Bus System
Curitiba, Brazil
Jenny Wu
Why a Bus System?
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How It Works
A central lane is set aside for buses only along the main axes of the city. New bus lines were created and expanded as the city grew. The transport system is down as the Integrated transport Network (ITN). In the ITN, all lines intercommunicated, allowing connections in up to four different directions at each transfer point for one flat fare. The ITN now covers nearly 800 kilometers and provides service for one million trips daily. The structural axes now cover 56 kilometers of roads exclusively devoted to express bus traffic. These roads are complemented by 300 kilometers of feeder lines, 185 kilometers of inter-district lines, and 250 kilometers of direct lines.
Speed: The conventional system operates at 20 kilometers per hour on exclusive lanes, and the direct system reaches an average speed of 30 kilometers per hour.
Buses are color-coded: the express buses are red, inter-district buses are green, and the conventional (feeder) buses are orange and yellow.
Ease of transfer: A key feature of the ITN is the ease with which passenger can transfer, for a single fare. Direct bus systems have fewer stops than an express bus and runs on the one-way routes of the central roads on the structural axes.
Pre-pay and high boarding platforms: Passengers pay before boarding in a circular tube platform which is raised to be the same height of the bus floors. This greatly reduces boarding and unloading times.
“Boarding tubes”: These “boarding tubes” can carry three times as many passengers per hour as a conventional bus operating at street level.
Benefits
Uses less fuel- saves 27 million liters of fuel annually
Prevent more cars from adding to congestion and traffic- reduction of 27 million auto trips per year
Reduces pollution
Efficient, reliable, and faster
Serves 1.3 million passengers
Saves money- only 10% of income, much lower than national average
Improved social interaction while economically advantageous
Implementation in Other Cities
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Sources
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1 comment:
Jaime Lerner, speaking at the MassImpact conference, ascribed the success of the Curitiba bus system to the following:
1. Dedicated lanes to allow the buses to move faster.
2. Tube entrance to make boarding times as fast as subways
3. Frequency of Service - current waits are about 1 minute.
He asserted that any city could significantly improve its quality of life by investing in "smart" mass transport that is tuned to the city's needs.
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