Light Rail and Bus Rapid Transit

1
Light Rail and Bus Rapid Transit
2
A Very Brief History

• Streetcars and Light Rail Transit
• Light rail transit is the direct descendant of
  the horse omnibus (urbanized stagecoach) that
  started operating in major urban centers in the
  early 19th century
• The first crude electric motors were introduced
  in 1830
• An American (E.F. Train) built several successful
  lines in England as demonstrations, and E.W.
  Siemens showed the first electric locomotive at
  the Berlin exhibition of 1879.
• The testing and tinkering culminated in 1888 when
  US naval officer and electrical engineer Frank
  Sprague founded a firm that was entrusted by
  Richmond VA to build a system for them.
• 750 volt (high voltage for the time)
• 12 miles of track
• fleet of 20 cars
• By 1902 there were about 22,000 miles of track
  and 60,000 streetcars in operation in the US,
  with half the systems being built by Spragues
  firm.
• Busways
• Transit records show that the first exclusive bus
  lane on a city street was initiated in Chicago in
  1939.
• Follow up efforts were few and sporadic for the
  next few decades as the principle transit action
  actions in American cities was replacing
  streetcar service with simple bus operations that
  lacked any refinements.

3
Characteristics of Light Rail Transit and Bus
Rapid Transit

• Operates in a reserved guideway with at-grade
  crossings the guideway sometimes shared with
  other vehicles
• Stops only at dedicated stations, more widely
  spaced than local bus stops
• Has vehicle floors level with station platforms
• Has off-vehicle fare collection
• Has multiple doors, all for combined entry and
  exit
• Uses traffic signal priority or preemption and
  other traffic and operations management methods
  and technologies to provide on-time, predictable
  arrival times with minimal delay
• Provides a smooth, quiet ride at average speeds
  often competitive with travel by private car
• Can provide ample passenger capacity for most
  corridors in major U.S. cities

4
General Conditions Conducive to Urban Rapid
Transit Development (Design Year)
5
Typical LRT Vehicle

• 20 m (66 ft) long, 2.46 m (8 ft) wide,
  double-ended, and double-sided.
• With split articulation the cars have three
  distinct compartments
• two end sections with floors 780 mm (31 in) above
  top of rail and
• a center section, suspended between the
  articulated joints, with a low floor 350 mm (14
  in) above the top of rail.
• Cars have 29 seats and space for 127 standees at
  a density of 6/m2.
• Standee section includes two positions in each
  car which are designated for wheelchairs,
  bicycles, strollers, and the like.
• The cars are air-conditioned.

6
LRT Systems as of December 2001

• LRT is defined by the Transportation Research
  Board as
• a metropolitan electric railway system
• operating single cars or short trains
• using exclusive rights-of-way at ground level, on
  aerial structures, in subways or, occasionally,
  in streets
• boarding and discharging passengers at track or
  car-floor level
• There were 24 LRT systems in the US as of 2001.

7
New Start LRT Ridership Trends.
8
New LRT Lines Outnumber New Heavy Rail Lines
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The Allure of LRT

• The advantages offered by LRT
• speed,
• predictability,
• passenger amenity, and
• passenger capacity.
• This is accomplished by means of features such as
  
• providing a reserved guideway,
• limiting the number of stops,
• collecting fares in stations rather than on
  vehicles,
• minimizing traffic conflicts,
• giving priority or pre-emption at traffic
  signals,
• providing stations that offer more comfort and
  amenity than ordinary bus stops, and
• using large vehicles or trains with multiple
  doors.
• Communities can also minimize of air pollutant
  emissions and noise.

10
Primary Objectives of Any Rapid Transit

• Minimize bothersome factors such as
• passenger waiting times
• stopped time
• in-vehicle time
• Provide efficiencies and amenities such as
• maximize capacity
• provide a smooth and quiet ride along an
  understandable route
• achieve sense of permanence

11
Common Features of LRT

• Articulated reversible LRVs around 90 ft in
  length
• Capability to operate LRVs individually or in
  trains two to three or more cars in length
• Low-floor vehicles with multiple doors and
  doorway floors at the same level as station
  platforms
• Electric propulsion using overhead
  electrification
• Reserved right of way operation on ballasted or
  embedded track
• Traffic signal priority and other traffic
  management techniques to minimize delay and
  service unpredictability

12
Common Features of BRT

• Clean-fuel, fuel cell, electric, or various
  hybrid motive power sources
• Effective quieting of engine noise
• Low-floor design for ease of entry and exit from
  low station platforms
• Multiple doors, and doors on both sides if needed
• Articulated and even double-articulated design,
  for high passenger capacity
• Vehicle guidance technologies

13
Factors in Successful LRT

• New start LRT projects matured relatively
  quickly, with subsequent growth driven by system
  extent and service levels.
• The initial rapid maturation is no doubt
  partially attributable to the high profile light
  rail lines receive when they are under
  development and implemented.
• Bus services may take a while for the public to
  understand where they serve.

14
The Portland Experience

• Portland Streetcar performed well during its
  first 2 years (2001-03) of operation.
• Ridership started strong and continues to grow,
  currently averaging 4,800 riders on weekdays with
  no change in level of service since its
  inception.
• Operation in mixed traffic has also worked well.
• While minor accidents have occurred, the
  streetcar has blended well with its traffic
  environment and vice versa.
• Moreover, the streetcar has successfully
  connected neighborhoods and complemented, if not
  catalyzed, growth in urban renewal areas.

15
The Particulars of the Portland Line

• The 32 stop, streetcar line consists of a 3.8-km
  (2.4-mi) route extending
• from the campus of Portland State University
  south of downtown Portland
• to NW 23rd Avenue at Legacy Good Samaritan
  Hospital in the close-in northwest section of the
  city.
• It is actually a 7.7-km (4.8-mi), single-track
  loop running with the direction of street traffic
  on one-way couplets a block or two apart for
  nearly the entirety of the route.
• For the most part, the tracks are situated in the
  right travel lane, and streetcars run in mixed
  traffic, with parallel parking preserved along
  the right curb.

16
The Well-Polished Anti-Rail Mantra of Wendell Cox

• Urban rail is an expensive and ineffective
  strategy
• The proponents of rail engage in waste and
  deception
• It costs less to lease cars for new riders
• Light rail (is) not justified
• There is no hope of reducing auto dependency
• There is virtually no connection whatsoever
  between new urban rail and traffic relief
• Urban areas would be better off to increase the
  frequency of garbage collection to reduce
  congestion

17
General Principles for BRT Planning and
Development (Part I)

• BRT should be developed as a permanently
  integrated system of facilities, services and
  amenities
• BRT system should adopt the key attributes of
  rail transit to the maximum extent possible
• BRT should be complemented by appropriate
  transit first policies
• BRT lines should focus on major travel markets in
  which ridership and benefits can be maximized.

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General Principles for BRT Planning and
Development (Part II)

• BRT should be rapid
• BRT systems should be capable of early action and
  amenable to staged (incremental) development
• BRT systems should be reasonable in terms of
  benefits, costs and impacts
• Streets and corridors with existing long, heavily
  traveled bus routes are likely candidates for BRT

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General Principles for BRT Planning and
Development (Part III)

• System design and operations should enhance the
  presence, permanence, and identity of the
  facilities and services
• Each urban area has its own specific needs,
  opportunities, and constraints that must be
  recognized
• BRT should have a consistent, appealing image

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Key Factors in Planning for BRT

• The intensity and growth prospects and patterns
  of the urbanized area
• The existing and potential future demand for
  public transportation
• Expansion of the urbanized area
• Street width, continuity, capacity and congestion
• Opportunities for off-street running ways
• Bus operating speeds and reliability
• Locations of major employment centers and
  residential developments in relation to potential
  BRT routes
• Community attitudes
• Community resources

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Typical BRT Routing Styles Part I
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Typical BRT Routing Styles Part II
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Typical BRT Routing Styles Part III
24
Typical BRT Vehicle

• The design single-unit bus is 40 long, and the
  articulated bus is 60 long
• Buses are generally 11 high, and 86 wide.
  However with mirrors on both sides the bus
  envelop become 10 to 106
• Minimum turning radius of about 45

25
Configuration Operating Concepts for Busways

• Radial character
• Market penetration
• Through service
• Simplified route structure
• High operating speeds
• Station access
• Station spacing
• Convenient transit, pedestrian auto interchange
• Maximum driver productivity
• Downtown distribution

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BRT Project Justification Criteria
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Elements of Select BRT Projects
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Possible Conversion of BRT to LRT

• Locations where resources permit and demand
  warrants, i.e. a feeder busway can be converted
  to rail in order to extend the rail system.
• Locations where BRT was built as a first stage
  operation during the construction period for rail
  transit.
• Locations where rail transit is built in another
  corridor, and the conversions of BRT to rail
  would provide integrated and through rail
  service.
• Locations where peak-hour peak-direction
  passenger volumes exceed 7,500 to 10,000
  passengers per hour on a busway.

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Transit Supportive Parking Guidelines
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Advantages of BRT over Rail Systems Part I

• The ability to alter design standards as volumes
  increase over various segments of a route in
  accordance with the capacity needs
• Relatively low capital costs for infrastructure
• The potential for higher and more flexible types
  and frequencies of service over different route
  segments
• The flexibility to combine feeder and line-haul
  services without the need for a physical transfer
  between vehicles

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Advantages of BRT over Rail Systems Part II

• Opportunities to extend service into low-density
  areas without the need for additional dedicated
  running ways
• The capability of being used by a variety of
  vehicle sizes and types
• The ability to accommodate a diversity of
  operating organizations
• Simpler procurement practices for both
  construction and vehicles

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Advantages of BRT over Rail Systems Part III

• Shorter implementation periods
• The ability to start construction on key sections
  first, such as segments that provide congestion
  relief or are the easiest to build, and still
  provide integrated service for an entire corridor
• No requirements for additional organizational
  structures such as those usually associated with
  building and operating rail systems
• Greater flexibility for off-line stations that
  can increase capacity

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Advantages of BRT over Rail Systems Part IV

• The ability to use existing roads and streets
  when an accident occurs that would otherwise
  cause major disruptions in service
• A variety of competitive vehicle suppliers and
  less need for conformity in vehicle procurement
• Less expensive vehicles, even when accounting for
  capacity and service life differences

34
Advantages of Rail Systems over BRT

• The main technical advantage of rail transit is
  its ability to run high-capacity trains in
  high-volume corridors.
• This results in the following
• Potentially less labor-intensive operation,
  depending on passenger volumes
• Greater potential capacity
• Better levels of service at higher volumes
• A more positive image on the part of developers
  and customers
• Less expensive vehicles, even accounting for
  capacity and service life differences