[M II A II R II K]

Unclogging Chinese Traffic With A Bus System That Works


Aug 18, 2011

By Ariel Schwartz

Read More: http://www.fastcompany.com/1774557/...e-a-transportation-model-for-other-big-cities

PDF Report: http://www.itdp.org/documents/20110810-ITDP-GZBRTImpacts.pdf


China's transportation sector is troubled, to say the least. A problematic, pricey high-speed rail system and traffic jams that last for days are just a few of the issues that have arisen as China's population continues to grow. But amidst these problems is a transportation model to be hopeful about. Guangzhou, China--the third largest city in the country--opened a 14-mile bus rapid transit corridor last year in an attempt to lower congestion on one of the city's main roads. And so far, it's really working--so well, in fact, that the corridor could be used as an example for other Chinese cities, and perhaps even cities around the world.

The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) released this week a preliminary report examining the successes of Guangzhou's bus corridor along Zhongshan Avenue, which now has 805,000 daily boardings--giving it the title of most-used bus corridor in Asia--and an increase in the bus speed of 29% compared to the previous bus system in the area (before and after pictures are above). The system is so efficient that Guangzhou's bus system has slashed operating costs by over $14 million annually. So how did Guangzhou do it?

Most of the corridor's success is the result of crafty route planning. Before the system was implemented, over 40 bus routes served Zhongshan Ave. There were no segregated lanes for buses, causing traffic to increase because of frequent bus stopping points. An on-board payment system also significantly slowed down boarding times. The report explains how the new system has changed.

All stations have overtaking lanes allowing multiple sub-stops and express routes, and are designed and dimensioned according to the projected passenger demand and bus flows. Access to the center median stations is via a combination of pedestrian bridges, at-grade crossings, and pedestrian tunnels where combined with metros. Intersections along the corridor have restricted left turns. The system uses a "direct service" or "flexible" operational plan which allows buses to enter and leave the segregated lanes, instead of requiring transfers to/from feeder routes.

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[video=vimeo;21714344]http://www.vimeo.com/21714344[/video]

 

[andrewpmk]

This will never work in developed countries like Canada. Labour costs are too high to run huge volumes of buses like that.

 

[Electrify]

Impressive, but unless it makes more sense to maintain a continuous route rather than transferring, would it not make more sense to built a railway along this stretch instead with that passenger volume?

 

[M II A II R II K]

Perhaps there's more flexibility with the transfers and express services on the road.

 

[noctis]

i'd say change the fare system first...implement the presto system so you can tap on and off...and charge by distance not by a flat fare...then, we can try something like this...

 

[EnviroTO]

Of course that would work. It is a dedicated bus freeway with stations spaced well apart and no conflicting traffic or lights to deal with. Where would you build that here? Why would you build that here? An LRT would take less land, carry more, have less drivers, and leave a much more desitable environment.

 

[noctis]

Question is, do we really need LRTs? When it's completed and ready for service, how much improvement will it have? Will it attract more riders than it currently has? Will there be another fare hike? I think all of these problems should be factored in before considering building anything. Like I always say: no money, no talk.

 

[Amy Rose]

Of course that would work. It is a dedicated bus freeway with stations spaced well apart and no conflicting traffic or lights to deal with. Where would you build that here? Why would you build that here? An LRT would take less land, carry more, have less drivers, and leave a much more desitable environment.

When you have workers that you can pay $1/day, why not BRT?

 

[Marko]

When you have workers that you can pay $1/day, why not BRT?

A bus driver probably makes about $20-$25 a day in a city like Guangzhou. It may seem like nothing to us, but he can also rent an apartment for about $150/mo or buy it for $15,000, so it's all relative.

Those pictures are not really a BRT as much as it's actually a bus depot, arranged in a linear way with dozens of routes coming and going - those buses aren't all just going up and down Zhongshan Ave like a single LRT line would. People have to stop thinking in terms of 'rails'. These buses come and go and leapfrog each other as needed, rather than follow each other down a more costly set of tracks that would be perpetually backed up. BRT would make a whole lot of sense in the GTA rather than laying down costly tracks... we'll see how Mississauga's dedicated lanes work once they open.

 

[sixrings]

the picture of the BRT street is a pretty wide street. It also looks like its exclusively a tranist coridor and public cars are not allowed. The equiveland of a street that wide would be something like Sheppard or Eglinton. I am pretty sure neither streets residents will be ok if they cant drive on the route anymore. People were freaking out at a war on cars against TC when they were wrongly informed that they would lose one lane in each direction. Could you imagine the public outcry if there was a proposal to ban cars from a entire road!?!?!

 

[Marko]

Cars are still allowed on the outside, so this is like a larger St Clair ROW with buses instead of cars riding rails. It could certainly work on major suburban streets like Finch, outer Eglinton, Kingston, Lawrence, Steeles, Queensway, Hurontario, etc... They'd only be able to lay a single lane going either way on 95% of the routes, but could have 'stations' like the one shown at key areas where overlapping routes or systems would come into play.

The problem is the North American aversion to buses.

 

[Justin10000]

Those pictures are not really a BRT as much as it's actually a bus depot, arranged in a linear way with dozens of routes coming and going - those buses aren't all just going up and down Zhongshan Ave like a single LRT line would. People have to stop thinking in terms of 'rails'. These buses come and go and leapfrog each other as needed, rather than follow each other down a more costly set of tracks that would be perpetually backed up. BRT would make a whole lot of sense in the GTA rather than laying down costly tracks... we'll see how Mississauga's dedicated lanes work once they open.

This is a fantasy scenario. Buses rarely leapfrog each other especially during peak periods where the bus driver has to assume there is passengers waiting at the stop, or passengers want to get off. The only way to address this issues is to have really long platforms to allow a number of buses to load/unload. Either way, BRT with the same capacity of LRT takes up more road space, and in the end could cost as much as LRT. France is able to build tramways for $30-$40m/km, it can be done here too.

And BRT advocates always promote BRT as being "just like rail, but with buses" ,so maybe you should take your own advice?

 

[nfitz]

This is a fantasy scenario. Buses rarely leapfrog each other especially during peak periods where the bus driver has to assume there is passengers waiting at the stop, or passengers want to get off.

I've seen frequent leap-frogging on the 25 route. Not at busy stops like Lawrence, Eglinton, York Mills, etc. But definitely on all the lightly used stops betweeen Lawrence and the 401, when an almost empty bus will come from behind, not have anything to drop off, and get a stop ahead of the full bus, allowing it to start emptying out a bit.

 

[gweed123]

This is a fantasy scenario. Buses rarely leapfrog each other especially during peak periods where the bus driver has to assume there is passengers waiting at the stop, or passengers want to get off.

Express routes???

 

[Marko]

Yes, they certainly can leapfrog. But leapfrogging sort of implies a single route and that's not really what I meant, so I guess I chose the wrong word. I was trying to say that because they're buses and not restricted to a dedicated pair of rails, there is no reason why one vehicle has to impede all the others in behind - they can manouvre around as needed, which is clearly demonstrated in the pics and video from Guangzhou where multiple routes come to overlap in the same corridor/station.

Unless you can guarantee rapid movement and very little bloackage time, like say a subway, BRT has to be weighed as a legitimate alternative to LRT.

And BRT advocates always promote BRT as being "just like rail, but with buses" ,so maybe you should take your own advice?

I'm not advocating anything other than considering all options rather than focus on just one way of thinking. That station simply wouldn't be possible of those buses were trams riding in sequence on a pair rails - the ability of the buses being able to move around each other is the only reason it works at all.