Research: Priority bus corridors can bypass congestion, improve pedestrian and cyclist safety on roadways

To bypass traffic congestion in urban centers and navigate around the many different users on roadways—from passenger cars to delivery trucks, motorcycles, scooters and pedestrians—administrators turn to high-priority bus corridor projects. They can improve transit times for less than other transportation solutions, and with careful planning, they can also improve safety infrastructure, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Transportation Cooperative Research Program.

“A bus rapid transit (BRT) or high-priority transit project provides an opportunity to address nonexistent and substandard pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, potentially improving the health and safety of transit users as well as others on the route,” reads the report, “Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety in Bus Rapid Transit and High-Priority Bus Corridors.” Along with a literature review, the report summarizes best practices for improving corridors and puts forward seven case studies from Arlington County, Va., Austin, Tx., Fort Collins, Colo., Minneapolis, Minn., New York City, N.Y., San Francisco, Calif., and St. Petersburg, Fla.

Rapid corridors are especially helpful when built in low-income communities and communities of color, which usually don’t have adequate pedestrian features along dense streets where storefronts, housing, commerce and transportation facilities are housed. While the rapid-transit corridors are intended to speed up buses, designers can build in elements like sidewalks, bike lanes, crosswalks and pedestrian signals. The report stresses that investing in a bus transit system should extend beyond the bus routes and the associated transit infrastructure. It should include the first and last mile.

“High-quality bus transit is not only about designing bus stops and stations that make it easier and more efficient for all ages and abilities to board and alight from buses. It is also about pedestrian and bicyclist accommodations along the bus routes so that passengers and others can move to and from bus stops as safely as possible,” the report says. “When done effectively, providing high quality transit, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure addresses issues such as affordability, public health, equity, mobility, and accessibility.”

In order to make the most of the opportunity, transportation agencies need to coordinate with stakeholders early in the design process, and continue communicating regularly until it’s complete. Each project requires unique design elements to ensure pedestrian and cyclist safety, so bringing everyone to the same table to weigh in on their concerns is important, the report says.

But while each project is unique, safety should be built in holistically from the start. And when evaluating and considering the effectiveness of features, the entire roadway system should be investigated, not just the intersection or street where they’re located.

“Safety infrastructure needs to be implemented in a proactive and systemic way,” the report continues. 

In analyzing the seven case studies, researchers found that specific safety design elements were “almost always” unique to the location. Among other things, like the importance of going beyond ADA compliant accessibility standards, they also found that center-running bus-only lanes had fewer accidents with pedestirans and cyclists involved. 

“The station design must be carefully considered with high-quality crossings for passengers. This design requires the most space and may not be feasible on roadways with constrained right-of-way,” the report says. “Trade-offs are to be expected because roadways often serve many purposes—multiple modes of travel, access to/from businesses, and on-street parking to name a few. It is important to establish project goals and prioritize modes or uses early in the process for smoother decision making.”