Which BRT systems are as good as metro? Top 10 BRT systems in the world
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- Bus rapid transit, the attempt to turn bus service into metro service. But very few cities are actually able to pull that off. Today we explore those that do, or at least get the closest. This is the top 10 BRT systems in the world.
The TransitWorld TH-cam channel is dedicated to all things transportation, with a particular focus on public transit in the developing world.
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Contact: transitworldryan@gmail.com
Now its 2023, and Transjakarta changed not a lot but actually, they are changing immensely great. Even though the development of rail systems prevents them to be greater, Im sure after all the metro rail development is finished, transjakarta will be more amazing. New buses, new lanes, huge and fancy bus stops, clear signs, real passenger assistant in every single bus which not many countries have it and more and more implementations. They just need time, especially making the line more sterilize from regular vehicle.
Talking about Transjakarta, you totally potrayed lots of wrong and outdated pictures. Not to mention about your real experience using Transjakarta, but it surely lack of current data research
You have to go again to Jakarta. Transjakarta has changed a lot although there are still some problems. One of them is that there are still several bus lanes that are still not sterile from other motorized vehicles.
outdated and lack of research , your image is old Transjakarta and 12:08 this image of BRT in Vietnam.
I'm from Rio and unfortunately our BRT system is one of the worst in the world. Some station don't work anymore, serving as a shelter for drug addicts and homeless people. The system map is a lie, only the main stations actually work. Demand is much greater than capacity, buses leave crowded with open doors sometimes. The government delegated private and corrupt companies that have connection with parallel power (militia) to manage the BRT system. The mayor who inaugurated the system was elected after a 4-year absence and is considering converting the system to a VLT (light rail).
Thanks for the points. The analysis was focused more on coverage, frequency, etc. and not so much on confort or safety, appreciate your take!
No doubt valid points about Rio, but have you seen the other BRT systems? They're all pretty bad after the initial ribbon cutting has faded from memory. As a system it's broken, not just because of corruption but because the maintenance cost of the system is far higher than advertised & the benefits massively overhyped.
I use transjakarta almost everyday and I think it’s still moderately good and reliable. Maybe you should update your sources. Transjakarta have been improving a lot these couple years
Outdate information for Jakarta 😅 more reserch needed
Aight, Transjakarta has changed A LOT from when those pictures were taken. It has expanded and has improved its infrastructure after the pandemic. The only issue right now is the bus bunching and right of way/bus lanes which cant be fixed because theres virtually no more space to expand and the right of way is judt indonesian drivers being bad
U use old Data and not visit Jakarta directly 😂
Unfortunately the US will never have BRT that lives up to its name except where there is political will to stare down self-entitled motorists who don't want any road space taken away from general purpose lanes or to establish the municipality's BRT lines on their own right-of-way, preferably grade-separated.
Yep, certianly difficult, although not quite impossible. There were a few other US BRT systems I was hoping would at least make it past the filter (Healthline in Cleavland, Orange line [now Gline] in LA, etc.). I think those are decent services, but didn't quite make the cut.
sbX works well, although it could be much better with just a few easy improvements.
Florida's first BRT line in St Petersburg looks pretty solid and connects downtown (one side of peninsula) to the beaches on the other side.
Mexico City BRT system is actually overtaking the Metro at least in expansion rate and quality of service. The only downside I can think of CDMX Metrobus is line 1, which is very overcrowded and should have been a metro line from the beginning.
Other cities in Mexico have great BRT systems, like León and Guadalajara. If you need first hand information from them I can gladly help you.
Thanks for the offer! I agree that BRT in many Mexican cities is quite good. My next video, however, will likely be looking at a system I don't think is so great, the BRT in Tijuana. Any thoughts to share on that one?
@@TransitWorldRyan Tijuana's system might be awful from both a design and implementation perspective, but it's not even the worst system in Mexico, if you can consider Mexicali's 'BRT' to be 'BRT' (Depending on how you define intersection priority, it might barely meet Basics)
I love BRT systems and as a Brazilian I feel even more happy cuz we created it, but tbh, there’re more systems than shown on this map
If you're talking about 11:15, that is because he wasn't showing all of them, he was showing all of the cities that made the cut for a chance to be in the top 10.
Even the best BRT systems should be support to a metro rail network and any station with huge ridership numbers is in a city who is not providing its citizens with the best mass transit because that BRT line should be a railway line
Certianly an arugment many make. Perhaps a future video topic could be when is metro a better option than BRT and when is it not?
Agree very much on TransJakarta. The system's total length is actually quite deceiving since a huge part of the service doesn't run on dedicated bus lanes, but even lines that do have dedicated lanes are far from sterilized. Corridor 1 and 13 are nearing Gold standard IMO, but everything else may not worth even Bronze lol. Not to mention the very low frequency in some cross-corridor lines. For a city as big as Jakarta, the fact that it's able to accommodate merely one million passengers a day is shameful.
Interesting to get your detailed thoughts, thanks for sharing! I remember having similar issues, but I only rode it a few times back in 2013, sounds like perhaps not too much has changed since then.
@@TransitWorldRyan hey, Indonesian here! Transjakarta in 2013 and 2022 is actually A WORLD'S apart. Not only they have expanded a in terms of line but also post 2015 onwards they introduced great new buses. The rights of way are much more sterilized now and the integration with other modes such as commuter lines and mrt is certainly much better. They created ways to integrate the system with just 1 cards. So no more finicky ticketing system. Headways are still not great as much are still stuck on traffic but for 3500 rupiah it's soo cheap. They even managed to integrate a lot of the informal mini buses like metro mini and non brt buses into the Transjakarta system. It's by no means perfect but compared to 9 years ago it's actually, very-very different. Also the image you used is Vietnam and ourdated Orange livery. Currently TJ uses the blue color, similar to Rio. The provincial government are refurbishing a lot of the main route tj stations and are also trying connect them with for example infercity bus system as well as the many rail networks. Other than TJ, Indonesia rail system has had a major overhaul in those 9 years. So actually A LOT has changed. There are many videos on TH-cam you should check out! More and more people are opting to use transit as opposed to cars now, but we're a long way away.
@@TransitWorldRyan Lol, I thought your comment on the system is based on a visit right before pandemic or so. Since 2013, a lot have actually changed for the better, especially in terms of user experience, but as another commenter has pointed out, some lines still are not given their own right of ways and the frequency is lower than I'd expect for a reliable rapid transit. The coverage is a million miles better now though, especially due to it being integrated with feeder services. These include (free-of-charge!) microbuses crisscrossing even the narrowest alleys, providing first/last mile connection to nearby BRT/rail stations. The fare remained dirt cheap at Rp3500 (unchanged since 2006), and since a couple months ago, you can actually get cheaper fare by combining it with other modes of transportation such as the MRT or the commuter rail.
That said, I still stand by my comment that there's so much that Transjakarta needs to improve before you could call it a world-class system. IMO, a lot of the "improvement" done in the last several years are non-fundamental, and didn't get to the crux of getting more ridership in the most efficient way. Things like building stylish stations, beautifying pedestrian access, integrating with other modes etc should not be done at the expense of improving the service itself, i.e. increasing frequency, extending (actual BRT) coverage, sterilizing ROWs, and more.
@@Raditram I testify that it is true. We are almost there. Jakarta buses are certainly in the top 3 in southeast Asia.
@@Raditram Totally agreed, as a frequent rider I see lots of changes, especially in the lines that are more connected with other transportations like MRT and Commuter Lines.
I once rode the BRT in Ahmedabad, India and nearly lost my arm while boarding the bus because the driver closed the door while I was trying to enter the bus. If he didn't stop, I would've lost my arm in 5 seconds.
Yep, I could believe it. One thing I have seen in a few systems, such as Mexico City and Bogota, is a warning light that goes on when the door is within a few seconds of closing - seems like an easy and cheap addition to any BRT system.
Hello, TransitWorld. I was chocked when you put my city in the first place. I am not a regular user of our BRT system, but today I traveled 30 km on it. Rio's BRT is imense, but it has so many problems: bus in poor condition, vandalized stations, overcrowding, track floor sinking into the transoeste corridor.
The number of stations is 133 in 3 corridors. A new corridor with 22 stations is under construction.
Ya, honestly I was a bit surprised Rio ranked number 1, but that was indeed the best ranking based on the calcuations. Of course, even the top ranking services still have issues, appreciate you sharing some more details.
@@TransitWorldRyan You're welcome. Despite my first comment, I'm a BRT enthusiast. I went in Curitiba some years ago. It was incredible. You can take a bus or BRT to any part of the city with one ticket.
Here we have rail, subway and BRT systems. They work independently. In theory, we have a great transit network.
You never reviewed Lima´s BRT system. it underrated for most but with the biggest central underground station in the world, and its first busses in the 70s was inspiration as well for itself, curitiva, bogota, cdmx and so on. greetings.-
This is the kind of chanel I’ve been waiting for, hope to see you grow:)
I’m from Bogota and stumbled onto this channel… would love to help if you need any help for future videos! I love that you’re focusing on developing nations as I am also studying urban planning :)
Thanks for the offer! I might do a deep-dive on TransMilenio at somepoint, will let you know!
you should make videos. I would be interested in seeing what happens in Bogota.
@@TransitWorldRyan if you do you I would like to see your opinion on the planned corridors and their integration as a whole. Come visit us :)
No wonder, this video was from last year, they even putted Hanoi kind of thing for the video about Jakarta lol. Greetings from Indonesia
Thanks for putting me on top 5!
You earned a new sub for that :)
Hey man! great video, your voice fits really good for narrating this kind of videos, although when you don't look directly to the camera it feels kinda weird, but I know it's not easy to read a long script and look straight into the camera, so keep it up!!!
Thanks! Ya, haha defintetly need to get less awkward reading my notes, working on it...
Transmilenio in Bogotá is a scam. A BRT will never be able to do the same as a subway. Buses are also cars, exclusive bus lanes are also highway lanes that take up surface space, sooner or later chaos and collapse always come. Transmilenio is very unsafe with more than 50 deaths in traffic accidents and more than 1,000 injuries each year. It is also financially unsustainable for the city but the private operators have guaranteed profits even if they never comply with the contracts.
My old hometown, Minneapolis/St. Paul MN, is planning on expanding to focus a lot on BRT, but it is frustrating because the first A Line in St. Paul has NO dedicated lanes or level boarding. It really just feels like a bus line that comes every 10 minutes compared to the usual every 20 minutes in the cities. I am nervous that the rest of the BRT lines will be similar, as only one of the planned routes is going to have a dedicated right of way. Mpls/St. Paul is very progressive when it comes to bike infrastructure but there is still hesitancy about a comprehensive rapid transit system. If I move back, I would probably still buy a car for occasional use because of the lack of frequent suburban service on any mode. Due to sprawl, the suburbs are still important to be able to get to these days.
Ya, I know how painful it can be to hear a city term something as BRT just to realize its really just "BRT Light" in name only, and it is not that much different than general-purpose bus service.
The Blue Line was busted down to 12 minute frequencies during Covid. Recently, it was downgraded again to 15 minute frequencies. Doubt they'll change it back. The LRT originally had 7 minute frequencies, but after a. Few years it was reduced to 10. Now it's down to 2 car trains and many people are afraid to ride it due to crime at the stations and on the trains, so wouldn't be surprised to to see service slashed again.
@@tomfields3682 yikes, 15 is almost as bad as the buses. I never had any issues on the Blue Line personally, but me and many other friends have multiple Green Line horror stories. I still kept riding but I don't blame people for getting scared off.
Come to Spokane Washington and learn how awesome the new 6 mile very BRT-light system (Cityline) can really be! It runs every 15-30 minutes and only took 10 years to build!
oh wow fascinating! Wasn't expecting Rio. Haven't heard anything about their BRT system.
Cool video!
The Ahmedabad system has indeed improved a fair bit. It does have its issues still, but the network has expanded, and they are procuring new buses as well. Frequency is also good. You can get a bus every two mins or so. It's really convenient for travelling in the city. And recently, the cops have started fining vehicles that intrude into the bus lanes, though for the most part, locals respect the bus lanes to begin with.
Majority of buses are e buses in Ahemdabad brts
12:14 is that 2013 Transjakarta?
Yea this dude just id!ot
I feel like Xiamen (Amoy) deserves a mention on this list
And no Yichang is not a small city even by Chinese standards
12:07, why did you use not original picture of transjakarta bus? FYI, now transjakarta bus is actually using VOLVO,SCANIA,MERCEDES BENZ bus
Line G in Los Angeles must DEFINITELY be in the Top 10. It is 100% private R.O.W., LRT-like stations throughout, and is now electrically-powered. I can't believe you didn't make it #1. It has even stimulated redevelopment around the stations. It's biggest problem is over-crowding, which is why most of it is being restored to LRT, as it was under Pacific Electric.
The overcrowding is intolerable.
Also, the Orange Line has no platform-level boarding, no enhanced passenger compartments, and no easy way to integrate bicycles.
@@lyndakorner2383 - I said Line G is overcrowded, but one can't blame Metro for creating something that is popular. However, that's also why the bulk of it will be converted to LRT soon. Much like its counterparts in Vancouver, BC and Ottawa, ON.
@@lyndakorner2383 - I think that high-level boarding is overrated, given all the hassles it involves. The buses have front-mounted bicycle racks. As for the "enhanced passenger compartments," please explain.
It is important to remember that Line G would have been LRT, but for decisionmaker resistance against rail transit. Now it is one of the most over-used BRT systems.
Nice video! I have been thinking lately about transit in highway medians. I think it's a bad idea because of the noise and pollution.
I'm glad that San Diego at least doesn't run the trams down the MIDDLE of the freaking highways that they run parallel with. So only some stations really have the freeway noise issue
Did you check per hour peak traffic in Istanbul metrobus? I think it is much more than Guangzhou
I’m curious where Ottawa would have ranked before their LRT
London Ontario is building a BRT system which will be finished in 2026.
I wish they would add BRTs to city skylines❤ I like to listen to channels like yours while I play
Just use double way only-bus highways for the segregated lanes, and for stations use small pedestrian with bus lanes (from Plazas and Promenades DLC). Use the TM:PE mod to adjust crossings
I'm from Ahemdabad and i travel daily in brts although there is also metro systems but buses can go to more specific places, it's cheap punctual and fast
We need massive metro in Ahmedabad
@@tukaidas1272 yes that's true and metro is under construction to Gandhi nagar currently and expected to open in Jan 2024 and total metro length will be over 64 km
@@bot_nemetronicus yes hope ghandhinagar gift Ahmedabad every corner sanand and small sarrounded city village all get connected with many lines even brts corridors should convert into metro also built new Ahmedabad separate city within 50 km distance
Chinese cities are prime example and there top 10 metro system over 500 km long dominate whole world 9 out of top 10 longest metro are Chinese metros 10 th position moscow metro with 567 km we are way behind
@@tukaidas1272 can't compare any countries with China because they bulldoze everything in their way
And if brts corridor turn in metro it will have so much good impact but that doesn't look like it's happening
Something like RRTS can be implemented for nearby cities
for but that too mostly 20-30 years
What about Transmetro system in Guatemala city? It is a decent, safe and cheap way to navigate around town.
I'm surprised Xiamen is not on the list.
Well…I’m pretty sure that ur statement will change if you’re willing to Jakarta once more.
It’s actually getting better…so much better in fact…although there are still some bottleneck in several point of the road due to the development of our MRT system.
What's the best BRT in a city with a metro population under a million people? My city has close to 350,000 (only 250k proper) and is planning to implement a BRT system but they've already cut most of the crucial parts out before construction begins. I understand there isn't the population here to justify tens of billions of dollars but IMO one appealing aspect of this type of system is its scalable (i.e. it doesn't need a gold certification it just needs to be better than what we currently have with the ability to continuously improve it, or even if you do want a gold certification it's really only a few kms needed). I'm looking for a good model for comparison for very small cities.
It heavily depends on travel patterns within the city, but one corridor that comes to mind is the Oberhausen transitway in the Ruhr region in western Germany. It serves as both a tram and BRT corridor and is fully grade separated with both sunken and elevated stops.
@@bahnspotterEUI'm not sure that is an apt example at all, the Ruhr area is an urban agglomeration of over 5 Million people in a metro area of around 11 Million. Oberhausen might be a small city of 200k but it's nestled right in the middle of the urban area and its a major transportation hub for the region, and it's local transit provider currently serves almost 30 million passengers a year (vs my city's current 4 million)
What about LA's Orange Line?
Ya, as a former Angelino, I was hoping the Orange line (G line) might make the cut. It does get a Bronze from ITDP, but it fell off the list becase it doesn't have station-level boarding. Even if it did make the cut, I don't think it would have placed Top 10, but still a service I like quite a bit!
Hey, I live in Curitiba, if you ever want to talk with someone that use the bus system here every day, feel free to contact me.
Appreciate the offer, I will let you know!
Bro just shows the bad side of Transjakarta and even posted a photo of a Transjakarta bus that 10 years ago, even one photo was not from Jakarta 🥴 😐 Jakarta's BRT system is the best integrated with the MRT and trains. You can see the CSW bridge and others
I want to inviting you to Jakarta and try the new BRT system nowday.
doesn't guanzhou also has a giant, world class metro system? that is not only very new but also expanding at a ridiculous rate? Rio also has a metro system but with its 2 lines i wouldn't say its world class lol
i guess the problem with brt is that it degradates too quickly, and the maintenance becomes a nightmare. Rio's, for example, was great when it opened, but just a few years later and the system is now unrecognizable, with safety issues getting more urgent every day, but that's not as straight forward to analyze because its more a day-to-day user experience type of thing rather than comparing lenghts and frequency. i think in that regard rail systems are much more reliable, and tend to last way longer before it also becomes a nightmare for the users
yeah, guangzhou’s new line 18 (metro) travels at 160km/h, i kid you not
Transjakarta isnt on the list?
9:48 Metrobuses are very useful in Istanbul.
Its peculiar. Im from Denmark, in northern Europe, but now there's a big BRT boom up here. That itself has been started since we've also invested in some light rail tram systems, however those have had some problems. Some really minor, some more notable, but either way theyve garnered national media and political attention, and have made Trams pretty taboo in Danish politics. Especially when Aarhus had the only operational system between 2017 and 2022. Odense has some issues of their own too but still outperforms Aarhus on ridership and reliability despite being a much smaller city with a smaller system.
But regardless this has caused people and politicians, especially on the right wing, to try and bulster up BRT as better. Though much of their propaganda is also fake, promising smoother ride quality than trams and somehow a higher passenger capacity. Though of course the biggest sell is that BRT can be made for cheaper, and they say between 1/4th and 1/8th the cost of an equivalent tram line.
Plus also "fixing" the main complaints about trams besides the upfront construction cost, like reliability cause "BRT vehicles can just drive around a disruption, tram is too inflexible", flexibility because they somehow expect the ability for a bus to use regular roads to mean many small lines going to every neighbourhood rather than an actual transit trunk, the lack of overhead wires that trams use, lower noise than trams, and stupidly, the idea that "once technology progresses, the busways can be used for driverless cars".
And of course nearly every single BRT advocate here doesnt understand how BRT actually works. They try bolstering up the transit mode, but hates when its actually getting built with stuff like Bus lanes, Bus only streets, and Signal priority, or having to remove on street parking to make room for bus lanes and bus stations. It seems more like what BRT advocates here want is akin to the Trondheim Metrobuss in Norway. Which really is just a fancy looking bi-articulated bus, with a fancy interior, and fancy looking bus. They just want something they think looks pretty, rather than which is actually functional or benefits the city.
Currently we have 1 whole BRT system in Denmark, the 12km long "Plusbus" in Aalborg, which opened in September last year and has not yet been graded but would likely be graded as a Bronze level BRT. But besides that we've had smaller busways since the 1970's and Copenhagen both has a 2.2km long median busway built to BRT standards that opened in 2014 and is used by regular bus lines, as well as the 5C bus. A line branded as a BRT style service, but with no off board fare payment, very little signal priority and dedicated lanes, and just all door boarding and some stickers at bus stops. Its actually so bad that the line has fewer passengers now than before its "conversion" to a "BRT style solution" by several million annual passengers. That line in particular was basically copying the "Malmöexpressen" BRT. A slightly more ambitious but still rather low investment BRT-lite ish line in Malmö that the city chose to build instead of trams, and which really started the interest in BRT here, which only accelerated once trams actually came to Denmark in 2017. Though Malmöexpressen has also not been graded either by the ITDP.
But really for us in Northern Europe, then Malmöexpressen and by extension the "Mettis" BRT in Metz, France, have been the catalysts for the BRT spike here in the Nordics.
BRT is rarely if ever suitable in North America because the cost of building a dedicated BRT line is nearly as high as for LRT, and LRT is not only more comfortable but provides much better labor efficiency. Line G in Los Angeles is being converted to LRT now, because voters have replaced the politicians that hate trains.
shocked jakarta's not even on the list
I can't imagine dedicated bus lane in country where motorbikes is the majority of transport
So that why many people in my country support brt
Bruh i have travelled in ahmedabad bsts for my stayo ver there and you just need to visit it now your seto f data is correct but relevant to now because dude they are on full on electirc buses and you dont even feel like they're buses they seem somewhere between metro and buses
Most of these BRT systems would have been much better if they'd run modern tram/light rail systems. The comparison with a metro, though often made is a false one - "Metro" would be a bad choice in many instances, though so is BRT. Tram/light rail has higher capacity with far less impact but far larger coverage or the same expenditure. It can actually be run where people need to go & doesn't make them go out to a busy highway median. Best case scenario of BRT is a horrible passenger experience. Very few transport systems are as bad as TransMileneo or Trans Jakarta.
This is a bump! 🙂
nice video! how does your channel have less subs than mine??
I think the best BRT system in the world is Trans Jakarta BRT.
BRT is better then metro in earthquake prone areas. Cheaper to build, maintain, and replace.
you make this channel 4 month ago ,but poor knowledge . how can you get transjakarta data there are build since 2001 ! are you kidding me !
Is this dude really advocating for more BRTs or to build them instead of heavy rail? I just want to point out every mode of transportation has its place, and though BRT it's better than nothing, it simply can't replace a heavy rail, vehicles are simply too small and bunching becomes its major issue the more corridos you build. Even LRT have bigger vehicles which could boost the capacity higher than a BRT. Just to end I want to point out Bogota's TransMilenio is unliveable in peek hours, even sometimes in valley hours cause system is too overcrowded, undoubted symptom the city needed heavy rail lines instead of this scam that "buses can do the same as trains at a lower cost"... And it's sad to see other cities in Colombia trying to keep up with the costs of operating a BRT, whose Opex are higher than a similar size LRT which could have been a perfectly sensible alternative...
Guatemala City's is good imo
Adelaide O-Bahn? Not even an honourable mention?
Wtf, rio brt is so crappy. Guess all brts bellow are even worse? Well, now im sure brt is a flawed idea..
Is a Fiat as good as a Maseratti? Of course not. A Maseratti is better and MUCH more expensive. Because of the "lost decade", there is no more money to build a subway. That is the fact and the rest is idle talk.
using 2013 data for video in 2022.. 🤣🤣🤣 shame on you
None of them
Lahore BRT is better than many in your list. I don't think you have the experience to travel by #Transjakarta, its very biased ranking! Please stop making propaganda video!
Trans Jakarta 2016? or you just take a picture on Google?