Buses and Boris

In February 2007, former London Mayor Ken Livingstone famously struck a deal with Venezuela to provide cheaper oil for the UK capital's buses. City Hall's new resident, Boris Johnson, may also look to Latin America for inspiration in reforming London's bus network.

Livingstone enjoyed considerable success applying some principles of bus rapid transit (BRT) -- a system pioneered in the Brazilian city of Curitiba -- to London.

• BRT, which is becoming increasingly common in large cities in developing countries, uses articulated buses with several access points and high passenger capacity, operating in dedicated, separated, lanes, often in the middle of wide avenues.
• Passengers alight at stations, which are accessed through turnstiles or ticket barriers that normally require passengers to use electronic payment systems such as smart cards.

BRT successes

BRT has been particularly successful in the Colombian capital, Bogota, whose Transmilenio system has streamlined public transport and ended a deregulated, chaotic and often unsafe bus system.  BRT requires significantly less investment than light rail or metro systems, while the use of dedicated lanes, which are blocked to other vehicles, means that journey times are significantly faster than old-fashioned bus systems. 

Former Mexico City Governor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador chose to construct a BRT system known as Metrobus to run along Mexico City's main north-south thoroughfare, Avenida Insurgentes, rather than expand the capital's metro system. Metrobus has proved cost effective and efficient; construction is underway on an east-west line.  Transmilenio also as been expanded significantly and now has a maximum peak load capacity of some 40,000 passengers per hour. 

Obstacles

BRT systems face a number of potential obstacles:

• Removing at least two traffic lanes can increase congestion, especially on main roads where BRTs are located, such as Avenida Insurgentes. BRT is only viable in its most effective form in cities that have wide, relatively straight thoroughfares, in which dedicated lanes can be partitioned off.  In many major European cities, including London, a relatively old-fashioned urban design, with relatively narrow main roads, makes it unviable.
• Bus travel frequently carries a social stigma, making it necessary to change public attitudes and travel habits. 

Livingstone used articulated buses, gradually introduced a cashless payment system with public subsidy to keep down fares, and had a system of bus lanes on the sides of main roads, with traffic lights giving preference to buses.  To some extent, this was successful.  While buses were still vulnerable to delays in traffic congestion, relatively inexpensive fares made passengers willing to risk inconvenience.  This meant that, in some areas, congestion on the city's metro system, known as the tube, was eased.

Outlook

Further new BRT systems, and expansion of existing networks, are likely.  For example, plans are well developed for a BTR system in the Peruvian capital, Lima, which is to be modelled on Transmilenio.  Most, if not all, of Livingstone's BRT-like initiatives will be retained. While Johnson claims he will reintroduce a modern version of London's famous double-decker Routemaster buses, the investment in vehicles and staff -- not least conductors to collect fares -- means it is not a feasible proposition. 

Nevertheless, BRT will not be a universal solution, and further new and expanded rail systems are also likely.  Indeed, rail systems offer national and local governments a way to garner public support through prestige projects.  For example, the fledgling metro system in Dominican Republic capital, Santo Domingo, has boosted President Leonel Fernandez's re-election hopes, even though it required vast public investment, which will not be recovered through passenger revenues.  By contrast, Lopez Obrador has received little praise for Metrobus, which continues to be questioned by his political opponents.