WestStart- CALSTART and Bus Rapid Transit:
A Partnership with the Federal Transit Administration
Our current focus in the FTA BRT program
is threefold:
- to
be the FTA executive secretariat for the BRT Action Plan;
- to connect
U.S. vehicle manufacturers with the BRT program in order
to develop BRT manufacturing efforts in the
U.S.;
- and to disseminate
information on clean transportation vehicles and technologies
for use in BRT systems.
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Through
our partnership with the FTA, we hope to provide an ongoing
forum for tracking important BRT developments and |
| activities,
addressing advancements and needs in vehicles and technologies,
and bring the BRT stakeholders together to advance the BRT
concept throughout the United States. |
Last
year, WestStart-CALSTART served organizer and a major sponsor of
the first international Bus Rapid Transit design competition – The
Bus Rapid Transit and the American Community: A Vehicle Design
and Community Planning Competition. This past spring,
WestStart-CALSTART organized the Los Angeles BRT Workshop “Action
Plan for a Thriving BRT Market.” In June 2002, we published
the first BRT newsLane, a monthly electronic publication
created in partnership with and funded by the Federal Transit Administration.
With the BRT newsLane, we continue to combine our advanced
transportation technologies industry background with the FTA’s
BRT program in the United States.
The mission of the BRT newsLane
is to provide an information-sharing network to update BRT communities,
industrial partners, bus manufacturers, and stakeholders on the progress
and activities of importance to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) community
in the U.S. and abroad; to expand the BRT network by connecting stakeholders
with each other in strategic partnerships; and to advance the use
of clean vehicles and technology in BRT systems.
Who is WestStart-CALSTART and what
is our role in the Federal Transit Administration’s Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT) program? WestStart-CALSTART is an advanced transportation
technologies
consortium dedicated to
creating and expanding a global advanced transportation technologies
industry and its markets through technology development, analysis,
and implementation. Our goals are to clean the air, create high-quality
jobs, and develop energy efficient transportation. Through strategic
partnerships, we work with technology developers, manufacturers and
end-users to help move clean transportation vehicles and technologies
into the marketplace.
BRT Design Competition
BRT Reports
FTA BRT Website
BRT
Vehicle Selection Concepts Selection Concepts For
BRT Systems
Use
this guide to help with your selection of BRT vehicles
Bus
Rapid Transit Vehicle Demand Analysis Update
Understand the Projected Demand and Features and attributes
wanted form 48 BRT communities across the United States
Characteristics_of_Bus_Rapid_Transit_for_Decision_Making
FTA recently released this report packed with useful data that is intended
for urban transportation professionals and officials involved in developing and
evaluating
high-performance transit investment options. This report, "Characteristics
of Bus Rapid Transit for Decision Making" provides the latest information
about each of the six BRT elements, their costs, and their potential impact on
ridership, capacity, system performance, safety and security, and image. The
CBRT is rich in front-end transit planning and development data, when analytical
detail is not as critical to decision-making as having conceptual mastery of
viable project alternatives.