Developing a Methodology for Identifying Suitable Locations of Bus Stops for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Dhaka: A Case Study of BRT Line – 3 (Airport to Fulbaria)

Abstract

To build up an efficient transportation system, focus must be given to the improvement of mass transit. This is particularly applicable for Dhaka city which is struggling hard to meet the constantly augmenting travel demand. In such circumstances, mass transit, especially bus service can be the most important option. The improvement of the service quality of bus service can increase the ridership. One of the main reasons behind poor service of bus of Dhaka is allocating bus stops in inappropriate location through an unplanned manner without following any defined methodology. Recently, government of Bangladesh has taken decision to introduce Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for Dhaka city for the improvement of existing bus service. A large investment by government will be worthless if BRT cannot provide desired service quality. In order to ensure better service quality for BRT, like other service quality parameters, bus stops have to be located in suitable location. Under this situation, the focus of this study is to develop a methodology for determining suitable bus stop location for BRT on the basis of the significant factors that govern selection of bus stop location. For this, BRT Line 3 (Airport to Fulbaria) has been selected as the study route. The feasibility study of this route for BRT has already been completed by DTCA. Five major factors namely travel demand, population density, accessibility for pedestrian, accessibility for rickshaw and land use have been identified as the most significant factors which govern the selection of suitable bus stop location. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been applied for prioritizing the factors. Ten experts have been interviewed to get their judgment values for the selected factors. Geometric mean method has been applied to create a consensus for group decision making. Priority Ranking reveals that travel demand is the most important factor in selecting bus stop location, which is followed by population density, land use, accessibility for pedestrian and accessibility for rickshaw. After that, a composite value has been assigned for each of the intersection on the basis of these five factors. Finally, 41 bus stops have been identified for selected route based on composite value maintaining a feasible distance between two consecutive bus stops through an iterative algorithm. Allocating bus stops in suitable locations through a comprehensive quantitative assessment would improve the efficiency of movement of BRT. The methodology that is developed in this study would be a guidance for the concerned authority to review their design and to take necessary changes regarding location of bus stops to meet the travel demand accordingly before its implementation phase and to complete the project successfully.