Making Bus Rapid Transit safer in Belo Horizonte

CTS-Brasil provides technical recommendations following road safety audit.
 
Source: EMBARQ
 
The Center for Sustainable Transport in Brazil (CTS-Brasil) completed a «road safety audit» in Belo Horizonte along Ave. Antonio Carlos, a planned 16-kilometer bus rapid transit corridor.
 
Philip Gold, the road safety auditor, worked with the support of CTS-Brasil, as part of the Bloomberg Global Road Safety Program, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The final report, including safety recommendations, will be delivered to city officials in March.
 
A road safety audit involves a careful examination of a proposed project to ensure that it performs to a high standard from a road safety perspective. Problems in the design are identified before construction begins, which helps save costs.
 
CTS-Brasil recommended that BHTrans, the city’s public transit agency, create a technical team of road safety experts to perform future audits and offered to train the staff. Director of CTS-Brasil Toni Lindau also suggested that BHTrans create a fully equipped BRT station, including bus docking and a loading and unloading process to provide future users a taste of a real BRT experience.
 
CTS-Brasil is highly involved with BRT projects in Belo Horizonte, working on issues ranging from accessibility and public health to operations and marketing. CTS-Brasil is also advising on how to reduce traffic bottlenecks using the EMBARQ BRT Simulator, a computer software tool that tests and improves the design of proposed BRT systems.
 
As the 2014 FIFA World Cup approaches, improving urban mobility has become a top priority for Belo Horizonte and other Brazilian cities hosting the games.
 
CTS-Brasil signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Belo Horizonte in August 2010 and has been providing technical support to improve the quality of the city’s BRT system.
 
The recent road safety audit was made possible with technical support from the following experts:
• Toni Lindau, President-Director of CTS-Brasil
• Brenda Medeiros Pereira, Transport Projects Coordinator of CTS-Brasil
• Marta Obelheiro, Transport Engineer of CTS-Brasil
• Philip Gold, Road Safety Expert from Gold Projects
 
 
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