dominic Salerno dsalerno@busride.com Contributing Writers Doug Jack, Matthew A. Daecher, Christopher Ferrone
BUS industry SAFETY council
Vice President Operations Valerie Valtierra
Accountant Fred Valdez
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Vol. 49 No. 4
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Find the complete BRT Standard 2012 at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy at www.itdp.org and www.BRTstandard.org BR
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April 2013
BUSRide