Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)8.1 Definition of BRTBus Rapid Transit (BRT), can be defined as a form of rapid transit which is based on the uses of buses and supportive infrastructure and management. According to Washington-based Transportation Research Board, BRT can be defined as a flexible, rubber-tired rapid transit mode that combines stations, vehicles, services, running ways, and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) elements into an integrated system.

Example of bus use for Malaysias first BRT system in Sunway lane

8.2 BRT running waysRunning ways are simply the lane on which a bus operates in a BRT system. It may be defined as a dedicated bus way, a bus lane, High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane or in certain conditions, a regular lane in mixed traffic.Running way types were varying depends on its degree of grade separation and lateral segregation from general purpose traffic. Running ways can be classified into three types which are:1. Separate (segregated)2. Freeway3. Urban street8.2.1 SeparateA separate or segregated running ways is the most developed form of bus way use for BRT system. It is consist of a road or guide way dedicated to buses built on its own alignment. It can include both at-grade and grade separated intersections with cross streets and free-flow ramps to and from other types of BRT running ways.A bus way is defined as a road for the exclusive use by buses. The road is often built in a separate right-of-way, sometimes grade-separated as can be seen in Ottawa, but it also may be located in the median of a major road, such as built in Vancouver (Rendek, 2002) or Curitiba (Cervero, 1997). Another form of bus way is a fixed guide way for buses. Guide way for BRT system can be define as a separate running way developed with a guided track using curbing or another low barrier on the outside of the track in order to help steer vehicles. Figure below shows the examples of separated running ways; BRT bus way and BRT guide way that use in BRT running way.

Figure 1 shows a BRT South East Bus way at Brisbane, Australia

Figure 2 shows the elevated BRT guide way at Adelaide O-Bahn Guided Busway

8.2.2 FreewayOther type of running ways for BRT system is freeway. A freeway running way is built according to limits of the cross section of a freeway, either as a part of new construction or by retrofitting an existing facility. The running way geometry is depending by the geometry of the freeways general traffic lanes. There are three forms freeway BRT running ways, which are; median bus way, high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, and freeway shoulder.Freeway median bus way is a lanes dedicated for bus in a median area, usually separated physically from other forms of traffic. While for high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, it is a running way shared with high-occupancy vehicles on either the median side or the outer lanes of the freeway and not necessarily separated physically from the general traffic lanes. The difference between bus lanes and HOV lanes is bus lane are for the exclusive use of buses while HOV lanes may be used by other vehicles with multiple passengers and taxis. Cyclists often are also permitted to use HOV lanes. For freeway shoulder, it is a type of freeway that permitted use of the outside shoulder of general lanes for BRT vehicles.

8.2.3 Urban Street

An urban street BRT running way is developed according to the limits of the roadway cross-section, either as part of new construction or by retrofitting an existing facility. The running way geometry is controlled by the geometry of the roadway. The running way can have one of three forms: Median bus way, bus lanes and mixed-use lane.A median bus way is a dedicated bus facility in the median area sometimes shared with other high occupancy vehicles and sometimes physically separated from other forms of traffic with some form of transit priority at locations where it intersects with other traffic.

A bus lane is similar to a median bus way, but typically located on the outside of the arterial roadway and sometimes shared with other high-occupancy vehicles. Typically, the bus lane is not physically separated from the general traffic lanes. Variations of this form include shared use of the lane for business access and right turns; it is commonly known as a business access and transit (BAT) lane.

In some conditions, buses in a BRT system may need to operate in mixed traffic as long as the traffic is free-flowing enough not to cause delays. A mixed traffic lane is a use of a lane by both transit and general traffic. Intersection treatments such as roadway widening and added auxiliary lanes at intersections provide buses with the ability to jump the queue at such locations and provide some level of improved service times and reliability.

Figure below shows the example of bus way for the implementation of BRT system.1. Example of two-way median aligned bus way that is in the central verge of a two-way road.

2. Example of bus way that runs two-way on the side of a one-way street.

3. Example of a bus only corridor where there is exclusive right of way and no parallel mixed traffic.

4. Example of bus way that is one-way and centrally aligned in the roadway.

5. Example of bus way that is one-way and aligned to the curb.

8.3 BRT StationOne of the features of a BRT system is the stations. It distinguishes BRT system from a regular, mixed traffic bus system. BRT stations serve almost same function as rail station where there are nodes in the BRT system between surrounding land uses and feeder services that offer a reasonably comfortable and secure location to access the BRT services and interchange with the feeder service.Stations may also provide a number of other functions which is similar with railway stations, such as bicycle, park and rides, drop-off points, information boards and ticket machines (McCormick Rankin, 2004). In addition, BRT station need to ensure bus-station platform is level with the bus floor. This feature is one of the most important ways of reducing boarding and alighting times per passenger. Passengers climbing even relatively minor steps can mean significant delay, particularly for the elderly, disabled, or people with suitcases or strollers. The reduction or elimination of vehicle-to-platform gap is also to ensure safety and comfort of passenger. Installations of sliding doors in BRT stations where the passengers get on and off the buses inside the stations is needed as it improve the quality of the station environment, reduce the risk of accidents, project passengers from the weather, and as well as to prevent pedestrians from entering the station in unauthorized locations.

Figure 1: Platform-level boarding speeds boarding and alighting in Ahmedabad, India

Figure 2: Sliding doors in BRT stations at Lima, PeruAs with light rail stations, BRT station are typically placed further apart than regular bus stops. Distances between stations generally vary between 600m and 2000m. Similarly to light rail, integration with adjacent land uses is feasible.

8.4 Advantages and disadvantages of BRT8.4.1 Advantages of BRT Compared to regular bus system, bus rapid transit offers a number of advantages. BRT is faster, more reliable and operating cost is lower. In addition, advantages of BRT are its flexibility, which has a number of aspects, including vehicle selection and system construction. A BRT system generally does not required specialized vehicles, BRT can employ existing buses initially and acquire more specialized vehicles as time goes on and finances and ridership permit. This keeps down vehicle acquisition and operator training cost.The implementation of a BRT system can give advantage especially in developing new growth. Expansions of the bus way in new directions to exploit new destination opportunities may be possible and new routes or modifications to existing routes are almost always possible.BRT system does not need to be built out in full, thus it can save on the costs of construction compared to a light rail system serving the same corridor. In other words, for the same amount of funding, a more extensive transit system can be established.BRT also has lower implementation costs than light rail systems because it does not require electrical power infrastructure such as overhead wires or third rails, substations, and etc. BRT can use regular roadway building techniques and new, specialized storage and maintenance facilities are not required. Some BRT systems do make use of distributed power systems and electrically-powered buses (trolley buses) but these need not be installed initially.

8.4.2 Disadvantages of BRTIf compared to light rail transit system, BRT may not attract as many choice riders rather than light rail. Choice riders for this context means the transit riders who choose to take transit rather than the personal automobile. Choice riders may choose to commute by transit to avoid being caught in traffic congestion or because transit use allows for a more productive use of their time for reading or work.Pollution, especially localized air pollution, is much more of a concern with BRT based on the use of existing diesel-powered buses than is the case with monorail because most implementations of monorail use electricity for power. Even compared to diesel-powered light rail systems, current buses tend to pollute more on a per passenger basis. Lastly, transit-supportive land use changes along BRT may be slower in coming than along an monorail line as the sense of permanence required for developers to invest may not be present except with the more extensive (and therefore more costly) bus way-based BRT systems. Moreover, stations may be constructed as an afterthought or long after the construction of the destination and suffer from poor integration with destinations.8.4.3 Benefits of implementation of BRT system in SabahIn peninsular Malaysia, the implementation of Malaysias first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is expected to be operational by June 9. The first BRT system along 5.4 km Sunway line is being built Prasarana Malaysia Berhad in collaboration with Sunway Group.For Sabah, the implementations of BRT system were still under recommendations as mentioned in Kota Kinabalu Briefing on Planning 2013. The concept of BRT system in Sabah is to build designated bus way integrated into current road system acting like LRT. It also includes the construction of bus stops along the designated bus lane. Old buses which include mini and stage bus also need to be replaced with shuttle buses. The benefits of BRT system in Sabah especially in Kota Kinabalu area were listed below:1. Increase public transport delivery and efficiency in Kota Kinabalu area2. Decrease the waiting period for public transport user3. Increase the public bus capacity4. Decrease the oversupply of mini bus/van5. Promote integrated public bus systemReference1. Federal Transit Administration, Characteristics of Bus Rapid Transit for Decision Making, August 2004. http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/CBRT.pdf2. American Public Transportation Association, Designing Bus Rapid Transit Running Ways. October 2010.3. Kota Kinabalu Briefing on Technical Planning, November 2013.