TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH TCRP PROGRAM REPORT 118 Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide TCRP OVERSIGHT AND PROJECT TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2007 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE* SELECTION COMMITTEE* CHAIR OFFICERS David A. Lee Connecticut Transit CHAIR: Linda S. Watson, CEO, LYNX–Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Orlando VICE CHAIR: Debra L. Miller, Secretary, Kansas DOT, Topeka MEMBERS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board Ann August Santee Wateree Regional Transportation Authority MEMBERS Linda J. Bohlinger HNTB Corp. J. Barry Barker, Executive Director, Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, KY Robert I. Brownstein Michael W. Behrens, Executive Director, Texas DOT, Austin PB Consult, Inc. Allen D. Biehler, Secretary, Pennsylvania DOT, Harrisburg Peter Cannito John D. Bowe, President, Americas Region, APL Limited, Oakland, CA Metropolitan Transportation Authority—Metro North Railroad Larry L. Brown, Sr., Executive Director, Mississippi DOT, Jackson Gregory Cook Deborah H. Butler, Vice President, Customer Service, Norfolk Southern Corporation and Subsidiaries, Ann Arbor Transportation Authority Atlanta, GA Nathaniel P. Ford Anne P. Canby, President, Surface Transportation Policy Partnership, Washington, DC San Francisco MUNI Nicholas J. Garber, Henry L. Kinnier Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia, Ronald L. Freeland Charlottesville Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. Angela Gittens, Vice President, Airport Business Services, HNTB Corporation, Miami, FL Fred M. Gilliam Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Susan Hanson, Landry University Professor of Geography, Graduate School of Geography, Clark Kim R. Green University, Worcester, MA GFI GENFARE Adib K. Kanafani, Cahill Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley Jill A. Hough Harold E. Linnenkohl, Commissioner, Georgia DOT, Atlanta North Dakota State University Michael D. Meyer, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia John Inglish Institute of Technology, Atlanta Utah Transit Authority Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Arlington Jeanne W. Krieg John R. Njord, Executive Director, Utah DOT, Salt Lake City Eastern Contra Costa Transit Authority Celia G. Kupersmith Pete K. Rahn, Director, Missouri DOT, Jefferson City Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation Sandra Rosenbloom, Professor of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson District Tracy L. Rosser, Vice President, Corporate Traffic, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Bentonville, AR Clarence W. Marsella Rosa Clausell Rountree, Executive Director, Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority, Atlanta Denver Regional Transportation District Henry G. (Gerry) Schwartz, Jr., Senior Professor, Washington University, St. Louis, MO Faye L. M. Moore C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas, Austin Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Steve Williams, Chairman and CEO, Maverick Transportation, Inc., Little Rock, AR Authority Stephanie L. Pinson Gilbert Tweed Associates, Inc. EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Robert H. Prince, Jr. + Thad Allen (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC DMJM Harris Thomas J. Barrett (Vice Adm., U.S. Coast Guard, ret.), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Jeffrey M. Rosenberg Amalgamated Transit Union Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT Michael Scanlon Marion C. Blakey, Federal Aviation Administrator, U.S.DOT San Mateo County Transit District Joseph H. Boardman, Federal Railroad Administrator, U.S.DOT Beverly Scott John A. Bobo, Jr., Acting Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S.DOT Sacramento Regional Transit District Rebecca M. Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute, Smyrna, GA James S. Simpson George Bugliarello, Chancellor, Polytechnic University of New York, Brooklyn, and Foreign Secretary, FTA National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC Frank Tobey First Transit J. Richard Capka, Federal Highway Administrator, U.S.DOT Kathryn D. Waters Sean T. Connaughton, Maritime Administrator, U.S.DOT Dallas Area Rapid Transit Edward R. Hamberger, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC Frank Wilson John H. Hill, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County John C. Horsley, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Officials, Washington, DC William W. Millar J. Edward Johnson, Director, Applied Science Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, APTA John C. Stennis Space Center, MS Robert E. Skinner, Jr. William W. Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC TRB Nicole R. Nason, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT John C. Horsley Jeffrey N. Shane, Under Secretary for Policy, U.S.DOT AASHTO James S. Simpson, Federal Transit Administrator, U.S.DOT J. Richard Capka Carl A. Strock (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of FHWA Engineers, Washington, DC TDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Louis Sanders APTA SECRETARY Christopher W. Jenks TRB *Membership as of March 2007. *Membership as of March 2007. TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 118 Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner’s Guide KITTELSON & ASSOCIATES, INC. Orlando, FL IN ASSOCIATION WITH HERBERT S. LEVINSON TRANSPORTATION CONSULTANTS New Haven, CT DMJM+HARRIS Fairfax, VA Subject Areas Public Transit Research sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration in cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2007 www.TRB.org TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 118 The nation’s growth and the need to meet mobility, environmental, Project A-23A and energy objectives place demands on public transit systems. Current ISSN 1073-4872 systems, some of which are old and in need of upgrading, must expand ISBN: 978-0-309-09884-7 service area, increase service frequency, and improve efficiency to serve Library of Congress Control Number 2007927926 these demands. Research is necessary to solve operating problems, to © 2007 Transportation Research Board adapt appropriate new technologies from other industries, and to intro- duce innovations into the transit industry. The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) serves as one of the principal means by which the transit industry can develop innovative near-term solutions COPYRIGHT PERMISSION to meet demands placed on it. Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining The need for TCRP was originally identified in TRB Special Report written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. 213—Research for Public Transit: New Directions, published in 1987 and based on a study sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the Administration—now the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). A understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, report by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product, Transportation 2000, also recognized the need for local, problem- method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for solving research. TCRP, modeled after the longstanding and success- educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission ful National Cooperative Highway Research Program, undertakes from CRP. research and other technical activities in response to the needs of tran- sit service providers. The scope of TCRP includes a variety of transit research fields including planning, service configuration, equipment, NOTICE facilities, operations, human resources, maintenance, policy, and administrative practices. The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Transit Cooperative Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the TCRP was established under FTA sponsorship in July 1992. Pro- Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing posed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, TCRP was autho- Board’s judgment that the project concerned is appropriate with respect to both the rized as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act purposes and resources of the National Research Council. of 1991 (ISTEA). On May 13, 1992, a memorandum agreement out- The members of the technical advisory panel selected to monitor this project and to review lining TCRP operating procedures was executed by the three cooper- this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration ating organizations: FTA, the National Academies, acting through the for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and Transportation Research Board (TRB); and the Transit Development while they