BRT TOD: Leveraging transit oriented development with bus rapid transit investments

Bus rapid transit (BRT) systems have gained prominence worldwide as a cost-effective alternative to urban rail investments. However, some question the city-shaping potential of BRT, in part due to a belief it delivers fewer regional accessibility benefits than rail, but also to the social stigma some assign to bus-based forms of mass mobility. Notwithstanding the successes of cities like Curitiba and Ottawa at integrating BRT and land development (Cervero, 1998. The Transit Metropolis: A Global Inquiry, Island Press, Washington, D.C.), doubt remains over BRT’s ability to promote less car-dependent, more sustainable patterns of urban growth in rapidly motorizing and suburbanizing cities.