Brazil, the pioneer of BRT, is investing US$7.33 billion in Recife’s BRT. Photo by Fotoparceiros.

Welcome back to TheCityFix Picks, our series highlighting the newsy and noteworthy of the past week. Every week, we’ll run down the headlines falling under TheCityFix’s five themes: integrated transport, urban development and accessibility, air quality and climate change, health and road safety, and communications and marketing.

Mexico City won the 2013 Sustainable Transport Award for opening yet another line of its BRT system, Metrobus Linea 4 and for its commitment to creating more urban public space. The award, which is co-sponsored by EMBARQ, the producer of this blog, is given to cities that take bold strides in sustainable transport and urban redevelopment. Rio De Janeiro was a runner up to the 2013 prize and was nominated for opening first line of its BRT sytstem, Transoeste.

A local transportation advocate in Washington, D.C. has created a multi-modal Google based mashup map that combines mobility options – walking, driving, cycling and transit- into a single trip plan, allowing users to compare modes, routes and time saving opportunities.

The Northeastern Brazillian state of Pernambuco has begun a US$7.33 billion bidding program to create a 391 line BRT system for the state capital region (Recife). Bids for what will be a minimum of five “lots” of the project are due by April and represent between 342 and 498 individual transit vehicles. Recife is slated to be a 2014 World Cup host city.

Across the Atlantic, delays in implementing the latest phase of Rea Vaya, Johannesburg’s BRT system, may cost the City of Johannesburg millions of rand in manufacturers’ fees due to lagging acquisitions. The first phase, which is in operation and began construction in 2009, cost the City R391 million (US$ 43.3 million) in fees due to similarly delayed system roll out.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood committed $25 million for a streetcar project to run through the economically distressed heart of downtown Detroit. The remaining projected $140 million in construction costs are subject to fundraising between public private partnerships, to be funded by businesses seeking to attract workers downtown.

The Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai, which oversees all mass transit in the UAE megacity, has reported a 367 million trip count count across taxi, bus, Metro and aquatic public transport in 2012, a jump of 21 million rides, and 37,000 passengers.

Texas entrepreneur Michael McDaniel has proposed an aerial gondola transport system for Austin, Texas, which his firm is marketing as a cheap alternative to subways and light rail systems. Aerial tramways, such as those in Bogotá, Cape Town or Medellin, function as both tourist attractions and essential transport modes that McDaniel bills as an alternative for “medium-sized cities that don’t have the tax base to support such large civic projects like subway systems.” We interviewed McDaniel for this publication in 2012.

A report has found that the average rent for a Manhattan apartment is $3,973, costing $2,800 more than the U.S. national average, while selling prices for housing in New York’s most densely populated settlement was $1.46 million, compared to $230,000 nationally.  Conversely, the Center for Housing Policy dubbed New York City one of the most affordable cities in the United States after accounting for transportation costs.

Activists in India have taken to the streets and to twitter to give voice to the massive public safety problems women face in India, in light of the murder of a university student in Delhi last month on a public bus. The campaign, known by its twitter hashtag, #SafeCityPledge, calls on the public to do what would otherwise would be banal activities – walking alone, use public transport, or loiter in public spaces – if not for the systemic harassment of women in public.

An advocacy group in Pittsburgh is calling for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to better fund mass transit in Pennsylvania’s second largest metropolitan area. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett is expected to announce a $3.5 billion annual shortfall in state spending to maintain basic transport infrastructure, including public transit. The Port Authority of Allegheny County, the primary public transit provider for Pittsburgh, narrowly avoided a 35% cut in service this past September.

Welcome back to TheCityFix Picks, our series highlighting the newsy and noteworthy of the past week. Every week, we’ll run down the headlines falling under TheCityFix’s five themes: integrated transport, urban development and accessibility, air quality and climate change, health and road safety, and communications and marketing.

One million visitors descended upon San Francisco -a city of about 805,000 people- for “event-ageddon”, a compendium of a military events, the Italian Heritage Parade and ball games, and packed public transit and largely avoided driving into the 2nd most densely populated city in America.

Washington D.C.’s cycle-hire service, Capital Bikeshare, released the results of its annual ridership survey, indicating that riders reduce motorized travel by nearly 5 million miles per year on the District’s roads and save about $819 in personal travel costs. While the number of long-term Bikeshare members is robust at 18,000 riders for the two year old service, only 3-percent of members identify themselves as African American in a city where over 50-percent of the population identifies as such.

The provincial government of South Africa’s Gauteng province, home to Johannesburg, has vowed to invest R10.3 billion (about US$1.16 billion) in expanding the existing Johannesburg BRT, Rea Vaya. The expansion, which would also reach the surrounding cities of Ekurhuleni and Pretoria, is coupled with efforts to spur job creation in South Africa’s largest economy, which regularly registers a 25-percent unemployment rate.

In the wake of several American jurisdictions removing red-light cameras, devices that record license plate data of  drivers who illegally pass through red lights, a study has found a 300-percent increase in the dangerous crossings. Nearly 700 fatalities are recorded annually in the United States.

Red light technology in Long Beach, California has been used to increase corridor safety. The City’s transport authority has coordinated signals along a dangerous stretch of Wardlow Road to increase red light frequency, effectively curbing speeds of traffic dynamically and slowing down speeding drivers.

Delhi, whose BRT network has been recently challenged in regional courts, is considering an elevated 9.7-kilometer (about 6 miles) dedicated right of way that would connect an existing bus terminal to the capital’s metro rail system. The corridor is expected to draw 154,000 daily riders by 2016.

Downtown Los Angeles closed off its streets to cars and attracted 100,000 cyclists for CicLAvia, Los Angeles’ rendition of ciclovía, the weekly pedestrian and cycling celebration pioneered by Bogotá. This weekend’s CicLAvia  expanded the 5 hour surge of cyclists to new neighborhoods reaching from East LA to Hollywood with plans to expand further with increased political will and public participation.

Public transport ridership continues to slide in Brisbane, Australia, as 300,000 less trips were taken in the past fiscal year. The loss comes at a hard time for transit in Brisbane as the city has seen its third fare increase in three years, Aus$18 million (about US$18.4 million) in fare evasion and campaign commitments being strained by a promised 7.5-percent annual fare increase.

HM Shivanand Swamy, the designer of the Ahmedabad BRT System, Janmarg, has recommended a modified BRT technology calling for smaller buses and narrower rights of way to the the Union Urban Development Ministry of India. The “mini BRT” systems are being recommended for Tier II cities, those which have a population between 50,000 to 99,999.

INSW, the transportation infrastructure authority for the Province of New South Wales  has officially supplanted a light rail corridor with an underground BRT corridor to relieve congestion on Downtown Sydney. The Aus$2 billion (about US$2.04 billion) project reccomendation found that light rail in the central business district would actually increase traffic congestion.

Two weeks before Cape Town was set to launch an integrated public transport authority, City Officials have gained support from the region’s cab drivers. Samta, the regional taxi association, is pleased with their inclusion in the City’s Integrated Rapid Transit plan, which is set to create a unified ticket transport system, from rail to roads, by 2018.

As U.S. unemployment dipped below 8-percent for the first time in 3 years, 17,000 jobs were added to the transportation sector, chiefly in trucking and rail.

The first-ever ciclovía in Trujillo, Peru. Photo by EMBARQ Andino.

Trujillo, the third largest city in Peru, held its first-ever ciclovía on Sunday, as a result of a partnership between the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA), the National Government of Peru and EMBARQ Andino. This urban car-free event, which literally translates to “bike path,” closed down urban roads to make way for pedestrians and cyclists—with music, hydration, reading and health stations—in an effort to encourage healthy and active lifestyles.

In response to the U.N.’s Decade of Action for Road Safety, the Peruvian government approved a national policy for 249 municipalities to identify road safety risk zones, as well as provide financial incentive for cities to engage in ciclovía events. For six hours this past Sunday, the ciclovía closed down two kilometers of road to cars, along Avenidas Antenor Orrego, America Oeste and Juan Pablo II, surrounding the National University in the urban core of Trujillo. In a country where 78 percent of those who die in road crashes are pedestrians, closing these roads brings a new view of road safety to pedestrians.

The De Ñigue family hitting the pavement, enjoying the “safe and calm” streets of ciclovía. Photo by EMBARQ Andino.

“The ciclovía was a very good idea”

Sybil Settlemyre and Salomon Chavez of EMBARQ Andino were on the ground celebrating with national and local officials, acommpanined by BMX bikers, casual cyclists and pedestrians. Settlemyre chatted with local Trujillanos Eleuteria Vega de Ñique, along with her son Ángel David, about the event.

“The ciclovía was a very good idea of the municipality because you can feel that it is a safe, calm and large enough space to enjoy with my son,” De Ñigue said. Public space is at a premium in urban centers, and as ciclovias sprout around  the globe from Brussels to Los Angeles, De Ñigue believes Trujillo’s will continue to grow. “People are spreading the word, and little by little, each time, more people will come.”

The Trujillo ciclovía is part of a growing international trend of new urbanism and taking back city streets from cars. Later this fall, come celebrate the newest ciclovía in South Africa, as Johannesburg plans to launch its inaugural walking-cycling street fair this September.

Is this the bus of the future? Photo via Superbus Project.

Welcome back to TheCityFix Picks, our series highlighting the newsy and noteworthy of the past week. Each Friday, we’ll run down the headlines falling under TheCityFix’s five themes: mobility, quality of life, environment, public space, and technology and innovation.

Mobility

A delegation of New York City officials, including Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, was impressed by a recent visit of Johannesburg’s Rea Vaya bus rapid transit (BRT) system. “Rea Vaya is an extraordinary example of good planning and effective implementation,” said Amanda Burden, the chair of the New York City Planning Commission.

Meanwhile in the Big Apple, there was much debate about NYCDOT’s plans to redesign the crosstown 34th Street thoroughfare with bus-only lanes and more pedestrian plazas.

The Chicago Department of Transportation announced the results of the first-ever bicycle count study conducted in Chicago. The verdict? Thousands of people ride bicycles every day at 26 locations throughout the city. The information will be used to help future bicycle promotion strategies and infrastructure improvements.

Students from four universities—American University in Dubai, Zayed University, Dubai Men’s College and Dubai Women’s College—are gathering ideas for sustainable public transport to present during the 59th UITP World Congress & Exhibition in Dubai on April 10-14.

Quality of Life

Richard J. Jackson, professor and chair of environmental health science at the UCLA School of Public Health, explains why the U.S. federal transportation bill is a health care bill.

Residents in Ann Arbor, Mich. formed a “bike choir,” singing songs like “Mass Ride,” “Thoughtless Drivers,” “Two-Wheel Tango,” “Way-O,” and “Bicyclized Ode to Joy.”

Campaign for Better Transport, a U.K.-based advocacy group, launched the “Save Our Buses” national campaign to protect local bus services, which are facing drastic budget cuts.

Environment

The Scottish government launched a new “carbon calculator” for local authorities to monitor and manage their sustainable transport plans.

Ford Motor Co. expects greater demand for fuel-efficient vehicles as gas prices continue to rise.

China’s legislature voted to adopt a new tax based on engine size to encourage the use of smaller engines to reduce pollution and oil dependence.

Public Space

Chennai, India will soon have three more skywalks, or elevated pedestrian paths, as suggested by the Chennai Comprehensive Transportation Study.

In notoriously car-centric Los Angeles, city officials approved a “bicycle master plan” that sets a long-term goal of creating about 1,680 miles of interconnected bikeways, with 200 miles of new bike paths added every five years.

A new competition, “Network Reset: Rethinking the Chicago Emerald Necklace,” asks architects and other designers to envision a new boulevard system, including streets, parks and other public spaces, for Chicago.

Technology & Innovation

This weekend, hundreds of self-professed “transit nerds” will descend on New York City for Transportation Camp, a two-day “unconference” about transportation and technology.

A Dutch design team is set to spotlight “The Superbus” at  next month’s  Commercial Vehicles Conference in Dubai. The 23-passenger bus is designed to travel up to 250 kilometers per hour on a dedicated “speed track” between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Masdar, the clean energy company, is conducting a pilot project with Mitsubishi to test a fleet of 10 Mitsubishi electric vehicles, known as i-MiEVs, in Masdar City, a planned city in Abu Dhabi.

Carmaker Renault unveiled its latest electric vehicle, the Kangoo Maxi ZE van, while BMW launched a new “‘sustainable mobility’” brand of electric cars, called BMW i, which is also sponsoring MyCityWay, a location-aware mobile app and city guide.

Guangzhou BRT

Photo by Benjamin.

Guangzhou’s new BRT system launched in February, becoming “a system of firsts:” the first BRT to directly connect to a metro system, the first BRT system in China to include bike parking in its station design, the world’s highest number of passenger boardings at BRT stations, highest BRT bus frequency, and longest BRT stations. The system includes 980 buses stopping at 26 stations along 23 kilometers of dedicated bus lanes. Current ridership is about 800,000 daily passengers—more than triple the number of passengers of any other BRT line in Asia. It is a strong contender for this year’s Sustainable Transport Awards. Check out more photos here.

Tehran BRT

Photo by Iroony.

Tehran, Iran expanded its metro system and its BRT system, making it one of this year’s nominees for the Sustainable Transport Awards. Today, the Tehran Metro boasts ridership of about 4 million people. And while the BRT lanes expand, city officials race to fulfill a program to have total public transit miles exceed 400 kilometers by 2020.

Transmetro

Photo via transmetro.gov.co

The Colombian city of Barranquilla opened the Transmetro bus system in April. Following the mega success of TransMilenio in Bogotá (which celebrates its 10-year anniversary this month), Transmetro includes key features of a successful BRT system, such as exclusive lanes, at-level boarding from stations and feeder buses. The system has improved mobility in Colombia’s fourth largest city and moves more than 200,000 riders per day. Elsewhere in the country, the city of Bucaramanga also opened its Metrolinea BRT system plus feeder services.

Capital Bikeshare

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

To increase use of 50 miles of bike lanes in Washington, D.C.,  the District Department of Transportation began operations of Capital Bikeshare, the largest regional bike sharing system in the United States with 1,100 bikes at more than 100 stations in the District and Arlington. Ridership on CaBi, even in the winter months, continues to grow and there are plans to add 20 stations and 200 more bikes in the next year. The sleek new system succeeds the capital’s pilot Smartbike program, which will cease operations as of January 3.

Ecobici

Photo by MikeD.

In February, Mexico City released 1,000 bikes at 85 stations for public use downtown. Within seven months, the system already had more than 10,000 members and went ahead with expansion plans in the historic district of the city.  Pending continued growth in ridership, Ecobici may expand to other areas of the city, with an eventual estimated total of 6,000 bikes.

Barclays Cyclehire

Photo by EG Focus.

With the massive success of bike sharing systems in other parts of Europe and the world, London took the big dive and launched its own system of 5,000 bicycles and 315 docking stations. Public reception has been so positive that a portion of the system crashed due to high demand when it was officially made “public”  by opening up to non-members. With more than a million rides in the first 10 weeks of operation, London announced that Barclays Cyclehire will expand with an additional 2,000 bikes and 4,200 docking points.

Dubai Metro

Photo by Nepenthes.

The Dubai Metro opened in late 2009 and now carries 140,000 passengers per day, though officials expect ridership to increase to 170,000 daily passengers by the end of this year. This is good news for the Roads and Transport Authority, which aims to have 30 percent of the population using public transportation by 2020. When the Green Line is completed next summer, the Dubai Metro will claim to be the longest fully automated metro network in the world, taking the title away from the Vancouver Skytrain.

Dallas Green Line

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) opened its electric light rail Green Line just a few weeks ago. The $1.8 billion line, with 15 new stations, runs from from southeastern Dallas to Carrollton, ushering in “a new era” for notoriously car-centric Texas, according to The Dallas Morning News. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood applauded the system for being delivered ahead of schedule and on budget. He also pointed out that the Green Line’s launch was the longest single-day opening of electric light rail in the United States since 1990.

El Metropolitano

Photo by Jim McIntosh.

After four years of construction, Lima’s BRT system El Metropolitano began operations in July with 38 stations along an initial 33-kilometer route. The system includes exclusive lanes, elevated stations, and smart traffic light technology to serve the Peruvian capital of nearly eight million.

Optibus

Photo by CTS-México.

Leon, Mexico, a city of 1.3 million people, launched the second phase of its Integrated Transport System (ITS) in August. The system’s operations were optimized with 10 new stations and 5 additional kilometers of bus-only lanes, plus 29 new high-quality articulated buses. Now, 69 out of 100 public bus routes are physically integrated with the city’s Optibus BRT system, representing about 70% of the city’s public transport trips. As a result of its continued progress and commitment to sustainable transport, the city has been nominated for the Sustainable Transport Awards.

Gautrain

Photo by Henti Smith.

Africa’s first high-speed rail line, Gautrain, launched in June, three days before the World Cup, linking Pretoria to Johannesburg in South Africa. The train network will cover 80 kilometers once completed and will include two main lines: a north-south line from Hatfield to Marlboro and an east-west line from Park Station to Johannesburg International Airport. City officials got creative with their outreach efforts, hosting a “tweetup” test ride to invite new passengers on board.

Other notable additions or expansions:

• The Delhi Metro expanded from 63 kilometers to 156 kilometers, in time for the Commonwealth Games.
• Denver, Colo. launched B-cycle, the nation’s first large-scale citywide bikesharing system, which was recently demonstrated in San Francisco to support the recent funding of a Regional Bicycle Sharing Pilot Program.
• Jaipur, India re-organized its bus system to increase ridership, reduce travel delays, and improve overall operations.
• Nantes, France extended its bike network and won the title of European Green Capital 2013
• Vancouver, Canada installed a temporary streetcar for the Winter Olympics as a demonstration project and to build support for future downtown transit investment.
• Shanghai Metro expanded, now capable of handling about five million passengers a day and becoming the longest metro system in the world.
• The historic Angel’s Flight funicular railway in downtown Los Angeles reopened this year after being closed for a decade.
• The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) unveiled its first second bus line with elements of bus rapid transit (BRT). The express bus, the Bx12 line, runs east to west across the Bronx with limited stops. The express bus, the M15 Select Bus Service, runs north to south across Manhattan with limited stops.
• China opened the world’s fastest rail line, at 350 kilometers per hour, between Wuhan and Guangzhou.

Erik Weber and Dario Hidalgo contributed to this post.

Johannesburg provided spectators with a variety of transport connections to each stadium. Image from City of Johannesburg.

During a recent trip to South Africa, I found Johannesburg polished and looking its best for the World Cup, and the match day transport services were well-planned and efficient.

While this was my first World Cup, I did attend the FIFA Confederations Cup at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park last year and felt that poorly organized transport detracted from an otherwise enjoyable event. The dress rehearsal was clearly useful, as the city managed to provide well-organized transport this time around for the World Cup.

No parking was provided for private vehicles at Soccer City or Ellis Park stadium, and despite a limited existing public transport system, Johannesburg provided fans with a variety of match day transport options.

Central to the transport scheme were two intermodal transport hubs – the Westgate hub downtown and the Sandton hub about 7.5 miles north of downtown. The match day transport services included:

• Park & Walk – park near the stadium and walk along a designated route; prepaid ticket R50 ($7) per car
• Park & Ride – park and catch a shuttle bus to the stadium; prepaid ticket R50 ($7) per car
• Rea Vaya BRT – BRT trunk route between Soweto and downtown services both stadiums; R12 ($1.50) round-trip
• Metrorail – commuter rail servicing both stadiums; free with a match ticket
• Gautrain – high speed rail service between OR Tambo International airport and Sandton; feeder buses R11 ($1.50) and train R100 ($13) each way
• Sandton Bus Shuttle – a shuttle bus service between Sandton and the Westgate transport hub downtown; R40 return or R50 for a return ticket plus Rea Vaya BRT connection to stadium
• Airport Shuttles—shuttle buses transport passengers from OR Tambo international airport to Westgate Transport Hub, and from regional Lanseria airport to the Sandton hub

Useful maps were developed, just not readily available. A consolidated trip planning website could have helped spectators plan their match day transport.

According to Joburg’s 2010 Office, about 25% of the city’s 487,700 World Cup spectators used Park & Ride, 30% used Park & Walk, 20% used Metrorail and more than 25% relied on Rea Vaya BRT. Clearing the stadiums after the matches took less than 2 hours.

To get to five games, three at Soccer City and two at Ellis Park, I used Park & Walk, Park & Ride and Rea Vaya BRT services. And on a separate occasion I rode Gautrain to the airport. Overall each of the different transport options worked smoothly and efficiently.

Park & Walk

I used the Soccer City stadium Park & Walk for one afternoon game. Spectators walking to the stadium were able to soak in the festival atmosphere with other costumed fans tooting their vuvuzelas, and purchase food and souvenirs from local vendors outside the official FIFA sponsor zone. However, it was a long 2-kilometer walk and I waited nearly 30 minutes in a queue of cars trying to leave the parking lot through the only exit.

Park & Ride

I used the Wits University Park & Ride twice to Ellis Park and once from Soccer City. This was dramatically improved over the crowded and disorganized Confed Cup Wits Park & Ride. Since parking tickets had to be purchased in advance this year, the volume of cars didn’t exceed the capacity of the facility. Passengers boarded three double-decker buses simultaneously, so wait times and people’s frustrations were minimized. On the way home, bus pick-up points were clearly signed, and queue marshals and channeled fencing help manage the crowds. One night I did wait 30 minutes to board a bus in 3°C temperatures, but fans joyfully played their vuvuzelas and broke out in verses of Shosholoza.

Rea Vaya BRT bus departing the Soccer City station in front of the stadium. Photo by Aileen Carrigan，

Rea Vaya BRT

Starting four hours before kickoff, the BRT trunk service carried spectators to each stadium.  The BRT was also used in conjunction with two park & ride facilities – a “park & BRT” service, really. One advantage of using Rea Vaya was that it dropped people off so close to the stadiums.  From the Westgate Transport Hub , BRT dropped spectators off at the main pedestrian promenade on the south side of Soccer City. From the Constitution Hill park & ride, I caught BRT to the Soccer City station in the middle of the Soweto Highway north of the stadium. An impressive new pedestrian access tunnel under the Soweto Highway allows fans to move quickly from the BRT station to the stadium entrance.

The travel time from Constitution Hill to Soccer City (12 kilometers partly in mixed traffic) was about 15 minutes, and 10 minutes from the Westgate Transport Hub (8 kilometers in dedicated bus lane). The Rea Vaya stations were well staffed with helpful volunteers and there were clear directions between the stadiums and BRT stations. We did wait about 20 minutes to board a BRT bus at Soccer City one night, and one source of delay was the fans crossing the busway to get to the BRT station or to walk to the park & ride and park & walk facilities.

Gautrain, Gauteng province’s new high speed train, carries passengers from Sandton to OR Tambo International Airport at top speed of 160km/hr. Photo by Aileen Carrigan.

Gautrain

While I didn’t use Gautrain on a match day, I did ride the high-speed train between Sandton and the airport on another occasion. And it didn’t disappoint! Driving to the airport from one of Johannesburg’s northern suburbs during morning rush hour could easily take an hour or more. Instead, I drove 20 minutes and parked at the Sandton station. About 16 minutes after boarding, I disembarked inside the airport terminal.

The fare from Sandton to the airport is R100 ($13) each way. Parking costs about R29 ($3.80) for each of the first two days, and R97.50 ($12.70) for each day thereafter. So, I spent nearly $60 for the convenience and comfort of the train. On the other hand, four days in airport long term parking would have only cost $18 but I’d have the stress and uncertainty of driving in rush hour traffic. If I traveled frequently for business, I would probably pay extra for the Gautrain. Eventually, if the feeder bus network expands, saving the parking fee and spending R20 ($2.60) to catch a feeder bus to the Sandton station will be a more affordable option.

Again, there were lots of helpful staff in the Gautrain stations and on the trains. However, the delightfully first-world experience was tarnished by terribly long lines at the ticketing machines and the low-throughput turnstiles. Still, the system was well-used (too well-used, even) and very convenient.

In all, Johannesburg provided spectators ample transport opportunities to each stadium. For a city with limited public transport service, their match day transport was well planned and efficient. A highlight of my World Cup experience, for sure.