Synergies of Bus Rapid Transit and High-Occupancy Toll Lanes: Simulation of Bus Rapid Transit in Congested Corridor with Roadway Value Pricing

Abstract

The costs and benefits of integrating two major areas of urban transportation enhancement—high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes and bus rapid transit (BRT)—are explored. The goal is to assess a synergistic strategy of providing premium public transit services in conjunction with roadway pricing strategies. The use of BRT is specifically addressed in the context of a congested urban travel corridor with roadway value pricing. A simple simulation is used to determine those circumstances in which BRT might be an effective element of a multimodal value-pricing corridor strategy. The model used is a variation of SMITE (Spreadsheet Model for Induced Travel Estimation) extended to include managed lanes developed previously by DeCorla-Souza at FHWA. The analysis simulated some alternatives differing from those included in the original DeCorla-Souza assessment of options for the Capital Beltway in Northern Virginia. This is currently a 14-mi-long, 8-lane freeway with no restricted lanes. Seven alternatives are examined. Six of the alternatives place an additional lane in each direction, for a total of 10 lanes. The seventh alternative takes a lane in each direction to provide a special-purpose lane in each direction. The findings suggest that both roadway pricing and BRT compare favorably with toll-free facilities and conventional transit. Taking a lane for a combined HOT facility with BRT might be particularly cost-effective in select locations.