#BRT Case Studies# BRT in Curitiba

BRT, Bus Rapid Transit came into the city of Curitiba in Brazil in 1974. It was introduced by his mayor, architects Jaime Lerner and it became the first BRT in the world. The system aims to provide high quality bus service to public with relatively low built cost compared to rail system. Since that, Curitiba's BRT success inspired the similar plans in more than 100 cities around the world. including other Brazilian cities, such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Manaus, Goiânia, Aracaju, Salvador, Recife, and Brasília.

BRT also helps Curitiba with TOD(Transportation Oriented Development). Curitiba grows by integrating urban transportation, land-use development and environmental preservation. After 25 years development, the BRT in Curitiba has been upgraded to an advanced system with at-level boarding, electronic fare ticketing, bi-articulated buses and user information system. 

The features of BRT in Curitiba are:

• "  median busways longitudinally segregated.
  
•   tube stations with fare prepayment and level access.
  
•   physical and fare integration among diverse services (mid points and terminal stations).
  
•   dispatch control at terminal stations.
  
•   differentiated services:
  

o express radial routes (expresso) and accelerated radial routes with limited stops (ligeirão), in the median busways, using large capacity bi-articulated buses.
o direct radial routes (ligeirinho) in the fast streets of the trinary system, with integration at terminals and mid-point stations along the structural axles, using articulated and conventional buses.
o inter-neighborhood circumferential routes (interbairros), integrated with the radial routes (express and direct) at terminals and mid-point stations. Bus size according to the demand includes articulated and conventional buses.
o feeder services (alimentador) connecting local neighborhoods to the radial and circumferential routes at terminals and mid-point stations, using articulated and conventional buses according to the demand.
o downtown circulator using small buses.
o special services for students, hospitals and tourists. "

o centralized fare collection, using off-board ticketing at tube stations and terminals, and on-board ticketing for feeder and inter-terminal services. An electronic fare collection system, introduced in 2002, replaced a coin based system used since the early 1980s.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_rapid_transit_in_Brazil
http://www.sibrtonline.org/downloads/built-environment-curitiba-oct19-4db0b5ac230da.pdf