D6-3

BUSWAYS AND BUS LANES IN BRAZIL AND JAPAN

Marisa Garcia, Graduate Student Koshi Yamamoto,Professor

Department of Civil Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466, Japan

ABSTRACT Some cities in the world, especially

those in developing countries, have adopted

busways and bus lanes as cheap and feasible methods to alleviate the problems associated with high traffic demand and congestion. Rapid rail transit has proven to be unfeasible in most developing countries, requiring huge capital investments, sophisticated technology and technical expertise for its proper operation and maintenance of a level not likely to be found in most third world countries. It has been obsewed that with the appropriate mix of operational and design features such as exclusive lanes, bus priority traffic signal, overtaking at stops and high capacity vehicles, bus systems have been able to achieve the same performance levels as rail transit but for far lower costs, having the additional advantages of route flexibility and demand adaptability. In this paper, a comparison of the performance of busways and bus lanes between Brazil and Japan is presented, as well as a description of the special features, innovative solutions and measures introduced into each of the systems in order to improve management of them and their operational performance. An evaluation of the main features of busways and bus lanes that impact their efficiency and performance is included. To better understand the different treatment afforded busways and bus lanes between the two countries, four Brazilian busway systems and two Japanese bus lane systems have been included in this study.
I. INTRODUCTION In developing countries, high capacity bus priority systems are the most practical solution to be implemented so far to solve the problem of high traffic demand and saturation. Rapid rail transit systems have proven to be uneconomical to establish and maintain.

As a result of limited resources, creative and innovative low cost solutions to such transportation problems are more likely to be developed in third world countries than in developed ones. In developed countries, economic stability permits more sophisticated solutions such as high speed subway systems and the like to be implemented. In Brazil, the expertise developed in establishing and operating busway and bus lane systems proved to be so successful that they could assist in setting up similar systems in other countries. In Japan, due to the narrowness of the streets, very few applications of such systems can be seen. The only examples of such systems in Japan are in Osaka and Nagoya City ( known for its large avenues, introduced as part of the war rehabilitation plan). Within Brazil, the most successful systems are in the southern cities of Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre and the central city of Belo Horizonte. The study also takes into account the differences in culture, environment, demand and physical characteristics between the two countries. 11. CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSWAYS AND BUS LANES A. BUSWAY AND BUS LANE DESIGN Bus lanes are reserved spaces allocating priorityto buses over other forms of transportation through the use of painted lines and signs. Busways are bus expressways physically separating buses from other traffic flows through the use of median strips and baniers. In Curitiba and Belo Horizonte, the busways are segregated by concrete barriers and grass median strips respectively. In Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre, the busways are next to the median strip, segregated by heavy road studs. In Nagoya, both curbside and central bus lanes are identified as being for buses only through the use of yellow painted lines on the road. Private vehicles may use the lanes during only non-peak hours. The implementation of busways met with far greater public resistance than for bus lanes. This can be

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explained by the far greater inconvenience busways cause to private motor vehicles. To reduce interaction between private motor vehicles and buses, intersections are spaced out more than they would otherwise be. As well as this, it is not possible for private motor vehicles to cross busways at every intersection. As a result, the perceived inconvenience caused to private motor vehicle drivers by making them go a little out of their way to get to their ultimate destination, occasionally leads to violations of traffic regulations. In the case of Curitiba, it was found that private motor vehicle drivers have to travel approximately 400 meters extra due to the busways to get to their destination. Despite the above incontinences and the fact that they are more expensive to implement than bus lanes, busways are still considered to be the most efficient form ofbus system. Buses do not suffer from interference fromprivate motor vehicles and there is no requirement for police control as bus priority is guaranteed through physical segregation. As a result of this, higher speeds are able to be achieved. The curbside bus lanes in Nagoya e.g. the Hoshizaki Route, are very tempting for private motor vehicle drivers to use to reduce travelling time. As a result the efficiency of these bus lanes is dependent on the discipline of private vehicle drivers and continuous strict enforcement by the authorities.

The longer the junction and distance between bus stops, the higher the speed able to be achieved. The location of the buswaybus lane also impacts upon this. Indowntown areas,averagespeeds always decrease as buses are caused to stop more frequently and the junction distances are shorter. In the cases covered in this study, average speeds vary between 17 km/h and 27 km/h. In the same systems, average speeds increased by approximately 4-7 km/h after buswaysbus lanes were introduced.

111- OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

B. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSWAYS AND BUS LANES.

I 1
'ITY

: L
KERB-SIDE

AVERAGE AVERAGE 1LENGTH1STOP IJUNCTION DISTANCE DISTANCE

NAGOYA

(TokoRoute)

10.5h

7 ~ ) m 4 "

(South Comdor)

LANE EXCLUSIVE cEwRAL

LANE

PORT0
*LEGRE

(Assis Brasil)
SA0

s.oh
7 2 h

580m
600 m

410m

PAULX)

MEDIUM

530m

Table 1. Physical Characteristics of Busways/Bus lanes

Average commercial bus speeds appear to be related to stop and junction distances.

A. CAPACITY In Brazil, 65% of the population regularly use public transport. As a result, Brazilian bus systems, including those covered here, must cope with the problem of high bus flows without decreasing their efficiency or operating performance. In Curitiba, busways (South, North, West, East and Boqueirao Conidors) operate at N1 capacity. At peak hours, one articulated bus (170 passenger capacity) and one standard bus (105 passenger capacity) depart every minute (16.500 passengers/hour/direction) rapidly causing a train formation of vehicles reducing the system's efficiency. A temporary solution to alleviatethe saturation problem was to introduce bi-articulated buses (270 passenger capacity). The problem has also been minimized through the implementation of an auxiliary bus system, diverting some passengers to alternate routes. Special buses run parallel to the central busway system for a segment and then subsequently take different routes. On the main route, special closed circular bus stations (tube stations) made of glass require passengers to prepay fares before boarding and provide same level boarding and alighting. Tube stations have a length of 12 metres and a radius of 2.75 metres. Station doors are strategically located and of the automatic sliding type. Doors are able to be manually operated in case of emergency. The stations are able to be entered at either end. The entrances are equipped with turnstiles which are controlled by a conductor and operated by bus tokens. The conductor is responsible for operating the station's doors when buses arrive at the stations. Buses have no stairs or conductors and have the capacity to carry 110 passengers at a time. The system runs for 16.5 kilometers, has ten tube stations, no intermediate stops and operates at a frequency of one minute intervals during peak hours. Also, the adoption of articulated buses in the system

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has been planned to meet the future demand.

resulted in 2% of private motor vehicle drivers converting to using bus transportation. Dailypassengers increased from 10,100 to 16,200 (iust after the bus lane implementation) on the Toko Route and 20,200 to 25,000 daily passengers on the Shindekimachi Route. Despite the poor patronage of Nagoya's bus systems, the systems are very important for people dependent on public transportation as not all areas in Nagoya have access to the region's subway system.

Figure 1. Busway System in Curitiba and a cross-sectionalview of a tube station.

In Sa0 Paulo, where evening peaks can reach 20.300 pass/hour/dir., the most critical bus flows are in the first third part of the corridor (the main bus system). The solution adopted has been to provide more buses to cover this part of the corridor. Travelling shorter distances, these buses are able to cover this critical area more frequently, meeting the higher passenger demand. The problem in Nagoya is the reverse of the Brazilian cities. In Nagoya, effort is centred on trying to attract commuters to the public transportation systems to reduce congestion caused by private motor vehicles. Nagoya is an automobile-dependent city. Only 8.0% of the population make use of the city's bus transportation systems whereas 27,2 % of the population use the city's railway systems ( of which 11,4% use the subway system). Poor public transport patronage in Nagoya can be explained by the region's high percentage of road construction (82.5% of paved roads). The city's roads provide good access to central locations in the city, attracting private cars to the demment of public transport usage. The introduction of two bus lane systems in Nagoya

B. OVERTAKlNG AT STOPS. The provision of overtaking facilities at bus stops is an important characteristic of bus systems. Studies have shown that most time spent at bus stops is due to the number of buses at the stop and is not related to the time required by passengers to board or alight. The ability to overtake at bus stops enables buses to operate independently of each other, arriving at and departing from bus stops without delay. It has been observed that higher overall average speeds and capacities are able to be achieved where overtaking facilities are providing. Three of the six bus systems analyzed in this study enable overtaking at bus stops: Toko Route ( Nagoya), AV. 9 de Julho (Sao Paulo) and AV. C. Machado ( Belo Horizonte). Buses operating in the bus lanes in the Toko Route stop only at major bus stops (limited-stop buses) to permit higher speed operations. Bus bays have been installed at regular bus stops on the route so that limited-stop buses can pass regular buses (permitted during non-rush hours ) on their journey without delay. In Sa0 Paulo and Belo Horizonte, OVertaking is able to take place in the central part of the busway system where the bus stops are located. In Port0 Alegre's busways, higher speeds and lower bus flows have been achieved following the introduction of transfer terminals in the central area, eliminating the overlap of feeder routes, allowing smooth transfers between small feeder buses and the articulated buses using the busways.

C. FARE AND PHYSICAL INTEGRATION. In Curitiba, the Integrated Transport System allows passengers to use trunk (busway), feeder and interdistrict lines for a flat fare. Once within the system, transfers are possible inside the terminals. No further fare payment is necessary reducing the time required to board or disembark. In Nagoya, a reduced fare system exists for transfers between ordinary buses and Toko Route buses. On the Shindeki-machi Route, both city buses and privately owned Meitetsu Company buses operate

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cooperatively, employing a common ticketing system. Passengers are able to board either bus using the same ticket.

D. FARE SYSTEM Fare system and fare collection methods appear to significantly influence the regularity of services due to the variations they cause in passenger boarding and disembarking times. Fare systems for the busways and bus lanes covered by this study were evaluated as follows:

carry up to 28.000 passengers per hour per direction at an average speed of 19 kilometers per hour. It was also verified that the speed increased in 20% in the analyzed corridors with corresponding fuel savings. In Curitiba, a less formalized bus ordering system is in operation. Buses are scheduled in such a manner that they reach bus stops in sequence. Analyzing the Sao Paulo example, the following general formula was deduced as being a requirement of any convoy system to be implemented:
3600- 6 p / ( 2 + n ) 4

C=

FARE TYPE Flat fare ( transportation tokens) Multiple fares ( various values using normal currency) Multiple fares (normal currency with fare control device inside the vehicle)

BOARDING TIME

+ 8n

2.0 s - 3.0 s

being C
3.0 s - 4.0 s

(,~p)

= capacity (in buses/hour) in a determined

6.0 s - 8.0s

l
I

segment of the comdor p = number of passengers boarding per hour n = average number of buses per convoy

For convoys operating in exclusive lanes, the hourly bus capacity (buses per hour) depending on the time spent waiting at a bus stop, maximum speed and number of buses in the convoy, where multiple bus stops are involved was found to be as follows:
control device within the bus)

Table 2. Boarding time according to fare type

* In the case of Curitiba, there are "ticketed areas"(area

restricted to passengers that have paid fares) within the terminals. Passengers are able to transfer between buses without and additional fare payment, reducing average boarding time by approximately 1.0 second per passenger.
BUSES

BUS STOP CAPACITY (BUSES/HOUR) FOR CONVOYS WITH MAXIMUM SPEED

IN T H E
STOP TIME

CONVOY

IV. SPECIAL FEATURES

A. CONVOYS

464 384 5 4 340 304

400 330

360 294 250 220

Convoys (bus ordering systems) were developed in the Sao Paulo busways of Brazil in 1979. Buses assemble in convoys and travel the entire journey in convoy formation according to their route. They stop at the same time in their respective berths and board their respective waiting passengers. This technique is still used in the Sao Paulo and Port0 Alegre busways systems. Bus convoys are often capable of carrying almost twice the normal busway passenger capacity in heavily congested areas. On some of the heaviest travelled comdors in Brazil, a combination of busways and bus convoys utilizing up to 260 buses has been able to

290
256

Table 3. Multiple Bus Stop capacity for convoys

*Convoys in Sao Paulo usually consist of six buses.

B. CURITIBAS TRINARY SYSTEM The introduction of the central busway system in Curitiba was part of a master plan to change the radial configuration of the city, inducing a linear expansion

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that integrates the road system, mass transportation system and land use. The introduction of a central busway is always accompanied by a reduction in the speed of private motor vehicles using the surrounding roads. This is expected as roads surrounding the busways are normally narrowed. In the case of Curitiba, a trinary system was developed to minimize this problem. A set of roads consisting of the central busway itself, the slow bordering traffic roads and two wide through traffic roads was established. Each road runs parallel to the busway system road. The wide through traffic roads are one way, facilitating the smooth flow of private motor vehicles that could otherwise be strangled by the other bordering roads.

boarding and disembarking can be expected. * They cause potential problems for vehicles travelling alongside the busway that need to cross it to enter the transversal roads (usually, three-phase traffic lights are necessary in controlled intersections). * Passengers must use general traffic pedestrian crossings. * They are more difficult and more expensive to be implemented than curbside lanes, often resulting in opposition from various groups.

C. ARRIVAL TIME INDICATORS In Nagoya, bus arrival time indicators were installed along the busway to reduce uncertainty and passengers anxiety over expected arrival time. Commuters are encouraged to wait if they know their bus is expected to arrive soon, rather than seek an alternative mode of transport. Electronic devices at bus stops advise waiting passengers of approaching buses. Approaching buses within three bus stops are indicated on the electronic panel. The panels also advise of travel times to main bus stops on a real time basis.

- Both busways and bus lanes can greatly improve bus regularity by eliminating 70% of the factors that cause delays. Higher frequencies can be achieved for lower operational costs and improved itineraries can be arranged due to the fact that contra-flow lanes can be implemented, Busways and bus lanes require lower investments than rail-based systems and in some cases can reach similar performance levels, having the added advantage of route flexibility and demand adaptability, not possible in fixed route systems.
VLCONCLUSIONS: A. How successful the implementation and operation of busways / bus lanes is depends to a great extent on: the interaction between agencies responsible for planning and coordinating the transportation sector and land use explains the success of Curitiba's Integrated transportation System. The Institute of Research and Urban Planning of Curitiba(1PPUC) which is in charge of transportation and urban planning and the Urbanization of Curitiba(URBS), responsible for the management and operation of mass public transportation system, work together in mutual coordination and cooperation to achieve their objectives. - the cooperation and discipline of private motor vehicle drivers in observing usage and parking restrictions. - the reliability and effectiveness of the bus operation in being able to convert private motor vehicle drivers into public transport users.
-

V. BUSWAYS/BUS LANES DISADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES AND

From the systems analyzed in this study, some advantages and disadvantages of busways and bus lanes can be observed:
- Curb-side lanes are the easiest to be implemented, require minimum physical changes and permit easy stopping by buses and boarding/disembarkation by passengers. They, however have the potential to cause problems with property access and for turning traffic. They are difficult to control without proper enforcement and are slower than other types of bus lanes due to their "marginal friction" i.e. closeness to the curb, trees, poles and pedestrians.

B. In Curitiba, the problem of busway capacity could not be overcame by adding more buses to the system. The indiscriminating addition of buses can create other problems such as:
- over 120 buses per hour, formation of trains of vehides inevitably cause decreases in bus speeds and bus regularity. - although flows of more than 350 buses/hour can be accommodating in busways systems, it was observed that terminals with more than 60 departures per hour are difficult to properly organize. - accumulation of buses at intersections reduce the

- Central lanes present neither problems for property access nor for adjacent roads turning traffic, since the busway is located in the middle of the road. They provide better identification of the public transport system and because of reduced interference from other vehicles, higher average speeds can be achieved. The disadvantages of central bus lanes are: * They can only be implemented in wide streets. Where there is only one central curb, difficulty in
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visibility and safety of pedestrians using pedestrian crossings. - Exhaust fumes and noise pollution can be very severe in areas where the frequency of buses is high, leading to increased complaints from citizens. C. Busways can be easily converted into HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes or medium capacity systems such as light rail transit systems. The implementation would not have a major impact on land use pattems or urban development as the impact would already have occurred at the time the previous system was implemented. The new system would be less likely to fail as demand for the system would already exist. D. As in Nagoya, extensive road construction creates a society dependent on private motor vehicle usage. Such situation is difficult to reverse. Uncontrolled development based on car predominancy creates urban areas poorly suited to public transportation and delays the development of mass public system facilities. The balance between private and public transit usage varies according to existing transit system - when is similar to the private cars performance, the conversion from public transport to the auto is less than when the public services are inferior. Rapid and semi-rapid transit systems as a result, experience lower levels of passenger losses than street transit systems. In Nagoya, until 1984, when the bus lanes were implemented, passenger losses in bus system were increasing annually, whereas the number of commuters using the subway system were gradually increasing. If parallel improvements occur in roadways and public transportation e.g.. the introduction of bus lanes and an expansion of the subway system, this can moderate the conversion of people to private motor vehicles. REFERENCES [ l ] V.K. Vuchic, Urban Public Transportation: Systems and Technology, 1st. edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, U.S.A., 1981. [21 D. Banister and P. Hall, Transport and Public Policy Planning, 1st. edition, Mansell Publishing Ltd., London, 1981. [3] IPPUC - Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano de Curitiba, Estudo de pre-viabilidade :Bonde Modemo, IPPUC Press, Curitiba, Brazil, 1990. [4] J. W. Dickey, Metropolitan Transportation Planning, 2nd. edition, Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, U.S.A., 1975. [SI G. Gardner, A Study of High Capacity Busways in Developing Cities, Proc. Instn. Civil Engrs. Tramp., 185191.1992.

[6] N. A. Tyler, The contribution of Expert Opinion to the Design of High Capacity Bus Priority Systems, Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Civil Structural Engineering Computing- CML-COMP 89, London, England, 1989. [7] A. Katoh and Y. Haji, The Development of Urban Transportation Policies for Nagoya, Proceedings of the Fifth World Conferece on Transport Research, Vol. 111, c-141, Westem Periodicals Co., Ventura, U.S.A., 1989. [8] C . J. Khisty, Transportation Engineering: an introduction, 1st. edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, U.S.A., 1990. [9] J.L. Taylor and D. G. Willians, Urban Planning Practise in Developing Countries, Pergamon-Press, Britain, 1990. [lo] City Planning Bureau, Planning for Nagoya, Nagoya City, Japan, 1989 [ l l ] Kiyotaka Hayashi, Urban Development in Nagoya, City Planning Bureau of the City of Nagoya, Nagoya Urban Development Corporation, March 1990, Nagoya, Japan. [12] Nagoya Municipal Transportation Bureau, The Nagoya City Bus and Subway System, June 1990, Nagoya, Japan. [13] Nagoya City Transportation Bureau, Key Route Bus System, 1990, Nagoya, Japan. [14] E. de Boer, Transport Soaology - Social Aspects of Transport Planning, Pergamon Press, 1st. edition, Britain, 1986. [15] T. Boukhris and F. Kuhn, L'integration Dun Metro Leger Dans Un Reseau de Transports Collectifs D'une Metropole, International Transportation Conference, Tunisia, 1992.

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