sustainable transport newsletter

News updates from the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy May 2011 | Vol. 2 Issue 1

Guangzhou BRT
Saving Residents
Time, City Money
The Guangzhou BRT contin-
ues to make waves, with ongoing
impact analysis by ITDP revealing
that it is saving 805,000 average
daily users nearly seven minutes
per trip, for a total annual passen-
ger time saving of more than thirty
million hours. Passengers are also
saving money: a combination of
monthly multiple trip discounts,
flat fares for the BRT, and free
transfers within BRT stations
has resulted in average passen-
ger fares dropping by nearly half,
from 4.9 yuan to 2.6 yuan. At the
same time, the profitability of the
system has dramatically improved
due to operational savings from
BRT speed increases and higher
bus occupancy. The system also
reduced CO2 emissions by 50,000 The Donghaochong Greenway project cleaned up a heavily polluted urban canal and created new neigh-
tons in its first year. borhood parks in addition to the greenway.

Greenways in Guangdong
Guangdong, China’s most populous
(and also most prosperous) province
has been experiencing an explosion in
greenway development. An initial roll-
out of hundreds of kilometers of high
quality bike and pedestrian pathways
in 2010 in Guangzhou (the provincial
capital) has laid the groundwork for
even more ambitious plans. The city
plans improve greenway coverage and
connectivity in the built-up urban area
Tangxia BRT station has nearly 9,000 passen-
during 2011. ITDP is working closely
ger boardings per hour in the morning peak.
with the city’s can-do greenways office
to build out the greenways into a city-
wide network linked with bike sharing
and public space improvements. Special
attention is needed to ensure the green-
ways across busy urban intersections
and other potential barriers. ITDP is
also assisting several other cities in
the Pearl River Delta with greenway
planning, some of which are planning
to integrate greenways with BRT and
public bike systems, and with general
public space and pedestrian facility
improvements.
CHINA/ARGENTINA

Lanzhou Begins
Construction on
New BRT System
The world’s most “flexible” BRT system is
now under construction in Lanzhou, the capital
of Gansu Province in western China. Road works
have started, with station construction starting
possibly as early as July. The system is anticipat-
ed to open in early 2012. The system will feature
flexible buses (doors on both sides), flexible
stations (serving both left-door and right-door
buses in the same direction), and flexible routes,
with direct-service operations removing the
need for transfer terminals and interchanges.
The system will be the second high-capacity
BRT design in Asia, after the Guangzhou BRT.
Guangzhou’s bike-share system is bursting at the seams. The operators have provided additional
The planning and design is being led by the
bikes at staffed facilities to deal with peak demand. ITDP is advising the city on expansion plans. Guangzhou Municipal Engineering Design and
Research Institute (GMEDRI) together with ITDP,
with funding from the Asian Development Bank.
Biggest Bike Share Found in China
China has some of the biggest bike-share systems in the world and
new ones are popping up across the country, some that will include tens
of thousands of bikes. ITDP is working primarily with Guangzhou to help
expand the city’s current system. ITDP is also documenting best practices
(particularly in Asian cities) at publicbike.net.
Since Hangzhou’s pioneering bike-sharing system opened three years
ago, many lessons have been learned, and cities are benefiting from access
to information about these lessons. At the same time, cities continue to
innovate, for example with two distinct systems sharing docking stations
in Foshan and a recent announcement by Hangzhou that e-bikes may be
incorporated into the bike-sharing system later this year. Bus rapid transit will bring much needed congestion relief
Visit publicbike.net for more. to Lanzhou starting early next year.

Biking in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is making it easier to ride a
bicycle, with new lanes and an expansion of the
city’s bike share system. The city has installed
60 km (37 miles) of new bike lanes in the busiest
parts of the city, they aim to have 100 km total
installed by the end of this year.
The city’s bike-share system, Bicing, has
also grown to eleven stations, with 330 bikes,
up from three stations and one hundred bikes
when it launched in December of 2010. Today
the bike share system has 9,000 registered
users. The city reports that 90% of trips made during weekdays are for
errands; on weekends most use the bikes for recreation. The system is
currently free (pre-registration is required) and trips are limited to two
hours maximum. This allows residents to try out cycling and see for
themselves how efficient, convenient, and fun it can be.
The city also has a Bike to Work program. The program has mostly focused
on the private sector, but recently the city raffled off bikes to city employees to
encourage them to commute via bike as well.
ITDP continues to work in collaboration with the city government on all
aspects of its bicycle program, providing technical, communications, and
budgeting support.

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT NEWSLETTER | SPRING 2011

MEXICO

Bicycle Sharing Expands in Mexico City

Mexico City’s government is planning to
broadly expand ECOBICI, the city’s bicycle-
sharing system, which has proved extremely
popular during its first year. ECOBICI was
launched in February 2010 in six central neigh-
borhoods around the Reforma and Insurgentes
corridors, which account for 40% of the city’s
daily work trips. ECOBICI makes intermodal
connections with the city’s Metro and Metro-
bus systems easy.
A year after its launch, the system has
24,000 users who have made a total 1.2 million
trips, with a current average of 9,000 daily trips.
Mexico City boasts only having three reported
accidents requiring hospital assistance and only
one bike stolen to date.
The Mexico City government plans to
increase the number of ECOBICI stations to 275 Above: Expansion plans for ECOBICI call for an additional 275 stations and wider system coverage.
by the end of 2011, and to more than double the
number of bikes available to 3,960 from 1,200 neighborhoods around the capital’s historic downtown.
currently. Capacity, already nearing its 28,000- ITDP Mexico has played a key role in the development of the system,
user limit, will surge to 73,000, and the program providing technical assistance and guidance on defining where and how
will become accessible to residents of poorer the program should expand.

Bike Lanes Inspire, Expand

As part of the Mexico City
Bike Mobility Strategy, ITDP
advised the implementation of
a 3-km bike lane on one of the
most famous streets in the city,
Avenida Reforma. It is a wide
(1.9 m) one-way path, allowing
Bike lanes and traffic calming in Coyoacan help protect and connect cyclists
a cyclist to overtake another, on these lower traffic streets.
and softly separated from
adjacent motor vehicle traffic, Mexico City is also beginning to expand the bike network
keeping cars out of the lane, in Coyoacan, a historical residential neighborhood, south of
but allowing cyclists to exit the the city. In addition to the 10.1-km network of marked bike
lane if needed for safety. lanes (3.3 km) and bike priority streets (6.8 km), the city is
The number of cyclists rid- now marking 7.3 km of new bike lanes.
ing on the Reforma in the first The project also includes the installation of speed reduc-
two months after construction ers. Together, along with expansion of Ecobici to the neighbor-
increased by 30%. The design hood, these actions will help increase bicycling significantly.
has proven to be a model for This project is an example of what can be accomplished with
other cities around the country. paint, in a short amount of time, using only a small amount
of government funds.
New separated bike path on the In both cases, ITDP has provided technical support to the
Reforma makes cycling through Mexico City government on the planning of the projects and
downtown safer and more accessible. specific traffic design.
INDIA

Pune BRT: Recreating a Vision

Pune, cultural capital of Maha-
rashtra, has begun to develop a new,
robust public transport system in the
form of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The
Pune metropolitan region is comprised
of two municipal corporations—Pune
and Pimpri-Chinchwad—with a popu-
lation of over five million. The twin
cities face a daunting challenge: how
to preserve sustainable and equitable
mobility when hundreds of new cars
and motorcycles are being registered
in the city daily. According to the Pune
Municipal Corporation (PMC) Environ-
ment Status Report 2009–2010, the city
now has 473 private vehicles for every
1000 people, but only one bus for every
6,250 people!
Citizens and the administrations
of the two municipal corporations
have voiced concerns over the future
mobility needs of the region and BRT
systems are increasingly being rec-
ognized as a key solution. It is also Today, PMPML has a fleet of 1,200
essential to ensure safety for pedestri- buses on a 1,900 km network, that
ans and to provide dedicated lanes for carries over one million trips per day.
cyclists, who compete for road space The regular buses are subject to traffic
with a rapidly growing number of delays, leading to irregular and infre-
motor vehicles. quent schedules. There is a unique
ITDP is advising and assisting the opportunity to restructure PMPML’s 331
Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corpo- existing bus routes to increase service
ration (PCMC) in BRT planning and frequencies on the busiest corridors
design. ITDP is also working with the while making the route network more
Top: A proposed median station for the Pune BRT.
Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Maha- legible for new customers. Source: Omkar Associates, Pune
mandal Limited (PMPML), the munici- Once completed, the BRT system Above: Newly procured BRT vehicle for
pal public transport agency, on the may just revolutionize the way pub- operation.
planning and structuring of public lic transport is viewed in Pune and
transport operations with an emphasis Pimpri-Chinchwad. The citizens of
on BRT. Pune await a dream to be realized –
PCMC’s four BRT corridors, funded the dream of an accessible, equitable
in part by the central government’s Pune. ITDP is prepared to help make
Jawarharlal Nehru National Urban this dream a reality.
Renewal Mission, measure a total of 50
km and will be built with median sta-
tions and high quality pedestrian and
cycling infrastructure. Nearly 500 new
buses with unique specifications are
being procured for Pune and Pimpri-
Chinchwad.
BRAZIL

Will Rio’s Pedestrians “Our Cities Ourselves” Goes Global

Get a Piece of Rio’s
New Port?
Like many cities around the world, Rio de
Janeiro is re-evaluating the way the city will
use and access the valuable real estate along
its waterfront. Today, the Perimetral elevated
expressway looms over Avenida Rodrigues
Alves, cutting off Rio’s port visually and physi-
cally from the rest of the city.
Now, in the lead-up to FIFA World Cup (2014)
and the Olympics (2016), a public-private part-
nership has introduced plans to deconstruct
the elevated Perimetral and construct a freeway
underground, with a new four-lane, at-grade
expressway above it. In this scheme, pedestrians
are to be accommodated through a series of
tunnels and overpasses.
While acknowledging the importance of the
traffic flow through this corridor, ITDP Brazil is
developing alternative proposals, which would
better accommodate the city’s many pedestrians, MEXICO - Architect Jose Castillo, designer of the Mexico City rendering in ITDP’s Our Cities
cyclists, and transit users. ITDP will explore how Ourselves exhibition, discusses his ideas with ITDP President Enrique Peñalosa and Vice
the project could be refined to be more conducive Minister of Urban Development and Land Order of the Federal Government, Sara Topelson.
to transit, and increase safety for cyclists and Some 35,000 people came to see the show at the Museo Franz Meyer, in the heart of the
pedestrians. ITDP is also examining the financial city’s historical area, making it one of the Museo’s most popular exhibitions ever. The City’s
feasibility of both proposals. pre-eminent bus operating company, ADO, has now approached ITDP to advise them on
the development of Tacubaya, which featured in the exhibition, as well as the eastern bus

BRT Arrives in the terminal (TAPO) which brings together bus and metro lines.

Cidade Maravilhosa BRAZIL - Richard Rogers,

Construction is underway on the Transoeste, the
first of three planned BRT corridors in Rio de Janeiro.
Linking the east and the west of the city, the 52-km-
long line is projected to open in mid-2012 and will
carry an estimated 220,000 people per day.
When completed, the system will include
two additional lines, the Transolímpica and
Transcarioca lines, and offer a total of 121 km of
exclusive BRT lanes. By the time Brazil hosts the
FIFA World Cup in 2014, it is estimated the BRT
system will transport over 700,000 people per day.
In 2009 and 2010 ITDP Brazil brought Enrique
Peñalosa to Rio to support the BRT planning pro-
cess. He discussed the Transmilenio experience
in Bogotá during meetings and workshops with
the Secretary of Transport and other transport
planning stakeholders.
designer of the Pompidou
Center and Lloyd’s of London
building, and former adviser to
the Mayor of London, delivered
a lecture on “The Language of
Architecture” to hundreds at
the Our Cities Ourselves exhi-
bition in Rio de Janeiro. The city
of São Paulo is now interested
in developing a new work plan
with ITDP, while Brazil’s largest
real estate development as-
sociation, SECOVI, is seeking
The exhibition opens in Argentina on April
our advice on its forthcoming
20th, in India in August, and in China in the fall.
international urban forum in
Check for details at www.ourcitiesourselves.org.
September.

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT NEWSLETTER | SPRING 2011

The need to take action has never been more pressing.
Around the world, cities are struggling to meet the needs of
their ever-growing populations. Car ownership and sprawl
are on the rise, resulting in more dangerous intersections
and gridlocked streets, toxic air quality, and reduced access
to city centers and job opportunities, especially for the poor.

ITDP works alongside city authorities to bring about trans-

portation solutions that are safe and efficient today and
sustainable for future generations. But we can’t do it alone.
Your support helps fund critical projects that promote:

• Secure bike lanes and sidewalks

• Pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods
• Safer, calmer streets
• Sophisticated and sustainable public transportation
• Cleaner air and lower carbon emissions
Visit itdp.org/donate to help make cities safer,
• Improved access to transport for the poor more sustainable and accessible for all.

Promoting sustainable and equitable transport worldwide

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