A comparison of LRT with an imaginary BRT system in performance: Bursa example

Abstract

The increasing usage of private vehicles causes serious environmental, social and economic problems necessitating efficient transit systems for big cities all over the world. Appropriate transit systems require consideration of a variety of service quality criteria. Among them, speed, comfort, economy and safety are the most important ones. Considering characteristics and demand of existing light rail transit system (LRT) of Bursa, Turkey, bus rapid transit (BRT) system, comparatively as a cheaper alternative, is investigated in this study to realize how it would have provided competitive service quality in terms of comfort, capacity and operational cost. First, the existing LRT is evaluated with the current demand. Then, as if it were replaced with an imaginary BRT system, how the BRT system would have responded to the existing demand in terms of capacity and comfort are examined. All models are developed in PTV VISSIM simulation environment. The results are compared and important finding are outlined.