NTRAC Final Study - Nebraska Department of Roads - State of ...

CHAPTER 4 – TECHNOLOGY OPITONS
Site-specific requirements: Both grade-separated and at-grade location of lines, as well as
exclusive and surface operation are feasible; however, reserved lanes and preemption/prioritization
of traffic lights are necessary to ensure high levels of service
reliability when operating within street rights-of-way. Low level platforms compatible
with sidewalks and streetscapes are feasible.
Technical maturity: Modern bus rapid transit is an outgrowth of decades of continuous
development.
Ubiquitous and interchangeable: Vehicles and support systems are competitively available
from numerous suppliers.
Buses are typically articulated, about 18 m long by 2.6 m wide, with about 70 seats and a
total seated and standing capacity of about 110 (64 percent seated).
Initially, a system running an articulated bus every 3 minutes would offer 1,400 PHPD
seats, with a comfortable seated and standing PHPD load on the order of 1,800 passengers
(90/bus). Reserve capacity to accommodate a PHPD load of up to 2,200 riders (110/bus)
at the peak load point could be achieved before adding buses and shortening the headway.
On a busway with one- or two-bus pullouts at stations, practical operating headways can be
as short as one minute, yielding an "ultimate" capacity of about 6,000 PHPD riders. If
more elaborate multiple-bay stations are provided, and/or if some or all buses run non-stop,
a busway can accommodate up to 20,000 PHPD passengers.
Light Rail Transit
Light rail transit (LRT) is a rail transit technology capable of providing a broad range of
passenger capacities. Modern electric rail vehicles operate singly or in short trains. Taking
power from an overhead wire, they can run on either exclusive or shared rights-of-way with or
without grade crossings, or occasionally in mixed traffic lanes on city streets. LRT could be
considered the modern day equivalent of the former interurban railways that operated between
Lincoln and Omaha over 60-years ago.
Locational flexibility is the primary defining attribute separating LRT from other rail modes
(synonym for “technology”). Tracks can be laid in any of three generic right-of-way (R/W)
categories:
Category A - Fully controlled R/W: grade separated (aerial, fill, cut, tunnel) or at grade
with no crossings, or widely-spaced crossings with signal override and gate protection.
Light rail vehicles (LRV's) operate as rapid transit trains.
Category B - Separate R/W: longitudinally separated (curbs, barriers, grade separation)
from other traffic, but with vehicle and pedestrian grade crossings, e.g. curbed medians,
side-of-street reservations, and private R/W with few-to-frequent grade crossings. LRV's
receive priority over motor traffic.
Category C - Shared R/W: surface streets with tracks in lane(s) reserved for transit by
paint striping and/or signals, or lanes that are shared with other traffic.
384180
NEBRASKA TRANSIT CORRIDORS STUDY
Page 4 - 5
WILBUR SMITH ASSOCIATES