This document discusses the impacts of Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRTS) on cities. It begins with an introduction to BRTS and their benefits like being fast, reliable, and cost-effective. It then reviews literature on BRTS implemented in various Indian cities. The document discusses various impacts of BRTS like reduced travel times, environmental benefits from lower emissions, public health benefits from reduced accidents and air pollution, urban development impacts from increased land values near stations, and economic impacts from job creation. It concludes that BRTS can help meet cities' mobility needs affordably and efficiently while reducing pollution.

1. SEMINAR -II
ASSIGNMENT
LITERATURE REVIEW
IMPACT OF BRTS ON CITIES
SUBMITTED BY -
SAVITRI KUMARI
2120200098
SEMESTER –VI
DEPT.OF PLANNING
SPAV

2. 1
IMPACT OF BRTS ON CITIES
Savitri Kumari
Department of Planning
School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada
Keywords: Transportation system, Transportation Problems, BRTS
INTRODUCTION
Any settlement needs mobility within its boundaries to connect various places within the
settlement and outside its boundaries to connect the settlement with other settlements.
People tend to opt for personal modes of transport for mobility, unless there is a strong
network of public transport system. The system needs to fast, reliable and cheap. Here arises
the need of a mass transit system. BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) is fast reliable and cheap.
Most of the million plus cities are facing with serious problem of pollution and congestion;
they are looking for cost effective, efficient, modern and sustainable means of public transport
solutions. BRTS are increasingly being recognized as amongst most effective solution for
providing a cost effective and high quality public transport service in urban areas for both the
developed and the developing nations . BRT involves coordinated improvements in a transit
system’s infrastructure, equipment, technology , and operations that give preferential
treatment to buses on urban roadways. BRT encompasses a variety of approaches, including
high capacity buses using exclusive bus ways with other vehicles, and improving bus service on
city arterial streets. When public transit service is frequent and reliable, more people use it in
place of their cars. High-quality bus rapid transit systems, like all urban transport, can affect
the quality of life, productivity, health, and safety of people living in cities. These impacts have
been explored in varying depth in the existing research as travel time benefits, environmental
impacts, public health and safety benefits, and urban development changes.
LITERATURE REVIEW FOR THE STUDY
The increasing demand for urban mass transit mobility is now being addressed by various
cities in India, following the best practices in the world. A sustainable transport systemmust
provide accessibility and mobility to all urban residents in a safe and environment friendly
mode of transport. The rapid growth in the number of motor vehicles has resulted in severe
traffic congestion and air pollution in many cities of the country. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a
term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more
efficient service than an ordinary bus line. The goal of these systems is to approach the
service quality of rail transit while still enjoying the cost savings and flexibility of bus transit so
the city can be self-sustainable. Safe, versatile, flexible and economic, the Bus Rapid Transit
System (BRTS) also known as the High Capacity Bus System (HCBS) is increasingly being
adopted by cities in India as well as throughout the world. This paper summarizes key trends
of transport system, and the issues to be considered for the development of BRTS to
mitigate cities .

3. 2
CHARACTERISTIC OF BRT SYSTEM
As we look at the length, area and population of cities, as it increases the type of BRT and level
of BRT changes from a basic bus service to a Full BRT service. The other factors that affect the
type of BRT systemmay include local preferences and culture, population density, distribution
of trips, climate, geography, topography, available financial resources ,local technical capacity
and knowledge, existing business and institutional structures, and, perhaps most importantly,
the degree of existing political will to implement a high‐quality system.
Figure 1: Some Characteristics of BRTS
ADVANTAGES OF BRT OVER OTHER TRANSITSYSTEMS
BRT has generally the following advantages:
• BRT having more flexibility than Light Rail, It can able to phase in service rather than having
to wait for an entire systemto be built, and it can also be used as temporary systemuntil Light
Rail is built.
• Bus Rapid Transit routes can also be adjusted and rerouted over time to serve new
developments and dispersed employment centers that may have because of development
outside the city centre.
• Bus Rapid Transit can respond to changes in employment, land‐use, and community patterns.
• On the other hand, Light Rail Transit lines are fixed and cannot easily change to adjust to new
patterns of housing and employment.
• Compared to other mass transit alternatives, the BRT is by far the most cost-effective means
of providing rapid transit service—about 10‐20 percent of the cost of light rail and 1‐10 percent
of Metro.
• Although Bus Rapid Transit sometimes uses rail‐style park‐and‐ride lots, Bus Rapid Transit
Routes can also collect riders in neighborhoods and then provide rapid long distance service
by entering a bus way or HOV (high occupancy vehicle) facility. Transit agencies have
considerable flexibility to provide long distance service without requiring a transfer between
vehicles.

4. 3
• In performance of transit system, two elements are ridership and systemspeed. While
ridership varied considerably, the largest ridership on Bus Rapid Transit and Light Rail systems
were quite similar. Speed varied but that Bus Rapid Transit projects were generally faster. This
was likely due to the nature of the Bus Rapid Transit systems; express bus operations or
operations with longer stop spacing have higher speeds.
• Ridership on Bus Rapid Transit and Light Rail systems varies widely and depends, in part, on
frequency of service, number of stops, hours of operation, and customer demand. For
example, ,ridership on 4 bus ways ranged from 7,000 riders per day to about 30,000 per day
and averaged about 15,600 riders per day. For 13 bus lines on HOV lanes, ridership ranged
from 1,000 to about 25,000 riders per day, with an average ridership of about 8,100.
In addition, the ridership on the two arterial street Bus Rapid Transit lines in Los Angeles was
about 9,000 to 56,000 per day, with an average of 32,500 per day. In addition, ridership can
vary greatly with vehicle sizes and passenger capacity between Light Rail and bus vehicles,
which can affect vehicle based comparisons as mentioned in feasibility report by RITES and
TRIP Delhi.
• Distance Speeds generally depends on the characteristics such as distance between stops,
Fare‐collection methods, the degree to which the tracks or roadway are exclusive to transit
Vehicles or share right‐of‐way with cars and other vehicular traffic, type of the intersection
and geometric design of the road.
BRTS SYSTEM IN INDIAN CITIES
Indian cities, of all sizes, face a crisis of urban transport. Despite investments in road
infrastructure, and plans for land use and transport development, all cities face the e v e r
increas ing problems of congestion, traffic accidents, air, and noise pollution. India’s
transport crisis has been made worse by the extremely rapid growth of India’s largest cities
in a context of low incomes, limited and outdated transport infrastructure, rampant
suburban sprawl, sharply rising motor vehicle ownership and use, deteriorating bus
services, a wide range of motorized and non-motorized transport modes sharing
roadways, and inadequate as well as uncoordinated land use and transport planning.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is growing in popularity throughout the world. The reasons are its
passenger and developer attractiveness, its high performance and quality, and its ability to be
built quickly, incrementally, and economically. BRT also provides sufficient transport
capacity to meet demands even in the largest metropolitan regions.
In India, it is started first in Pune city then in Delhi partial corridor is started from 21st April
2008, and also proposed in other cities. BRT is being implemented in Indian cities of
Ahmadabad, Surat, Rajkot, Bhopal, Indore Pune, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur and
Delhi. The BRT projects in these cities are sanctioned under JNNURM and in Delhi it is funded
by Govt. of Delhi. Ahmadabad, Bangalore Hyderabad and Chennai have recorded a higher
growth rate than Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta. In the year 2002 Ahmadabad has recorded the
highest per capita motor vehicles in India.
TRAVEL TIME IMPACTS
Several design elements of high-quality BRT systems can help to quicken passenger boarding
and alighting times reducing overall travel times:
•Level boarding: station platforms level with bus floors; no bus stairs to walk up or down;
•Pre-paid boarding: fares collected off-board the buses, typically at the station entrance;
•High-capacity buses with multiple doors: several, often wide, doors for boarding.

5. 4
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Bus rapid transit systems can have positive environmental impacts by reducing greenhouse
gases that contribute to global climate change as well as local air pollutants, which lead to
citywide air pollution and smog. Reductions in vehicle emissions can be achieved in several
ways, including reducing vehicle-kilometers travelled (VKT) and improving the fuel efficiency
and technology of the buses. Passengers shifting from single-occupancy vehicles to high-
occupancy BRT buses reduce overall VKT in the city. Likewise, many BRT systems consolidate
informal systems comprised of low-occupancy vans that may use older and more polluting
fuels and vehicle technologies. New articulated or bi-articulated BRT buses can carry many
more passengers per bus kilometer and many are capable of meeting the most requirement
emissions standards.
REDUCTIONS IN GREENHOUSE GASES
Eleven BRT systems across Mexico, Colombia, China, India and South Africa have registered
their carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2) emissions reductions through the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) Clean Development Mechanism or
other emissions verification schemes.
REDUCTIONS IN LOCAL AIR POLLUTANTS
Local air pollutants such as carbon monoxide and particulate matter, pose environmental
and public health concerns. By forcing the retirement of less-efficient, older transport vehicles,
BRT systems can have a positive impact on smog, local pollution, and the health of city
residents.
PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACTS
Bus rapid transit systems also provide valuable public health benefits to society in three key
ways: reduced road fatalities and injuries, reduced personal exposure to harmful air pollutants,
and increased physical activity for BRT users. Local air pollutants primarily impact individual
health; this benefit is treated as a public health impact.
ROAD SAFETY IMPACTS
While research on the road safety impacts of BRT systems is less developed than some of the
other impact areas, recent studies shows that BRT corridors can have a positive impact on
traffic safety by reducing the frequency of traffic incidents, injuries and fatalities even
When controlling for citywide trends in accidents.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IMPACTS
BRT passenger surveys have shown that the vast majority of BRT passengers switch to BRT
from the existing bus or minibus services.
OTHER BRT IMPACTS
In addition to the travel time, environmental and public health benefits, there are other
important impacts of BRT systems related to urban development and land use, employment,
crime rates, and even public tax revenues

6. 5
URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND PROPERTY IMPACTS
Benefits of transportation infrastructure investments get capitalized in land values,
While over the longer term, land uses may change (Cervero and Kang 2011).
LAND VALUE CHANGES
The reductions in travel time and the improvements in quality of service associated with the
implementation of a new transit line often get capitalized into land values, as residents and
businesses are willing to pay a premium to be closer to transit stations. The magnitude of the
impact tends to vary considerably with market dynamics, property types, and across different
regions of the world. Despite the variations, several trends can be observed in the literature.
LAND USE CHANGES
BRT systems may also catalyze changes in the types of development – residential, retail, office,
industrial – or the density of development near stations. In addition to accommodating existing
travel demand on a corridor, a BRT may induce higher-density development around stations as
a result of increased accessibility and higher pedestrian volumes For example, Ahmedabad’s
Janmarg BRT network represents an excellent chance to help shape a more inclusive city
around cost-effective public transit integrated into a broader transport network that includes
safe access, non-motorized transport (NMT) networks, and pleasant and inviting public spaces.
EMPLOYMENT IMPACTS
Construction, operation and maintenance (O&M)of BRT systems can create jobs. This may
result in net increase in the number of employed people, or merely a shift of workers from one
job or sector to another sector. In many cases, BRT systems create new jobs in the formal
economy that replaces informal jobs from the existing traditional transport system.
CRIME IMPACTS
By providing well-lit stations staffed with security personel, security cameras on buses and in
stations and pedestrian-scale lighting around stations, BRT systems can create a safer
environment in those areas they serve. On the other hand, crowded stations and buses may
increase petty crime such as pick-pocketing within the BRT system. In Bogota, petty crime in
the TransMilenio system is still a big and growing concern for users.
TAX REVENUE IMPACTS
The formalization of Bogota’s transportation industry through concession contracts resulted in
increased tax revenues for the national and local governments in the study area.
The financial statements from the Trans Milenio system private operators show that between
2005 and 2008 these operators made income tax payments of 32.158 billion 2008 pesos, and
17.476 billion pesos in other tax payments, such as unrecovered VAT, sales, and industry taxes,
as well as vehicle taxes. These revenues were not captured under the traditional bus system .
CONCLUSION
As the population continues to grow , the demand for motorized vehicles will increase
as well. The increasing number of vehicles on the road will emit thousands of tons of

7. 6
pollutants into the atmosphere every year, affecting not only the city, but the entire
globe. S i n c e India has implemented numerous policies regarding vehicular emissions,
but these had little, effect on the quality of the air. This requires planning a system,
which is affordable, reliable and efficient from the user as well as operator’s perspectives. A
Bus Rapid Transit System offers an opportunity for creating a systemcapable of meeting
multiple needs of users and operators which combines facilities, service equipment and
intelligent transportation system (ITS) , elements into a permanently integrated system
with a quality image and unique identity.
REFERENCES
 ITDP. 2007. Bus Rapid Transit Planning Guide. Published by the Institute of
Transportation and Development Policy. NY, USA. www.itdp.org/brt_guide.html..
 Anuj jaiswal., Ashutosh Sharma and Yadu krishnan .Potential of bus rapid transit
system for Million plus indian cities: a case study of Janmarg Brts, Ahmadabad, India An
Overview . International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies/e-issn2249–
8974
 Jarzab, J., Lightbody, J. and Maeda, E. 2002. Characteristics of Bus Rapid Transit
Projects: An Overview. Journal of Public Transportation, 5 (2): 31-46.
 http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Social-Environmental-Economic-
Impacts-BRT-Bus-Rapid-Transit./2015