Workshop 2 Report: Bus Rapid Transit

Abstract

Workshop 2 examined critical success factors, operational enhancements, appropriate contractual and institutional settings and complementary policies of BRT systems, building off the discussion started two years before in Durban. Even though implementing a BRT corridor is almost always very challenging, the evidence shows that the BRT industry is quite lively and growing steadily in kilometres and daily ridership in all continents. The Workshop identified six cyclical stages for BRT implementation: policy, frameworks, strategy and planning for implementation of BRT, stakeholder outreach and process management, deployment and operationalization of BRT, and post-deployment assessment. The papers and discussion provided key examples and results in all of the six stages leading to eight key messages. These main points ranged from an optimism that BRT is spreading, but that BRT is not itself the objective; the need for innovation in not just operations, but regulatory, institutional, and participatory frameworks, which requires increased public and private capacities; and recognition of the differences between cities, particularly in the developing and developed world. The workshop identified policy recommendations and suggested some specific research topics for Thredbo 14.