Comparing Chinese and Non-Chinese Bus Rapid Transit Systems: Evidence from Evaluating Global Systems on the Basis of Bus Rapid Transit Design Indicators

In the past decade, bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors have been added in China at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world. As the number of BRT systems in Chinese cities continues to increase, it is critical to identify the key factors that influence the operation performance and service quality of these systems. In this paper, the design of BRT systems in China is compared with that of non-Chinese cities with a ranking system based on the set of indicators from the BRT Standard (2013 and 2014 editions), which were developed by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. The database included experts’ assessments of more than 99 BRT corridors in 59 cities and 21 countries and was available online. To identify strengths and opportunities to improve the Chinese BRT systems, the analysis of variance method was used to test whether the BRT score differences between the Chinese BRT and non-Chinese BRT systems were statistically significant. Results showed that, on average, BRT systems in Chinese cities scored significantly lower than those in other countries. This finding can be explained by the low scores of Chinese systems in design indicator categories such as integration and access, a category that evaluates the level of integration with other modes of transportation, pedestrian access and universal accessibility, and infrastructure, which measures bus station design features.