Bus Rapid Transit systems earn additional point in efficiency, user-friendliness

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) provides the same capacity, speed and accessibility as light rail but with the added advantage of flexibility as it can travel on all roads, whereas light rail is limited to its rail track.

Additionally, the investment cost for a BRT system is between €4 million and €10 million per kilometer of infrastructure, compared with between €15 million and €35 million for light rail, Veolia says. Current experiments with automated control will also earn buses additional point in user-friendliness as the optical guiding system, based on an onboard camera and ground markings that act like a virtual rail, and an electric motor that takes over control of the bus as it approaches stations, and recently implemented in Rouen (France), and Las Vegas (United States), allows the vehicles to dock closer to platforms, thereby improving bus accessibility, which is particularly useful for people with special mobility impairments. The driver remains in control of acceleration and braking, and can regain control of the bus at any time by touching the steering wheel.

Read more on Veolia website: Have BRT systems caught up with or overtaken light rail?