Implementation Phases

Infrastructure

23 km BRT corridor from Tianhe Lijiao to Xia Yuan
30 median-aligned BRT stations, plus 1 station at Huochezhan
Stations feature level boarding and alighting and pre-board fare collection
Split stations serving each direction, though if flexible buses are approved, one single central station will be used
No transfer terminals required
Elevated BRT-only roundabout at Tianhe Dong Lu / Tianhe Lu
Strengthened pavement at stations
Passenger access to the BRT stations will be by 3 existing tunnels, 3 new metro tunnels, 14 at-grade pedestrian crossings, 3 existing pedestrian bridges, and 15 new pedestrian bridges
Continuous bicycle lanes along the BRT corridor
Real-time passenger information and other amenities at BRT stations
Free transfer on the same platform at all BRT stations
Direct metro connection via tunnel at 3 BRT stations.

Operations

23 BRT routes (18 - 33 - 50 - 139 - 178 - 210 - 214 - 224 - 235 - 240 - 242 - 248 - 269 - 289 - 296 - 515 - 549 - 560 - 561 - 568 - 570 - 571 - 883)
16 routes have 18m buses, 7 routes have 12m buses (18 - 33 - 178 - 214 - 240 - 570 - 571)
Either distance-based or flat fare. Fare levels to be no higher than current fares
Non-BRT buses are not allowed to operate inside the BRT corridor
System control centre to provide real-time monitoring and control
10 non-BRT routes slightly modified to remove part of the route from the BRT corridor.

Vehicles

18m buses have 4 right-side doors and operate both inside and outside BRT corridor.
12m BRT buses have 3 right-side doors and operate both inside and outside BRT corridor
If flexible buses are allowed, both 18m and 12m buses will have doors on both sides
288 18m buses, 167 12m buses, total of 455 BRT buses
18m BRT vehicles have 150 person capacity, 12m BRT vehicles have 75 person capacity
18m BRT vehicles have a conductor at the last door, allowing boarding at the first and last door outside the corridor, and alighting outside the corridor at the 2 middle doors. (Inside the corridor boarding and alighting take place at all doors)
If distance based fare is selected: Fare verification upon exit of BRT buses outside the BRT corridor. Fare verification upon entry and exit of BRT stations inside the BRT corridor.

Demand and service features

Peak one-directional passenger flow of more than 23,000 passengers per hour, during the morning peak at Tianhe Gongyuan. This peak flow corresponds with a BRT bus flow of 180 bus/hr
BRT operational speed of 26km/hr
Peak period trip along the corridor which currently takes 93 minutes will be completed in 53 minutes, a time saving of 40 minutes along the full corridor
Total passenger boardings of 382,000 each day inside BRT stations, including passenger boardings at Huochezhan
659,000 passenger trips per day using BRT buses inside the BRT corridor
Significant positive impact on mixed traffic along the BRT corridor
Largest morning peak passenger boarding at 羊城花园 (3360/hr), 棠下 (3320), 天河公园 (3000) and 车陂 (2980). Largest morning peak passenger alighting at 体育中心 (3910/hr), 石牌 (2790), 师大暨大 (2580) and 岗顶 (2400)
Largest evening peak passenger boarding at 体育中心 (3360/hr), 师大暨大 (3090), 岗顶 (2720), and 石牌 (2490). Largest evening peak passenger alighting at 棠下 (3090/hr), 师大暨大 (2540), 天河公园 (2480), 羊城花园 (2180), 体育中心 (2170) and 东圃 (2020).

Investment

BRT buses to be paid for by the bus operators
BRT infrastructure to be paid for by the government
Fare collection system paid for by private operator
Infrastructure cost estimated at 400 million yuan
BRT bus investment cost estimated at 599 million yuan
Operators must provide the required depot and maintenance facilities for their fleets, though government may invest in one or two depots and hire out space to operators.

Regulation

Bus operators are paid per bus-kilometre
Bus operators to bid for operating rights, with preferential points allocated to existing operators in the corridor
BRT operating rights allocated in 4 packets of 115 buses each, ensuring a total of 4 BRT operators for Phase I
A BRT company under the authority of the city government is recommended to plan and control the system.