Bus Rapid Transit

by Stefano Viggiano, Lane Transit District and Graham Carey, JHR Transportation Engineering.

Introduction

This article describes an innovative way in which the cities of Eugene and Springfield, Oregon, with immediate levels of transit demand, will provide a creditable alternative to private vehicle travel, which is attractive to the choice user without resorting to a high cost, rail-based system.

Lane Transit District (LTD) is a public agency which operates 102 buses and other alternative transportation services in Eugene/Springfield, as well as portions of rural Lane County, Oregon. The past decade has been marked by consistent growth in ridership and in the demand for the District's services, resulting in corresponding additions to routes, facilities, and the fleet. The District's goal is to provide a safe, convenient, and efficient transit service that is competitive with the automobile through quick travel time and direct routing. LTD consistently has been ranked among the nation's top public transit systems.

The District has effectively employed long-range financial planning and budgeting to ensure the stability and reliability of its service to the community, and to provide for service expansion in response to community needs. Nevertheless, rapid economic growth and development throughout the Eugene/Springfield metropolitan area in recent years has challenged LTD to find innovative ways to design and maintain new transit services that can more effectively compete with the automobile. Despite the popularity of rail-based local transit systems in other cities, the investigations to date have shown that such services are not warranted in Eugene/Springfield. Instead, the District has concluded that it is more efficient to utilize our available resources and capital investments to their full extent, and build upon the current strengths of the existing transit system, rather than to completely disregard these to introduce an all-new system, such as light rail transit (LRT).

It seems that every city, no matter what size, views LRT as the answer to all its transportation problems. This mode has seemingly outgrown its role as merely a transportation mode and is seen as a symbol of a successful city. There is no doubt that LRT is an extremely efficient and effective means of transporting people, when operating in the upper range of demand. However, there are a number of cities who wish to apply this technology in applications which are less than ideal.

This inappropriate application of technology is likely to be damaging to the city, involving huge subsidies, and to the mode in a broader sense. While a light rail system is an appropriate goal, its immediate introduction in many cases is not warranted.

What is the answer? HOV/Busways have been introduced throughout Oregon with limited success; however, transit planners have seemingly missed the point. Dedicated right-of-ways have reduced travel time, but this has failed to duplicate the lure of LRT. For bus transit to be as successful as rail-based modes, we must take a holistic view of the service required, examining all elements related to service.

Investigations in the Eugene-Springfield area indicated that the introduction of a rail-based system is premature; however, there is a clear indication from members of the community that the current modus operandi is unacceptable. Based on the above LTD embarked on the introduction of a Bus Rapid Transit system.

A stepwise incremental and self-testing approach was adopted in which LTD can improve service while positioning itself for the introduction of higher technology modes, such as a rail-based system, at a later date.

What is Bus Rapid Transit?

The term Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is not new. Originating in the latter part of the sixties, its use, or more appropriately abuse, was for a bus-based system with a separate right-of-way for part of its route. While the separate right-of-way produced some impressive benefits, it failed to be considered as a serious alternative to rail-based modes.

The application of a BRT system in the Eugene-Springfield area seeks to mimic the beneficial features of a rail-based system.

Service Description

In response to the community's growth and the increasing demand for faster, more convenient transit service that provides an effective alternative to the single-occupant automobile, Lane Transit District has begun preliminary engineering work for the implementation of a pilot Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. The BRT system is based on light-rail transit principles, but instead of the required capital investment in trains and track, it utilizes buses in service that is integrated with key components of the existing automobile transportation infrastructure, such as roads and rights-of-way, intersections, and traffic signals. Therefore, BRT is more affordable, flexible, and appropriate in scale than light rail for a medium-sized area such as Eugene/Springfield. In addition, it allows for incremental construction and implementation and can be easily tailored to meet the specific transportation needs and opportunities within individual neigbourhoods and transportation corridors. BRT offers many advantages to regular bus service, including service frequency, increased capacity, and speed. The following service features will increase travel speed and service capacity, and will reduce passenger travel time on the BRT corridor:

As indicated above, LTD's application of Bus Rapid Transit is a "systems" concept which addresses all elements of service. Thus, the objectives of BRT in the Eugene/Springfield area are very different from the BRT systems that were adopted by several North American cities in the 1970's. These focused primarily on exclusive rights-of-way with no attention given to the other remaining service elements.

The introduction of a Bus Rapid Transit system in Eugene/Springfield represents a realistic and responsible approach to meeting the area's transportation needs. The protection of rights-of-way for transit use helps to position the system for the introduction of higher technology modes, such as light-rail transit, if they become appropriate in the future as a result of the community's growth and population density.

Pilot Corridor

Planning and development of the Eugene/Springfield BRT system includes the implementation of a pilot corridor by 1998. Following the selection of the corridor, further research will determine the best way to improve transit operations in that corridor with the minimum amount of construction necessary. BRT service improvements will be complemented by appropriate support facilities such as boarding stations, park & ride lots, and ticket machines.

Upon implementation, BRT service in the pilot corridor will consist of a main trunk route along a major corridor, feeder routes to provide neighbourhood service connections, and the necessary support facilities. The implementation of the pilot corridor will not preclude the operation of regular "local" bus service and some associated neighbourhood service within that same corridor, as a supplement to the "express" BRT line and neighbourhood feeder services. Instead, the BRT system will integrate with the existing services provided by LTD to provide a more balanced combination of access and travel speed that is competitive relative to the single occupant automobile.

This article, based on a presentation at the 1996 Quad Conference in Portland, OR, will be continued in the next issue with a discussion of some of the major reasons why BRT is appropriate in the Eugene-Sprinfield area.