Prospect for the Development of Metrobus Public Transport System in China
I. Major Problems in the Public Transport System in Large Cities in China
1. Road Capacity is in serious shortage.
For a long time， road capacity in Chinese cities had been low， the per-capita road area in large cities is less than one-third of that of the developed countries. Only in the past 10 years or so， road construction began to speed up， the per-capita area rose to 6.6 square meters from 2.8 square meters， maintaining an annual growth of about 10%. Although the growth speed was fast， it still lagged far behind the 20% growth rate of urban traffic capacity.
2. Number of vehicles in cities grows too fast.
In recent years， vehicles in Chinese cities grew at an annual rate of more than 15'7o， and the annual growth rate of private automobiles was as high as 28%. The state policy on developing private automobiles has been implemented. The outline of the l0th Five-Year Plan makes it clear that economical cars of high efficiency， energy saving and low emission are to be developed， and families are encouraged to buy their own cars. The increase in cars will help speed up the process of urbanization， improve the city structure and regional transport structure and promote the development of related industries. As the lessons of developed countries indicate， the fast growth of automobiles would give rise to such problems as environmental pollution， slower driving speed， increase in the number of traffic accidents， the lower level of public transport service (lower driving speed and low punctuality)， and difficulties for pedestrians and means of transport other than automobiles.
3. Public transport is weakening.
Since the mid-1980s， the public bus transport (including trolley bus) in big cities has been shrinking in terms of operation efficiency， operation management， service level and economic benefits. In the 14 years from 1985 to 1999， the length of public transport routes in the country increased 4.6 times， the number of public buses increased 2.4 times， reaching the ratio of 0.94 vehicle/1，000 people. The driving speed of public buses， however， dropped from 12-14 kilometers/hour to 5-10 kilometers/hour， the newly increased transport capacity was offset by the drop in transport efficiency. In the early 1990s， of all means of transport for urban residents， the use of public bus dropped from 30% to about 10% in most cities. The shrink of public bus transport accelerated the expansion of bikes and private cars， this， in return， resulted a wider area of traffic congestion in cities and brought the public bus transport into a vicious cycle of development.
II. The Sustainable Development and Public Bus Priority Strategy for China's Urban Public Transport
1. Resources and environment restrictions on urban transport
Along with the urbanization and the wider use of vehicles， urban transport system will occupy more land， consume large amount of energy and yield a negative impact on the environment and ecological system. On the other hand， China's current resources (including land resources) reserve and energy structure， environmental capacity and the environmental bearing capacity exert a restrictive effect on the development of urban transport system.
2. Sustainable development of urban transport
Mr. A. Peniglinine， Director of the Transportation， Water Supply and Urban Development Bureau of the World Bank， stressed three mutually supplementary principles when assessing the sustainable development of urban transport: sustainability of economy and finance， sustainability of social development and environmental sustainability. The concept of sustainability is deeply influencing the planning and decision-making process of urban transport. At present， cities in developed countries achieve the sustainable development of urban transport from the following two aspects: comprehensive planning of transportation and land use and making public transport a priority choice for residents.
It is decided by China's national conditions that Chinese cities must make great efforts to develop public transport system and adhere to the principle of giving priority to public transport. Whether public transport could develop fast decides whether sustainable development of a city could be achieved and whether wider use of automobiles and modernization of public transport could be achieved in the next century. In Chinese cities， land is in short supply， population density is high， therefore， transportation by means of public transport system is the best choice. This explains why the state decided in the mid-1980s to adopt the development principle of giving priority to public transport for urban passenger transportation， and this policy was clearly stipulated in several State Council documents， technology policies and industrial policies.
3. Types of prioritizing the public transport system
The priority of public transport system includes strategic priority and tactical priority. Strategic priority means that in the overall development and planning of Cities and in the process of urban transport planning， construction and management of the public transport system is given priority. That is priority in policy， including priority in capital， planning and construction， or in terms of the long-term development strategy of the urban transportation， priority is given to constructing the fast track transport system， public transport system and special road system with big capacity. Tactical priority means to give priority and passing privilege to the public transport system in terms of time and space， to increase its speed， shorten time spent on road and improve the transport efficiency so as to attract passengers to use the public transport system. This is achieved mainly through corresponding management methods， including time priority and special privilege during the rush hours. For example， in Hong Kong， cars are not allowed to make right turns during rush hours and only public buses have the privilege of making right turns (in Hong Kong， people drive on benefit). In terms of space priority， special lanes and special road for exclusive use of public transport system are set up. In Nagoya， Japan， special public bus lanes are set along the road central division line so as to ensure the speed of ground public transport. Furthermore， the city is planning to construct elevated public transport roads in the city area so that the speed of ground public buses could be increased to 20km/h from 10km/h.
III. The Application of Metrobus System in Curitiba in Brazil
The Metrobus system is based on the public transport system in Curitiba， a famous clean city in the world. On the one hand， it has the features of large-capacity track transport system， special road fights， horizontal embarking and disembarking and ticketing outside the' bus. On the other hand， it also has the flexible characteristics of the conventional public transport system and borrows the advanced information management technologies. By fully demonstrating the principle of priority for the public transport system， it is a new and highly efficient mode of public transport solution with low cost， short construction period， fast speed and high punctuality. It is also nicknamed "ground subway" due to its large capacity.
1. Brief introduction of the application of the Metrobus system in Curitiba in Brazil
Curitiba， located in southern Brazil， has a population of more than 1.5 million. The car possession rate is very high (300 cars per 1，000 residents). The transport for such a large number of cars requires building of several fast roads in the city. This will naturally cause more serious pollution， traffic congestion and traffic accidents. Therefore， the city hoped to develop a modem， high-grade and low cost transport system with a large capacity. It initially planned to develop a light-track transport system， but it was too costly for this city. Therefore， the land reserved for the light-track transport system was used to construct special bus roads. The layout of the special bus road system was closely in line with the overall development plan of the city. All densely populated residential areas and commercial districts were developed at places near the public transport system， and were also developed along the special bus roads. In order to better tap the high-capacity transport system， designers and planners paid special attention to the public bus stops (crystal tube-shaped plastic bus stops)， which were constructed at the same height of the bottom of public bus (800mm to the ground). Passengers could access the stops through stairs or ladders. As in the subway system， passengers could buy tickets first at the platforms， and then could make transits within the transport system without buying extra tickets. In addition， in order to reduce the stop time， the leaning passage from public bus could be extended to the platform when the bus stops， so that passengers could embark or disembark as quickly as they do from subway train. With constant improvement and refinement， Curitiba finally developed its unique Metrobus system.
2. Formation and characteristics of the Metrobus system
In general， Metrobus system consists of seven core components， that is， special road rights， modem public bus， horizontal boarding， ticketing outside the bus， passing priority at crossroads， passenger information and bus fleet management systems. The Metrobus system， through the effective combination of special transport facilities and modem vehicles， has such characteristics as large capacity， low investment， flexibility， passenger friendly， high speed， safety， low pollution and low energy consumption.
Compared with subway and light-track system， the construction cost of Metrobus system is much lower， but it is similar with the light-track system in terms of passenger carrying capacity and average speed. Furthermore， its construction cycle is short and it is flexible. It could be used as an alternative to the light-track train system， serve as a supplementary solution to the track transport and conventional transport， and greatly reduce the barrier for constructing high-capacity and fast transport system. It has great practical significance in transforming the transport structure in Chinese cities and realizing the public transport priority strategy.
Table 1. A comparison of Metrobus system with subway and light-track train systems
Means of transport Subway Light-track train Metrobus system
Investment/km 600-800 million yuan 200-300 million yuan 20-100 million yuan
Passenger carrying capacity 30，000-40，000 people/hour 10，000-20，000
people/hour 10，000-20，000 people/hour
Average speed 30-40 km/h 10-20 km/h 10-20 km/h
Time from project approval to operation 3-5 years 2-3 years 1 year
Time from project approval to completion 8-10 years 4-6 years 1-2 years
System flexibility Low Low High
Ability to absorb new technologies Low Medium High
IV. Feasibility Analysis for the Application of Metrobus System in Some Chinese Cities
According to the progress of China's urbanization and trend analysis， China's urbanization is likely to develop two modes， that is， the multi-center mode of large cities and super large cities， and the combined cluster mode of medium-sized cities. Under the two modes， neither will witness the extension of large city districts， instead， they will develop into cities or center of city clusters with high-density development. In order to increase the attraction of city centers to residents， to form an organic entirety of different city centers and to promote the formation of the urban development mode of multi city centers， the introduction of high capacity public transport system is inevitable. The demand for speed and high capacity is consistent with the service offered by the Metrobus system.
For the four large cities of Dalian， Shenzhen， Suzhou and Xiamen， they have developed the structural mode of city clusters in terms of their status quo and the planned development course. This paper makes a horizontal comparison of the four cities with Curitiba in terms of social and economic development， urban development characteristics and transport systems so as to analyze the feasibility for the application of the Metrobus system.
1. Social and economic development status
(1). Urban area
Table 2. A comparison of urban areas of the five cities
City Curitiba Dalian Shenzhen Suzhou Xiamen
Area of tile entire city (square kilometer) 12361 1.2573.85 2020 8488.42 1565
Area of tile urban districts (square kilometer) 2414.96 1650 554.7
The area of a city decides the distribution scope of residents travelling around， and accordingly determines the scope of public transport service. In terms of urban area， Dalian and Suzhou are basically of the same size as Curitiba， while Shenzhen and Xiamen are smaller. Metrobus system is suitable to urban artery transport due to its fast characteristics， and is also suitable for medium and long-distance travelling. Given the fact that Chinese urban residents mainly travel within the city scope， it is necessary to give a comprehensive consideration to the factor of city area.
(2). Urban population
Table 3. A population comparison of the five cities
City Curitiba Dalian Shenzhen Suzhou Xiamen
Population of tile entire city (in 10000) 260 545 395 578.17 126.6
Population of tile urban area (ill 10000) 155 185 110.79 42.6
Urban population decides the volume of residents travelling in the city， thus affects the scale of the public transport system. Also with the fact that residents mainly travel within the urban areas， the size of urban population has a remarkable impact on the public transport system. The size of population in Shenzhen and Suzhou is basically identical with that of Curitiba.
(3). Level of urban economic development
Table 4. A comparison of the economic development level of the five cities
City Curitiba Dalian Shenzhen Suzhou Xiamen
GDP (in 100 million yuan) 1110.8 1540.68 418.06
Per-capita GDP 20326yuan US$5000 26700yuan US$3800
In terms of per-capita gross domestic product (GDP)， Dalian， Shenzhen， Suzhou and Xiamen have all reached over 20，000 yuan. The influence of such a relatively high per-capita GDP is mainly reflected on the choice of means of transport by their residents. Along with the rising income， residents will give more consideration to time value and comfort when choosing means of transport， and cost is no longer the sole consideration.
2. Characteristics of urban development
(1). City structure
At present， all large cities in the world have two development trends in their expansion. First， the mode of expanding in the form of concentric circles is transforming into the along-axis development mode (or development corridor). Second， cities have been transforming from the mode of single center towards the mode of multi-centers. The development of Curitiba is basically based on the first mode， that is， high-density development along axis road to form several development corridors. Dalian， Shenzhen， Suzhou and Xiamen， however， are taking the development mode of multi-centers.
Although there is significant difference between the two modes， the impact on transport system of the two development modes is all reflected on the formation of transport corridors， that is， a well-connected transport road system in the well-developed corridors， sub-centers and centers of the cities to provide fast and convenient transport services. Medium and long-distance travelers will mainly use the transport corridors， thus developing a concentrated transport demand and constructive for the application of fast transport mode as Metrobus or light-track train systems with high capacity.
(2). Characteristics of the cities
In terms of development characteristics of the cities， Curitiba and Shenzhen are all newly emerged cities. Curitiba was constructed at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century， and it witnessed fast development in the period from 1960s to 1990s. Shenzhen emerged only in the 1980s and 1990s after China adopted the reform and opening policy. One of the remarkable characteristics of the newly emerged cities is that the construction started late， but advanced and modem planning conception was applied. Therefore， they have much room for future renovation and are highly flexible. On the contrary， Suzhou is an ancient city with a history of 2，500 years， its development， particularly the old city districts， is naturally influenced greatly by the old development mode， or even for the consideration of old city preservation and protection， it is impossible to undertake massive road system renovation or reconstruction. Therefore， the development of such ancient cities is mainly concentrated in areas outside the old city districts.
As a kind of compromise， the central urban districts of Xiamen and Dalian have undergone a long period of development and formed a certain style of urban development， but there is still a possibility for renovation. At the same time， the outer areas of these cities also have much room for development.
3. The status of the transport system
(1). Status of the sharing rates of different means of transport
Table 5. A comparison of the sharing rates of different means of transport in the
five cities (%)
Prospect for the Development of Metrobus Public[全文结束]
