Bus Rapid Transit System Evaluation System

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a newly-emerged transit model, with the characteristics of low investment, short construction period, and high efficiency. BRT is considered as an effective method to alleviate traffic congestions in an urban area. It has been widely implemented for many international cities. Currently, it lacks of research for evaluating a BRT system, most of research papers in this area are based on method similar to other transit mode. The main purpose of this paper intends to establish a comprehensive evaluation method based on true characteristics for a BRT system. The outcome of such evaluation method can be used for evaluating either existing or planned BRT projects. The evaluation method analyzes the key elements of a BRT project that includes the characteristics of operation, implementation forms, effectiveness and so on. The evaluation method has four categories comprising and six indexes. The four categories include the route arrangement, right of way arrangement,the station facilities and access method (station service facilities, non-motorized vehicle access method, operating supporting facilities), and deports. Six evaluating indexes are established under these four categories and multiple-factor weighted average method is employed. The standard values are created based on expert input method. Finally, the evaluating method applied to evaluate the Changzhou BRT system.