Urban Transport - India Environment Portal

Best Practices for Sustainable Transport Initiatives 37The most effective of all available car-focused policy measures to optimize congestionand emissions reductions in large cities is congestion pricing. However, it will onlybe effective when planned and implemented with major upgrading of accessibility forcommuters via public transport. At present, there is no example of congestion pricing inthe PRC, although several of the most congested cities are understood to be consideringintroduction of congestion pricing in the future.Planning instrumentsPlanning for bus rapid transitKunming launched the first modern busway in the PRC in 1999 with technical supportthrough the Kunming–Zurich Sister City Partnership. A public transport masterplan was also developed with Swiss assistance. The average operating speed increased68% to 15 kph while the average passenger waiting time decreased by 59%. Busridership increased 13% at its opening because of the improved service. Due to theimproved operating speeds, the operating company was also able to reduce its fleet sizeby nearly half.Kunming currently has a 40-kilometer network of six median-based BRT lines. Thesefollow an open system with few physical barriers for most of the alignment. Services areprovided by several private operators. The network carries 1.2 million passengers perday and serves about 75% of the city center within a reasonable walking distance. Thecapital cost has an average of only around $0.5 million–$0.8 million per mile as fewadvanced BRT features have been included.Bus Rapid Transit in Guangzhou, PRCSource: Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, People’s Republic of China.