Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a relatively new concept with roots in Latin America. C&M has experience working on several of these Latin American projects, which range from preliminary design and supervising the implementation of Transmilenio in Bogota, Colombia to studies and implementations in cities around Mexico.
BRT was born as financially constrained cities planned systems of bus routes that operate more like rail transit. Today, BRT systems carry millions of passengers on a daily basis, with fleets consisting on thousands of buses. The wildly successful Transmilenio system in Bogota, Colombia consists of axial BRT routes and a network of feeder routes.
The principal characteristic of BRT systems is that buses are given priority over other traffic. This can be achieved by granting buses access to managed lanes with a guaranteed level of service, using dedicated bus lanes, or giving buses preferential treatment at signals. Other characteristics may include high-speed boarding, specially-designed boarding locations that operate like train platforms, electronic ticketing, and specially-designed articulated vehicles.
C&M has experience in the conceptual and detailed design of BRT systems, including operations, application of technology, and the appropriate design of BRT facilities.
