2012 Theses Master's

Planning for Innovation: An Analysis of Bus Rapid Transit and Institutional Approaches to Transportation Innovation

Jenkins, Peter Courtenay

This study explores the institutional implications of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as a technological innovation. As an alternative to rail-based mass transit systems, bus rapid transit has emerged as an adaptable and cost-effective means of providing high quality urban mobility. Since its development in Curitiba, Brazil in 1974, over 140 cities have since gone on to implement BRT. While the technological features of BRT are well understood, the role of various stakeholders, institutions, and planning processes is often underemphasized, despite holding the key to successful implementation. By focusing on the experience of Bogota, Colombia and Johannesburg, South Africa in incorporating existing transportation service providers into new BRT systems, this study explores the institutional implications of innovation and the embedding of new planning practices into local contexts. By addressing these questions, I hope to shed light on the processes of innovation and diffusion, so that planners, policy makers, and other stakeholders can be better informed when implementing new technologies such as bus rapid transit.