The document discusses evaluating light rail transit (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT) options for Australian and New Zealand cities. It finds that the capital cost differences between LRT and BRT projects are often less than expected, with productivity and performance being more important factors. Additionally, the policy environment and available corridors can impact project selection and success more than costs alone. The research analyzed over 20 LRT and BRT projects globally to develop metrics around capital costs, speeds, capacity and productivity.

1. MOVING
BEYOND
COST
EVALUATING
LRT
AND
BRT
OPTIONS
FOR
AUSTRALIAN
AND
NZ
CITIES
Sco%
Mar)n

2. ¡ Capital costs differences between Light Rail Transit
(LRT) & Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) less than expected
¡ Transit performance and productivity are important!
Many LRT & BRT systems are underperformers
¡ Other factors also matter in selection of LRT & BRT,
particularly the transport policy environment
Why
you
should
stay

3. ¡ More than $7 billion
spent on road-based
PT in Australian and
NZ cities since 1987
¡ Over $5 billion spent
on LRT & BRT projects
between 2000 and
2010 alone
Why
is
this
research
important?

4. ¡ Over $4.5 billion of new or expanded LRT projects
are underway or proposed for Australian cities
¡ New LRT systems committed for construction in
Australian cities include:
The
2010s
–
the
decade
of
Light
Rail?

5. Gold
Coast

6. Canberra

7. Sydney

8. Perth

9. Newcastle

10. ¡ Medium-capacity, public transport solutions for cities
¡ Deliverable at affordable price points
¡ With a range of urban transport & land-use benefits
Why
choose
LRT
or
BRT?

11. ¡ Capacity between 4,000 & 24,000 spaces per hour
¡ Operates on separated Rights-of-Way (ROW),
reduced interaction with other road traffic
¡ Stop spacing 300-600 metres in CBDs: more widely
spaced elsewhere
¡ ITS gives signal priority, network monitoring &
passenger information
Defining
LRT
&
BRT

12. ¡ This definition
excludes most
of Melbourne’s
street tramway
system
Defining
LRT
&
BRT

13. ¡ And many street bus
systems ‘improved’
with bus priority
treatments
Defining
LRT
&
BRT

14. ¡ 28 LRT & BRT
projects were
selected for the
reference set
¡ Per-kilometre capital
costs range from
$450M/km (high) to
$5.8M/km (low)
A
‘reference
set’
of
project
costs
Project
Name Length
(km)
Sta)ons/
Stops
Completed Cost
($M)
Cost
$M
(2013)
Cost
per
km
$M
(2013)
Eastern
Busway
Stage
1
(Buranda-­‐Coorparoo) 1.1 4 2011 $465.0 $494.9 $449.9
Inner
Northern
Busway
(KG
Square
-­‐
Roma
St) 1.3 2 2008 $333.0 $395.1 $316.1
Northern
Busway
Stage
2
(Herston
-­‐
Windsor) 1.2 1 2009 $198.0 $225.7 $188.1
Boggo
Road
Busway
(UQ
Lakes-­‐Buranda) 1.5 2 2009 $226.0 $257.6 $171.7
Northern
Busway
Stage
3
(Windsor-­‐Kedron) 3.0 2 2012 $444.0 $453.6 $151.2
Gold
Coast
Light
Rail 13.0 16 2014 $1,296.0 $1,296.0 $99.7
Northern
Busway
Stage
1
(Roma
St
-­‐
Herston) 2.8 3 2005 $148.4 $218.2 $77.9
South-­‐East
Busway 16.5 11 2001 $660.0 $1,097.2 $66.5
Sydney
Inner
West
Light
Rail
Extension 5.6 9 2014 $214.0 $214.0 $38.2
Auckland
Northern
Busway 8.7 5 2008 $256.2 $295.5 $34.0
Sydney
Light
Rail
3.6 10 1997 $65.0 $118.8 $33.0
M2
Motorway
Busway 7.0 2.0 1997 $110.0 $201.1 $28.7
North
West
Transitway
24.0 30 2007 $524.0 $672.0 $28.0
Port
Road
Tram
extension 2.8 4 2010 $53.0 $53.0 $18.9
Liverpool-­‐Parrama%a
Transitway 30.0 31 2003 $346.0 $532.8 $17.8
Adelaide
O-­‐Bahn 12.0 3 1989 $98.0 $197.6 $16.5
Box
Hill
tram
extension 2.2 5 2003 $28.0 $35.2 $16.0
Adelaide
CBD
tram
extension 2.1 5 2008 $31.0 $33.6 $16.0
Vermont
South
tram
extension 3.0 5 2005 $30.5 $36.5 $12.2
Kwinana
Freeway
Bus
Transitway 5.9 1 2002 $44.2 $67.0 $11.4
Plenty
Road
Tram
Extension
Stage
4
(McLeans
Road
-­‐
McKimmies
Road)
2.1 4 1995 $12.6 $23.0 $11.0
Docklands
Drive
tram
extension 1.0 5 2005 $7.5 $9.0 $9.0
Sydney
Light
Rail
Extension 3.6 4 2000 $20.0 $32.3 $9.0
Plenty
Road
Tram
Extension
Stage
3
(La
Trobe
University
-­‐
McLeans
Road)
3.2 7 1987 $10.8 $27.9 $8.7
Airport
West
Tram
Extension
1.2 3 1992 $4.5 $9.1 $7.6
St
Kilda
Light
Rail
4.2 8 1987 $27.9 $27.9 $6.6
East
Burwood
Tram
2.0 4 1993 $6.5 $12.8 $6.4
Port
Melbourne
Light
Rail 2.8 6 1987 $16.3 $16.3 $5.8
TOTAL
ALL
PROJECTS $7,053.6

15. ¡ Gold Coast - $1.3B for a new-build
LRT system
¡ Brisbane – Over $3.1B on 28.6 km
BRT network
¡ Sydney - $1.2B for western Sydney
BRT & $365M for LRT conversion
¡ Melbourne - $198M for 22 km of
LRT extensions/conversions over
20 years
Or
puUng
it
another
way…

16. ¡ For 18 key LRT & BRT projects, use public timetables
to develop productive capacity values for:
¡ Average operating speeds
¡ Peak direction passenger spaces per hour
¡ Use capital cost data with productive capacity data
to develop a productivity measure for all 18 projects
Defining
performance
measures

17. Findings

18. Finding
#1
–
Capital
costs
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
Hass-Klau et al (2003) Zhang (2009) Luke (2006) Hess, Taylor & Yoh
(2005)
Martin (2013)
Costpermile/kilometre
(inMillionsofUSD,AUDorGBP)
Difference between per-kilometre BRT & LRT capital costs
(based on US, UK, European & ANZ meta-analyses)
BRT
LRT
LRT in US, UK & Europe costs
around 2.6 times more than BRT
In Australia & NZ, LRT
costs around 1.7
times more than BRT

19. Finding
#2
–
Transit
performance
maXers!
§ 3 high performing BRT
projects moving
2500-5000 pph
§ 7 well performing LRT
& BRT projects moving
2000-3800 pph
§ 8 under performing LRT
& BRT projects moving
under 2000 pph

20. Finding
#3
–
So
does
transit
produc[vity!
AOB
SEB
INB1
INB2
BNB2
BNB2
ANB
LPB
RHB
BPB
M2B
BRB
BEB1
ADL
SKL
PML
SYL
GCL
$1
$10
$100
$1,000
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Capital
cost
per
km
(2013
A$
Millions)
Produc[ve
capacity
(offered
spaces
x
average
opera[ng
speed)
'000s
Street
transit
Semirapid
transit
Rapid
transit
§ 6 highly productive
LRT & BRT projects
with capital costs
between $7M &
$317M per km
§ 12 less productive
projects costing
between $6M and
$450M per km

21. Finding
#4
–
Are
all
the
good
corridors
built
out?
¡ The answers seems to
be ‘yes’
¡ Lack of good corridors
have real impacts
¡ Opportunities from
‘recycling’ existing
corridors?

22. ¡ Political, ideological & economic imperatives
¡ What are the ‘peer cities’ doing?
¡ Land use policy & planning environment
¡ Prevailing road management policies & plans
¡ Integration of new systems with existing PT network
¡ Preferred selection & evaluation methods
Finding
#5
–
Don’t
ignore
policy
factors!

23. ¡ Evaluating LRT & BRT projects against capital cost &
performance data provides valuable insights
¡ Are LRT & BRT projects in Australian & NZ cities
operating below their productive capacity?
¡ Is upgrading existing tram & bus systems to improve
performance better than building LRT or BRT?
Conclusions

24. Ques[ons?