Smart Transportation

ST-1.3 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

Bus Rapid Transit Planning Guide


The Bus Rapid Transit Planning Guide is the most comprehensive resource for planning a bus rapid transit (BRT) system, beginning with project preparation all the way through to implementation.

It is the culmination of over five years of efforts to document and improve the state of the art in cost-effective public transport solutions for cities. This edition, expanded to over 800 pages, includes contributions from a wide range of professionals and practitioners with direct experience in designing and implementing BRT systems all over the world.

Beginning with an overview of BRT, the Planning Guide proceeds to give a step-by-step description of the planning process, including operational design, financial modeling, physical design, multi-modal and land use integration, business plan development, communications and marketing, contracting, vehicle and fare collection technology, evaluation, and implementation.

The BRT Planning Guide is intended as a guidance document mainly for planning and engineering professionals. However, others, such as non-governmental organizations, national and regional policymakers, and business groups, will find it a valuable resource as well, when advocating for their issues and finding solutions to the problems that they are addressing.

BRT systems have proven to be catalysts in transforming cities into more livable and human-friendly environments. The appeal of BRT is the ability to deliver a high-quality mass transit system within the budgets of most municipalities, even in low-income cities. Planning and implementing a good BRT system is not easy. This guide aims to make the task a little easier.


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