Understanding the Development of BRT in China

As Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems are in the process of being planed and constructed in cities of China, there have been diverse understanding of the systems. Since the construction as well as the operations of BRT is an overall challenge to traditional understanding, the paper proposes some ideas regarding the distribution standards of urban space and road resources, the collection of fees according to the use of urban roads, and the transportation infrastructure will not be implemented only for auto traffic in the future. The paper also identifies the characteristics and roles of BRT, in other words, the BRT system is a rapid transit mode integrated with high capacity buses and dedicated right-of-way, it's similar to rail transit with mass capacity, swiftness and safety, moreover, short construction period, cheaper construction and operation costs are also some of the advantages. The development of BRT systems with a high priority is a system project, of the most important is to improve the finance policy, public funding must be the main resource of BRT system, besides, the right-of-way allocation must prefer the BRT systems. Only with all the above issues made clear, will the misunderstanding be avoided.