Implementation of BRT
Implementation of BRT
1.Introduction
Bus Rapid Transit is a system of buses that operate like conventional rail systems. The system has specialized design, infrastructure and services that help in improving quality and eliminating delays that have been associated with bus transit. BRT combines the speed of light rail, capacity, flexibility, simplicity and lower cost of a bus system. Buses should operate for a significant part of their journey along a fully dedicated bus way for them to be considered as BRT. Bus Rapid Transit has several advantages compared to the traditional bus systems. Among them is the provision of frequent and rapid operations. This is enabled by the schedules that the system requires the bus to follow. It makes sure that busses are flowing frequently hence reducing the lead time that passengers have to wait before they can board a bus. Another advantage is the enhanced stations that are secure, convenient, comfortable and weather protected (Wright, 2010). The system has taken into account consumer needs and preferences. All this has been enabled by research and development before the implementation of the BRT system.
Guangzhou is the largest city in Guangdong province, which is located in Mainland China. Over the years, the city has developed to be a key national trading port and transportation hub. It has a population of around 12.78 million. With such a population, adequate plans need to be made in order to maintain free flowing systems within the city. Among the systems that have been adopted in the city is the Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit. The first BRT line in the city was put in operation on 10th February 2010 (Baeumler, 2012). Several aspects have been critical in the success of BRT operation in Guangzhou. The handling of the entire project has been outlined as the key success factor. This includes the corridor selection, operational design, data collection and analysis, communications and outreach, institutions and regulations among others.
The key areas of analysis in this study, is examining why more cities should consider the adoption of BRT. Advantages associated with the usage of the systems should be considered while making this decision. This is because they will be critical in influencing the decision making process. Benefits associated with BRT range from economic, social, environmental and political. There will also be consideration of why the implementation of the BRT has been slow. This is based on the time when it came to existence and its level of embracement in various cities worldwide. The sluggish implementation has been observed even in large cities like New York (Baeumler, 2012).
- Literature Review
Bus Rapid Transit in China
The rapid growth of BRT in China is spearheading the country towards future opportunities that will pave way for a sustainable transport system. There has been debate on who has the right of way on city streets in the country. Despite this, cities should exert maximum benefits of BRT by prioritizing its implementation with other sustainable transport modes (Fjellstrom, 2011). This is because China has the largest population in the world. The country’s economic conditions are improving on a daily basis. As the economic conditions improve, people’s living standards also improve. In the long-run, many individuals will afford their own private mode of transport by acquiring their own vehicles. Based on the country’s population, this would not be a suitable move due to the negative implications that would slow the economic growth rate. The negative implications include congestion that would result to time wastage on the roads. It minimizes the working hours hence the productivity of the nation. Increased pollution, which is a health hazard, might forge ahead in reducing the life expectancy of the country’s citizens.
Over the past few years, growth of BRT in China has been rapid. It was introduced in 1999 in the city of Kunming. Later on it spread to Beijing and Guangzhou in 2004 and 2010 respectively. Several cities have also followed in this suit. Most BRT systems are established in third and second-tier cities or municipalities having populations of less than 5 million (Fjellstrom, 2011). BRT is designed as the backbone public transport in these cities since they do not have urban rail systems.
Despite the good performance and rapid growth, there have been several challenges in terms of public debate. The debate constitutes on how to integrate with other modes of transport and the right-of-way in the city streets. Doubts over BRT in China have never ceased. They are triggered by unfamiliarity of BRT concept and the mindset of the private car owners who argue that they have right-of-way in cities. In order to curb such problems, relevant authorities need to integrate BRT with other public transit modes, like traditional buses, subways and non-motorized transport modes. Nonetheless, BRT has future opportunities in China and its rapid growth is likely to continue. There are about 1000-km BRT under planning in the country. The system has the ability of playing a supplementary role to rail systems and metro, as seen in Guangzhou and Beijing (Fjellstrom, 2011).
Delhi Bus Corridor
The initial bus corridor in Delhi became operational on 20th April 2008. During the first weeks of operation, the corridor experienced some difficulties. They included the traffic signals not operating properly since there were difficulties in translating the timing plans to the traffic controllers. There was extensive queuing at general traffic lanes associated with a large number of bus breakdowns. Inadequate training on drivers was noted since they used wrong platforms and stopped on several occasions. Users also did not have adequate information on where to board the buses while pedestrians crossed the traffic lanes in unauthorized places (Hidalgo & Pai, 2009).
These initial difficulties received media coverage, which focused on the problems experienced by vehicle users and accidents. This resulted to a very bad perception of the project in the eyes of the public. The whole issue went along to be politicized, where the opposition accused the government of a botched implementation of the corridor. Despite the negative perception from media outlets, a survey that was conducted by CSE showed that the users had a different opinion. 88% of the bus commuters gave a positive view, 85% of cyclists and pedestrians and a fair perception by car owners of 45% (Hidalgo & Pai, 2009).
It is apparent that problems and benefits of the corridor have been based on prejudice and perceptions as opposed to technical evaluations. The negative image that has been postulated regarding the corridor has hampered development of BRT all over India.
Political Will and Existing Transit Operators as Barriers of BRT Implementation
Political will has been outlined as the most important ingredient in making the BRT system work. Over the years there has been resistance from groups within the government that have special interest in the implementation of the systems. This has been noted all over the world including developing and already developed countries. Inertia against growth has always been an insurmountable obstacle from mayors and other public officials due to the consequences likely to accrue. They are afraid of neutralizing their control levels due to the bureaucracies that are likely to occur. Lobby groups from automobiles and rail interests usually make powerful political argument against implementation of BRT (Fjellstrom, 2010).
Existing transit operators tend to be against BRT implementation since they are skeptical of any change. This is more prevalent if the change has a ramification on their own viability and profitability. In several cities like Quito (Ecuador), operators have participated in violent demonstrations to negate the development of BRT system (Hidalgo & Carrigan, 2010). In other cities, private operators are pressuring political officials through intense lobbying and recall efforts. It has been noted that most of these threats to operators are more perceived than real.
Economic Benefits of BRT
Hughes & Zhu (2011) assert that BRT system has several economic advantages that people should consider in order to make informed conclusions. They say that lack of adequate information has resulted to the slow implementation of BRT since individuals without sufficient information are among the front runners in opposing its implementation. In recent years, the information is becoming adequate, and hence there has been an improvement on BRT implementation compared to previous years. Learning from cities that have already established the system has been critical too.
Economic benefits include reduced travel time due to convenience associated with the system. Busses involved operate on schedules hence ensuring that availability is catered for all the time. There is minimal congestion that enables faster movement. There is increased employment opportunities and work conditions. Employment opportunities are created when the BRT system is being implemented and once it starts operation. There are individuals employed to oversee the maintenance. Others are employed to work on the terminus collecting fares and maintaining order. There are also bus drivers that get to be employed. Better working conditions are experienced through reduced congestion and pollution (Hughes & Zhu, 2011). All the above contribute to increased economic productivity in the long-run.
- History of Guangzhou in Transport
Guangzhou city was a gateway for Western merchants into China who were looking to trade in goods like tea, porcelain and silk, which were on high demand during the early periods. This aspect has necessitated efficient transport systems in the region. From time in memorial, the major transport systems that have been used in the city are water, road and rail. Pearl River Delta has always brought the city close to major Chinese trade cities like Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Dongguan (Fredman, 2012). This has made water transport a common feature among traders within these regions. Rail transport has been used for both cargo and passenger transport. In recent times, road transport has gained the most popularity. This has resulted to acquisition of both public and private modes of transport. As a result, the city has suffered congestion, pollution and other growing pains. These externalities have necessitated the authority to take several actions in order to improve the transport system. Implementation of BRT has been postulated as the way forward.
The Institute of Transportation and Development policy combined their efforts with the Guangzhou Municipal Engineering Design and Research Institute in an attempt to see the project prevail. These efforts commenced in 2005, where the two parties were involved in examining the conceptual plan, corridor comparison and demand analysis. The second phase was executed in 2006, and it included planning demand analysis for phase 1, design and operational planning. In 2007 and 2008, implementation planning and design took place. This was accompanied by both NMT and metro integration. The construction regulatory was set-up and outreach vehicle procurement was conducted in 2009 (Fjellstrom, 2011). Since commencement of the BRT system in Guangzhou, the city has established itself as the leading figure in terms of the number of bus flows. The BRT system handles approximately 800,000 passenger trips on a daily basis. It features a range of transformational and innovative features, and has become the first high capacity BRT to operate direct service routes.
BRT has been slow to develop in Guangzhou due to the perceptions of the public. There have been conflicts between the authority and the private transit operators. Private operators think that they are being oppressed since much attention is being given to the BRT. They are left with minimal lane capacity according to their view. Private operators also have an argument that they are the only ones that deserve the right to the streets of the city. This is based on the policies that used to exist before, where public vehicles had limitation in accessing some parts of the city (Fredman, 2012). Negative publicity created by the media and other political officials have also contributed to the slow development of BRT in the city. People tend to be skeptical based on what they hear; hence they do not support the project fully.
Guangzhou Metro is also incorporated in the city’s transport system. It is a light rail transit system that enables efficient movement within the city. It harbors four passenger railway stations in the city centre, East, South and North. Currently six new rail lines are under construction. Twelve more lines have been included in the long-term plan for the metro. The BRT system in Guangzhou has a bike sharing system that was planned and implemented along the corridor at the same time.
Functionality of the Current System
Current Guangzhou BRT system is working well. It has more than triple peak passenger flows compared to any other BRT system in Asia. The flow is also higher than what is experienced in most metro systems in the country and across the globe. Having the bike ways incorporated in the system has made it more convenient to most commuters. The traffic has become smooth and pollution levels have reduced. Guangzhou is a model for low-carbon, affordable and high volume public transit that is desperately needed by fast growing cities found in the developing world (Fjellstrom, 2011).
Areas that Need Future Development
Areas of future development in Guangzhou BRT include provision of more information by the authority regarding the functionality of the system. This has been outlined as one of the reasons for slow implementation of the system in the region. Most individuals are yet to accommodate systems since they have already been fed with negative perceptions that are not necessarily true. If people are more educated regarding the issue, their acceptance rate will be high and the implementation process will be high (Baeumler, 2012).
The city should also come up with a way of integrating the BRT with other modes of transport effectively.
- Conclusions
From the study it is apparent that the implementation of BRT is growing. This is based on the systems that existed five years ago, and the ones that are there presently. From the literature review, China can be used as an example in explaining this phenomenon. Kunming was the first city in the country to implement BRT system in 1999. A long time passed before any other city adopted its usage. It took Beijing five years in order to follow suit. However, this has changed drastically as cities in China are adopting BRT systems due to the benefits they have seen accrue to cities already accustomed to the usage. Growth in the implementation of the system has not prevented occurrence of challenges associated with the same. The challenges seem to defer from one country to another. In china, the main conflict is between the private and public transit operators. To some extent there is also conflict on the compatibility of BRT with the existing transport systems. This observation indicates that there will be several challenges while implementing BRT despite the success that it might gain.
Negative publicities, miss-informed perceptions and political will are among the key contributories to slow implementation of BRT. The Delhi Bus Corridor is a good example of how negative publicity plays a huge role in slowing implementation of BRT. Introduction of the corridor in the country was faced with several difficulties. This is a common case for a project that is being introduced for the first time. However, the mass media did not look at the whole scenario before tainting the project due to the difficulties experienced when it commenced. The general public in India has developed a negative view regarding BRT, as a result (Hidalgo & Pai, 2009). This has hampered implementation of BRT in the country. A city like Quito in Ecuador lags behind in BRT implementation due to miss-informed perceptions from the transit operators. They are skeptic of the unknown hence deterring the implementation of BRT. It is advisable to learn from cities like Guangzhou that has been able to spearhead BRT implementation in a favorable manner. Political will slows the implementation process since the individuals involved in making such decisions must be willing for it to commence. If some members within the political circles are not supporting the implementation, the process will be very slow and will take several years before it is adopted.
Hughes & Zhu (2011) outline that BRT implementation goes beyond social and environmental improvements. There are economic benefits such as reduced travel time, improved work condition, increased employment, increased economic productivity, reliable product deliveries among others. This is an indication that BRT implementation provides a compelling case for cities around the globe to consider it as a transit priority. However, the barriers that prevent successful dissemination of the system need to be eradicated for the worldwide implementation to prevail.
References
Baeumler, A. (2012). Sustainable low-carbon city development in China. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
Banister, D. (2005) Unsustainable Transport: City Transport in the New Century. London:Routledge.
Fjellstrom, K. (2010). Bus rapid transit in China. Built Environment, 36(3), 363-374.
Fjellstrom, K. (2011). Case study of the Guangzhou BRT. High Capacity BRT Planning, 16(3), 67.
Hidalgo, D. andCarrigan, A. (2010). BRT in Latin America High Capacity and Performance, Rapid Implementation and Low Cost.Built Environment, 36(3), 283-297.
Hidalgo, D. and Pai. M. (2009). Delhi Bus Corridor: An Evaluation. Washington DC, EMBARQ.
Wright, L. (2010). Bus Rapid Transit. Environmental Management; Transport Policy Advice, 23(4), 318.
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