Comparative Analysis of BRTS and MRTS—An Approach Required for Selection of System

Abstract

As cities grow in size, the vehicular trips on roads increase substantially. This necessitates adopting strategy to debilitate private transit modes and support public transport once the traffic volume level along any transit corridor in one way surpasses 8000 people for every hour. The introduction of a rail based Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) or Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) becomes essential. It has been observed that in developed countries, making arrangements for mass transit system start when population of city surpasses 1 million, and the system is in position when the city population is 2–3 million and once the population exceeds 4 million planned extensions to the MRTS are quickly taken up. Both the mass transit systems are taken into consideration and compared for analyzing the benefits and limitations of the systems. The comparative analysis was done by considering different BRTS and MRTS. In terms of investment, the both systems are very costly. In terms of environmental impact, the MRTS is more effective than BRTS. It was also observed that if Intelligent Transportation System is incorporated the service of both systems may result in enhanced efficiency. It can be stated that the combination of various public transportation systems should be planed during the stages of design considering the integrated approach as a need for good public transportation system