The Experience of Developing Bus Rapid Transit in China Mainland

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is an emerging public transit service in China. At present, 15 BRT routes are operating in 8 Chinese cities since the first BRT route opened in Beijing in December 2004. This paper describes the present status of Chinese BRT development including information of BRT cities and BRT systems, BRT route locations and roles, BRT facilities, and operation features. The major planning issues related to the existing BRT systems are further analyzed and conclusions are finally drawn to provide reference for future BRT system planning and operations, as well as existing BRT system improvement.