Yichang BRT Has Been in Operation for Five Years, Bringing Great Changes to Urban Transportation
From July 15, 2015 to July 15, 2020, Yichang BRT has been in operation for a full five years. The opening of BRT has brought 90% of the city into the 30-minute living circle. Today, BRT has become the "face value" and "main force" of Yichang's urban transportation, accelerating urban development and driving economic take-off.
From July 15, 2015 to July 15, 2020, Yichang BRT has been in operation for a full five years. The opening of BRT has brought 90% of the city into the 30-minute living circle. Today, BRT has become the "face value" and "main force" of Yichang's urban transportation, accelerating urban development and driving economic take-off.
From doubt to expectation, the satisfaction rate reached 90%
Five years ago, on July 15, 2015, Yichang East Station Bus Departure Station.
At 5:30 in the morning, Yichang BRT greeted the first ray of sunshine, carrying more than 100 passengers, starting from Yichang East Station to the center of Yichang City, and the terminal was Yichang Gezhouba Roundabout.
On that day, 18 BRT buses participated in the operation, with more than 200 round trips. On the first day of operation, some urban residents took the bus specifically to experience it.In the early days of opening, although some citizens felt fresh, there were also many doubts: the BRT lanes were empty, and the social lanes were jammed; it was more troublesome than imagined to transfer to ordinary buses after taking the BRT line... Some people even joked that BRT was "don't mess with it" and "don't let it pass".
Taxi driver Liu Liang said that the entry of buses into independent lanes not only reduces traffic congestion, but also guarantees the source of passengers compared to before.
In 2019, after Yichang City announced the construction plan for the second phase of Yichang BRT, many citizens expressed their expectations and hoped that BRT could pass near their homes.
The Yichang Transportation Bureau said that the birth of new things like BRT requires a process of acceptance by the public. As BRT quickly integrates into Yichang City, the city and the people living in this city will also be affected to a certain extent.
In the second half of 2019, the Yichang Municipal Transportation Bureau hired a professional organization to collect questionnaires showing that citizens' satisfaction with the overall traffic environment of Dongshan Avenue, the waiting environment of BRT stations and the in-car environment has greatly increased. About 20% of citizens have switched from driving cars or taxis to taking BRT, and the citizen satisfaction rate with the BRT project has reached 90%.
Speed and passenger capacity increased, running time shortened by 40%
Ms. Dai, who grew up in Yichang, recalled: "Around 2010, I took a bus from Wujiagang to the CBD for shopping, and it took nearly 2 hours to go back and forth. Now there is a BRT station close to home, which makes it convenient to go to Guomao and CBD, and there is no traffic jam, and it is very fast."
The reporter learned that before 2015, the CBD section, 403 section, near the long-distance bus station and near Shuiyuecheng in Yichang City were often congested, and the traffic jam was particularly obvious during rush hour. There were many "intestinal obstructions" on the road, and the condition of the buses was also poor. Because there were few air-conditioned buses, passengers could only use parasols and cattail fans on the bus in summer...
After 2015, with the opening of BRT buses and the iterative upgrade of vehicles, Yichang's bus operation has taken on a new look. In summer, there is air conditioning in the car; in winter, there is heating in the car, and the vehicle is still a noiseless pure electric vehicle. It is reported that in early August this year, Yichang Public Transport Group will also purchase more than 60 new energy vehicles.
Compared with the past, the travel time of residents has also changed. In the past, the operating speed of buses during peak hours was 10 kilometers per hour. Now the speed in the BRT channel has increased to an average of 20 kilometers per hour, and the vehicle speed in the BRT corridor has reached 25 kilometers per hour; the travel time from Yichang East Station to Yiling Passenger Station has been shortened from 90 minutes in the past to less than 60 minutes, and the entire operation time has been shortened by about 40%. 90% of the city has entered a 30-minute living circle.
Some citizens have calculated the time account: the BRT is 23.9 kilometers long. Taking the BRT bus saves an average of 30 minutes per one-way trip. If each passenger takes two rapid buses a day, each trip can save 30 minutes, and the BRT can save 360 hours for each passenger throughout the year, which is a full 15 days.
Over the past five years, the traffic order in the urban area has also undergone fundamental changes. Since the BRT was switched to a dedicated lane in the middle of the road, the public lanes are not affected by the merging, changing lanes, and stopping of buses, and the traffic conditions have also been greatly improved. While the traffic flow has increased, the speed of public vehicles has also increased significantly. It has achieved that public buses, public vehicles, non-motor vehicles, and pedestrians each have their own lanes, and the traffic order along the route has been improved.
In addition, relying on the BRT corridor, Yichang Public Transport Group has continuously optimized the urban public transportation operation network, vigorously adjusted the line network and capacity structure, and continuously woven the network. The number of branch lines has gradually increased from 19 at the beginning to 26 and 34... Now it has formed an "asymmetric 'fishbone' BRT" operation network of "1 corridor + 37 branch lines". The free transfer rate reached 32% to 48%, and the average waiting time for passengers was shortened from 13 minutes to 6 minutes. The average daily motor vehicle trips were reduced by about 50,000 times, the average daily operating mileage was 100,000 kilometers, and the average daily passenger flow was 350,000, accounting for 63% of the city's passenger flow. So far, Yichang BRT has transported a total of 433 million passengers.
7 BRT lines are planned to be built, and the radiation range will be larger
At present, although Yichang BRT has been recognized by the general public, it is not yet in the ideal state, and a single BRT channel can no longer meet the needs of urban development. Wang Qionghai, associate professor of the School of Economics and Management of Three Gorges University, said: "Yichang BRT has not yet formed a network. If more citizens are to be "invited" from private cars to buses, Yichang still needs to develop large buses and vigorously build a green urban transportation system."
Relevant personnel from the Yichang Transportation Department said that Yichang will need at least 5 to 10 years to form a relatively developed BRT network. In 2019, the Yichang Municipal Planning Bureau announced the special plan for green transportation in the central urban area. According to the rules, Yichang will plan to build 5 rail transit lines and 7 BRT lines in the future. Among the 5 rail transit lines, the first phase of Line 1, 2, and 3 will be started in advance, totaling 67.1 kilometers. Among them, the first phase of Line 1 is from Gezhouba Station to Huayan Station, and the first phase of Line 2 is from Yiling Square Station to Xiaoting Station. The line runs along Chengdong Avenue and Three Gorges Expressway, mainly connecting Yiling Square, Yichang East Station and Three Gorges Airport. The planned construction of 7 BRT lines is 164.8 kilometers in total. In addition, 14 new bus routes will be added, involving sections such as Dongshan Fourth Road to Bayi Road, Railway Dam to Yiling Passenger Transport Station, Jiu'ancheng to the Second Hospital, and Malan Road to Railway Dam.
Yichang Public Transport Group introduced that in order to "invite" citizens from private cars to buses, so that BRT can radiate a wider range and benefit more citizens, at present, in addition to optimizing routes and improving vehicle riding environment, they have also started to implement the free transfer policy at urban bus stations, which has received good results.
Wang Qionghai said that for a city, the result of the vigorous development of public transportation is not only to change the speed of a city, but also to speed up urban development and drive the economy to take off.