Nora Vd Heuvel

THE MACROBUS SYSTEM OF GUADALAJARA:
AN EVOLVED CONCEPT IN BRT PLANNING AND
IMPLEMENTATION FOR MEDIUM CAPACITY CORRIDORS
Dario Hidalgo, PhD
EMBARQ, The WRI Center for Sustainable Transport
Yorgos Voukas, German Freiberg,
Amilcar Lopez , Saul Alveano
Center for Sustainable Transport, Mexico
NACTO BRT Workshop #1
New York City
April 6-7, 2010

Sustainable
Urban Transport
•Pedestrian and
Bicycles

•

Public Transportation

•

Transit Oriented
Development

•

Disincentives to Car
Use

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/images/sidewalks/ps_rendering01.JPG

What is a Bus Rapid Transit system?
“Is a flexible, rubber-tired form
of rapid transit that combines
stations, vehicles, services,
running ways and ITS elements
into an integrated system with
strongidentity”
TCRP Report 90 – Bus Rapid Transit – Volume
2: Implementation Guidelines 2003

“It is a high quality public
transport system, oriented to
the user that offers fast,
comfortable and low cost urban
mobility”
BRT Planning Guide – ITDP, 2007

Photo: Karl Fjelstrom - ITDP

BRT Key Components
Centralized Control

Distinctive Image
Stations with
Prepayment and
Level BoardingLarge Buses
Multiple Wide
Doors

Segregated
Median
Busways

Component

“High End” BRT

Running
Ways

•

Longitudinal Segregation

Traffic
Engineering

•
•
•
•

Geometric Adjustments
Left and Right Turn Controls
Traffic Signal Priorities for Buses
Modern Traffic Signal Technology

Stations

•
•
•

Enclosed Facilities
Level Boarding and Prepayment
PassingLanes (when required)

Vehicles

•
•
•

Multiple doors
Easy Boarding/Alighting
Low Emissions

Services

•
•

Mixed services (local, accelerated, express; short loops)
Design according to the service needs

ITS

•
•
•

Automatic Vehicle Location/Centralized Control
Traffic Signal Priority
Electronic Fare Collection/Fare Integration

Component

“High End” BRT

Qualityof Service

• High User Acceptance

Travel Time

• Easily Accessible
• Low waiting time
• High commercial speed

Reliability

• Low variability (intervals, speeds)
• Low breakdowns, incidents

Comfort

• Accepatable Occupancy Levels (buses, platforms)
• Good user information
• Seamless integration with other transport modes
• Perception of safety and security

Cost

•Relative low capital and operational costs
• High capital and operational productivity

Externalities

•
•
•
•

Low level of accidents (fatalities, injuries)
Low emissions
Congestion relief (attraction of motor vehicle users)
Increased land values

About 68 systems in developed and
developing countries

11
15
20
2
16
4

USA-Canada
Latin America
Europe
Africa
AsiaAustralia-New Zealand

Curitiba, RIT, 72 km median busways
1.2 million pax/day
Initial Corridor 1974

Quito, Metrobús-Q, 37 Km median busways,
440,000 pax/day
Initial corridor in 1995

Bogotá, TransMilenio, 84 Km median
busways, 1,6 million pax/day
Initial Corridor 2000

Photo ITDP

Bogotá TransMilenio
Eje Ambiental Avenida Jiménez

Expressway Lanes
TransMilenio, Bogota

SaoPaulo, 104 Km median busways +
preferential buslanes, 5,761,000 pax/day
Initial busways 1980, Reconstructed in 2003

León de Guanajuato, México, Optibús, 25 Km
median busways (60% segregated)
Initial corridor 2003

México City, Metrobús, 30 Km median busways,
450,000 pax/day
Initial Corridor 2005

Pereira, Colombia, Megabús, 27 Km Busways,
155,000 pax/day
Initial Operation in 2006Pereira, Colombia

Photos courtesy of Megabus,
Pereira, Colombia

Guayaquil, Ecuador,
Metrovía,
16 Km Busways,
96,000 pax/day
Initial Corridor 2006

Photos by D. Hidalgo

Santiago, Chile, 19 Km busways + 63 Km of road improvements,
Integrated Network for 5 Million Trips/day
Initial Operation in 2007

Guatemala City, February 2007
Photo: Sapfan (Jan Pesula)

Photo:...