The Bus Stops Here: Rethinking Our Approach to Bus Transit

This paper will challenge the traditional approach to providing bus transit, particularly on busy high-frequency arterial routes. It posits that conventional bus services are unable to meet contemporary urban sustainability and mobility challenges. Emerging approaches, such as the various forms of bus rapid transit, hold promise as ways to improve the perception of the bus and its usefulness to current transit riders and potential riders. This study uses a survey of best practice in bus transit improvements, as well as key informant interviews with professional service planners in the transit industry. Key findings are directed at the need for new and interdisciplinary ways of working, interdepartmental coordination, a high degree of active public engagement, and physical changes to bus transit systems. The findings informed a series of recommendations to help address the image and performance of bus transit in Toronto.