AN EVALUATION OF THE ROLE OF MEDIUM CAPACITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES : The Brazilian Case

AUTOR(ES)

Nilson Tadeu Ramos Nunes

FONTE

IBICT - Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

199511

RESUMO

Previous work has suggested that an LRT might be more cost-effective than buses for handling medium levels of urban passengers. This research examines this hypothesis, by comparing the social costs of these technologies in the Brazilian context. As a first step, an operating cost model, combining engineering and accounting techniques, was developed. In addition to this, a model to estimate user travel time was also developed. Both models were combined, and a model to estimate the social cost per passenger.km of the alternative technologies was then achieved. The model was applied in two Brazilian corridors, in order to compare the performance of the technologies. The comparison was based on the average cost per passenger.km of the technologies in the long term, assuming both mixed and segregated traffic conditions. The results obtained suggest that a standard bus system provides an urban service with lower average cost per passenger.km than an LRT up to the level of around 30,000 passengers per hour per direction (pphd). The best performance was from the articulated bus service, which may provide lower average cost than LRT at even higher demand levels. A zone where a trade-off between the features of standard buses and LRT is most likely to occur, was identified as been between 25,000 and 30,000 pphd. Within this zone, a trade-off between a subsidy for LRT operations and user travel costs would happen, depending on the government policy for public transport in the area. Overall, the main findings suggest that an LRT could operate with lower average costs per passenger.km than buses, under very special circumstances. As for the main conclusion, this study suggests that an LRT cannot be taken as a general solution for public transport issues in developing countries, since other cheaper alternatives such as busways might be available.

ASSUNTO(S)

engenharia de transportes light rail transit -lrt logística de transporte armazenagem e comunicações medium capacity transport systems desenvolvimento urbano transporte sustentável

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