Bus Lanes/Bus Rapid Transit Systems on Highways: Review of the Literature

This report documents a review of the literature illustrated by examples of bus rapid transit systems practice implemented on conventional highways. By conventional highways we mean arterials, freeways and busways, which are frequently referred to, respectively, as on-street and off-street bus service options. On-street bus facilities have widespread applicability because of their relatively low costs, ease of implementation, and opportunities for incremental deployment. For on-street facilities, numerous implementation options exist depending on the placement of the bus lane (curb or median), direction of flow (normal or contra-flow), mix of traffic (buses only (dedicated bus lanes), buses and taxis, buses and goods delivery vehicles, or mixed traffic flow with automobiles), and traffic controls (turn controls, parking, loading and unloading of commercial motor vehicles, and signalization). Off-street bus rapid transit running ways, however, require higher investments in land and construction, and which commonly take the form of special bus roadways that vary by type of construction (above grade, at grade, below grade), direction of flow (concurrent or contra-flow), and treatment of stations (on- or off-line).