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GART has been working on the High Level Bus Service concept for several years
now, giving elected officials examples of foreign systems, particularly that of Curitiba,
in Brazil. In September 2003, GART organised a day of talks on this subject with foreign
participants who had come from London, Dublin, Bologna, and Switzerland, and
also the organising authorities of Dijon, Lorient, Lyon, Rouen, who, in France, are pioneers
in this field.
The idea progressively gained favour and more and more actors took an interest in this
reserved-lane system involving efficient bus operation and involving investments and
operating costs per kilometre that are lower that those for trams, but offering the same
“structuring” qualities for networks.
The High Level Bus Service concept is based firstly on service quality, which users of
public transportation evaluate based on regularity, frequency, and rapidity, all essential
elements in the efficiency of transportation systems. For us, the BHLS is not a
tram substitute: it is a type of reserved-lane public transportation that is appropriate in
its own way.
The Ile-de-France led the way with the Evry reserved-lane system, reserved lanes for
the 183 bus, then the Trans Val-de-Marne. More recently, the Mobilien network of the
Urban Transportation Plan revamped this concept, focusing more on service quality
than on infrastructure.
Beyond the Ile-de-France, Dijon has been a pioneering city in this regard. More recently,
Rouen opted for optical guidance, allowing for accurate and systematic docking:
it was developed initially for the CIVIS, but was easily transposed to normal
buses. The urban integration of this RLPT was done with particular care. The example
of Rouen is very well-known, even abroad, and has become a model. The system was
very well received by the population, and the process demonstrated that the public’s
expectation was less an issue of infrastructure and type of equipment and more one of
supply and coherence of the transport system. Lorient, a city often cited as a pioneer in
transportation management, also undertook an ambitious urbanisation project based on
an efficient reserved-lane bus network.
The stopping of Government subsidies to organising authorities for the development
of their RLPT stimulated interest in the BHLS, as local authorities sought efficient
solutions that were less expensive than a tram, or which could foreshadow the building
of a tram line with larger capacity at a later stage.
We should be happy about the emergence of a French-style BHLS, if only because it
marks the return of an idea that was born in our country and went on – as is often the
case – to enjoy great success elsewhere before being adopted here. It shows that RLPT
is part of a whole range, metro, tram, BHLS, and that the image of buses or trolleybuses
can be revamped with developments to make them efficient, with real reserved
lanes. This type of RLPT could also be of interest to the smallest urban areas.
The task of the working group brought together by CERTU with initial support from
GART, revealed that, beyond mere fashions, there is a real need to establish transportation
systems that are efficient as a whole. Thus the BHLS is less an issue of vehicle
Certu - October 2005 5