page_title: Bus rapid transit
section_title: Failures and reversals
hierarchical_section_title: Bus rapid transit / Criticism / Failures and reversals
caption_attribution_description: Español: protestas en transmilenio
context_page_description: Bus rapid transit, also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to improve capacity and reliability relative to a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes roadways that are dedicated to buses, and gives priority to buses at intersections where buses may interact with other traffic; alongside design features to reduce delays caused by passengers boarding or leaving buses, or purchasing fares. BRT aims to combine the capacity and speed of a metro with the flexibility, lower cost and simplicity of a bus system.
  The first comprehensive BRT system in the world was the Busway in Runcorn New Town, England which entered service in 1971. As of March 2018, a total of 166 cities in six continents have implemented BRT systems, accounting for 4,906 km of BRT lanes and about 32.2 million passengers every day, of which about 19.6 million passengers ride daily in Latin America, which has the most cities with BRT systems, with 54, led by Brazil with 21 cities. The Latin American countries with the most daily ridership are Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. In the other regions, China and Iran also stand out.
context_section_description: A principal criticism of BRT systems is that they may not accomplish their promise of an efficient, rapid flow of passengers along their dedicated bus lanes. The unpopularity of Delhi's BRT and the increasing riots and spontaneous user demonstrations in Bogotá raise doubts about the ability of BRTs to tackle issues such as the traffic jams induced by dedicated lanes. Overcrowded stations and BRT vehicles may fail to keep pace with increased ridership, and may eventually need to be replaced with high-capacity rail systems.
  The lack of permanence of BRT has also been criticized, with some arguing that BRT systems can be used as an excuse to build roads that others later try to convert for use by non-BRT vehicles. Examples of this can be found in Delhi, where a BRT system was scrapped, and in Aspen, Colorado, where drivers are lobbying the government to allow mixed-use traffic in former BRT lanes as of 2017. Similarly, the Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce has called for bus lanes to be scrapped in certain areas of the city "as an experiment." Bangkok was also making plans to scrap a set of bus-only lanes, as of early 2017. New Orleans ran buses on Canal Street in a dedicated right of way beginning in the 1960s. This style of service was maintained until 2004 when streetcar service was restored on this 4-mile (6.4 km) route segment. This perceived lack of permanence has made BRT lines significantly less attractive to real estate developers than rail lines.
  Experts also attribute the failure of BRT to land use structure. Cities that are sprawled and have no mixed use have poor ridership to make BRT economically viable. In Africa, the African Urban Institute criticized the viability of ongoing BRTs across the continent.
caption: Protests in TransMilenio at the Terreros station, 12 February 2016
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