What is Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)?

The concept of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a rapid mode of transportation that can provide the quality of rail transit and the flexibility of buses. BRT has been implemented in other cities throughout the world as a low-cost, rail-like method of moving people quickly and efficiently. In cities such as LA and Toronto, BRT has been efficiently and affordably implemented with very positive results. It has also been successfully implemented as an incremental approach to providing transit solutions to address roadway congestion.

To better understand BRT feasibility in the Chicago region, the RTA Board created a BRT Subcommittee to lead the discussion. View the Subcommittee’s mission statement and selection criteria PDF Version (.pdf) MS Word Version (.doc)

RTA staff, along with its partnering agencies, is analyzing the potential implementation of demonstration BRT projects in different corridor environments. The results are promising.

Our goal is to determine overall operating advantages of a bus rapid transit system in the six-county region.

Roadway Engineer Workshop

On January 29, 2009 RTA hosted a Roadway Engineer BRT Workshop to advance the cross-disciplinary discussion about implementing BRT in different operating environments and learning from peer regions who have implemented Bus on Shoulder and BRT programs. Jennifer Conover, Project Manager with the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Team Transit, provided information regarding the Twin Cities Bus on Shoulder program. Richard Jarrold, Senior Director of System Development & Engineering with Kansas City Area Transportation Authority provided information regarding their recently-implemented and expanding BRT program. View materials shared at this workshop.

BRT Peer Visits

In order to learn more about BRT planning and implementation, the RTA in March 2009 led a delegation of RTA board members, DuPage County officials and Pace board members on visits to Los Angeles and Toronto’s York Region. In Los Angeles, our objective was to experience the array of BRT operations that they have successfully implemented in the past 10 years. The peer visit to Toronto placed greater emphasis on the institutional issues of implementing BRT.

I-55 Bus-on-Shoulders Project Development
The RTA, in partnership with the Illinois Department of Transportation and Pace suburban bus, is undertaking a planning and project development study to examine the potential use of Interstate 55’s shoulders for a suitable transit demonstration program using Pace’s I-55 Flyer and 755 Plainfield-UIC express bus routes . Potential implementation: spring 2010. The corridor extends approximately 30 miles from downtown Chicago to IL 53 in Bolingbrook. (southwest portion of the Chicago metropolitan area). (View Map)

Bus-on-shoulders is envisioned as a first phase of improvement toward eventual Bus Rapid Transit on I-55. I-55 Bus Rapid Transit is conceived as a new service to link the southwest suburbs with Chicago and its central business district with three general objectives:
1) Provide suburban residents access to Chicago jobs
2) Provide Chicago residents access to the suburban job market, and
3) Provide a limited-stop high-speed service that would be time competitive with available alternatives. Service will be coordinated with several park and ride lots, and the existing transit network.

The goals of this I-55 bus-on-shoulders demonstration are to improve transit service quality in the I-55 travel corridor and to better utilize I-55 to improve transit and overall mobility.

In 2009, the RTA began a Phase I preliminary engineering study to examine existing conditions; bus-on-shoulder options; transit operations and problem areas; environmental, transportation system and community impacts; legal issues; and costs and benefits. A decision about feasibility and whether the resulting bus-on-shoulder proposal should continue into final design and the demonstration phase is expected in December 2009.

Background
Interstate 55 is a heavily travelled artery that bisects Metra’s BNSF and Southwest Service lines. Between these full service commuter rail lines, there is some bus transit on I-55 and commuter rail service on the Heritage Corridor, but both are limited to peak period-peak direction service for the traditional commute to downtown Chicago. The shoulders of I-55 may provide an opportunity to better utilize this Interstate facility to improve transit and overall mobility.

Check back for updates and future BRT initiatives.