Applicability of Bogota's TransMilenio BRT system to the United States : final report, May 2006.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Applicability of Bogotá's TransMilenio BRT system to the United States : final report, May 2006.
• Creators:
  Cain, Alasdair ; Darido, Georges ; Baltes, Michael R. ; Rodriguez, Pilar ; Barrios, Johan C.
• Corporate Creators:
  National BRT Institute ; University of South Florida. Center for Urban Transportation Research
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Transit Administration. Office of Research, Demonstration, and Innovation
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Bus rapid transit
  • Bus transit
  • Evaluation
  • Public transit
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FL-26-7104-01
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Colombia
• Edition:
  Final report; May 2006.
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Federal Transit Administration. Office of Research, Demonstration, and Innovation
• NTL Classification:
  NTL-ECONOMICS AND FINANCE-Transit Economics and Finance ; NTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-Transit Planning and Policy ; NTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Transit Economics and Finances ; NTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Transit Planning and Policy ; NTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Bus Transportation
• Abstract:
  Serving the city of Bogotá, Colombia, TransMilenio is one of the world’s premier Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems. Commencing service in ; December 2000, the system was carrying over one million passengers per day by early 2006 on a 40 mile network of high capacity trunk ; corridors, supported by feeder services that extend system coverage to peripheral areas of the city. Completion of the second phase of the ; project later in 2006 will add an additional ten miles of trunk corridor, and raise weekday ridership to a projected 1.4 million passengers. The city ; Masterplan consists of a 241 mile network of trunk corridors and supporting feeder routes that would carry an estimated 5 million passengers per ; day. TransMilenio is also the centerpiece of a long-term urban renewal and mobility strategy that prioritizes walking and cycling and discourages ; private vehicle use. ; In November 2005, the National Bus Rapid Transit Institute (NBRTI) sent a delegation of U.S based BRT professionals to Bogotá to ; observe the operation of the TransMilenio system, attend the First International Mass Transport Conference, and meet with Colombian ; transportation officials. This report provides a description of the TransMilenio system and its impacts, and discusses its applicability to the U.S ; transit context. The report also includes a summary of potential business opportunities for the U.S Transit industry arising from Colombian ; government plans to invest over US$1.4 billion in TransMilenio system expansion and the implementation of similar systems in cities across the ; country. ; Although the characteristics of Bogotá, in terms of economy, socio-political climate and urban form, are very different to those of a typical ; North American city, TransMilenio does demonstrate several important BRT features that are applicable to the U.S transit context. In carrying as ; much as 41,000 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd), TransMilenio demonstrates that BRT systems are capable of accommodating ; passenger volumes normally associated with rail transit. These high volumes are made possible by a wide variety of system design features, ; including high capacity buses, exclusive runningways, level boarding, off-board fare payment, and high service frequencies that permit headways ; as low as 13 seconds on busy sections of the system. Even accounting for the lower passenger loadings demanded by U.S transit users, ; TransMilenio demonstrates that BRT systems are capable of carrying up to approximately 28,000 pphpd in a U.S transit context, and thus should ; not be ruled out of alternatives analyses in favor of LRT on the grounds of insufficient capacity. ; TransMilenio also demonstrates the benefits that BRT can bring in terms of capital cost effectiveness. Phase I cost a total of US$240M ; ($9.4M per mile) while Phase II cost $545M ($21.3M per mile). Costs are kept low partially by transferring responsibility for vehicle and fare ; collection costs to the private sector. The total capital cost of the 241 mile TransMilenio Masterplan, estimated at $3,320M (including vehicle and ; fare collection costs), is similar to the $3,041M projected capital cost of the 18 mile rail corridor proposed in Bogotá in 1997. Thus, selecting BRT ; offers Bogotá a city-wide rapid transit system for approximately the same cost as one rail corridor. ; Other important lessons demonstrated by the TransMilenio are included in the report under the themes of “BRT and Urban Renewal”, “The ; TransMilenio Business Model”, “Politics”, and “Infrastructure Characteristics”. The report concludes by discussing the different issues associated ; with replicating the “Bogotá Model” in the U.S.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  FL-26-7104
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/17854/dot_17854_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.05 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:61a168645ef9cb8bb9274d92f6c2ac36c391a453c1e91e3081cb878aca3cb8f5