BUS RAPID TRANSIT AS A CONTRIBUTION TO SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION. THE CASE OF ATHENS, GREECE

摘要

This paper examines the framework under which the implementation of a bus rapid transit (BRT) system would be feasible in a major metropolitan area. In an effort to enhance comprehension about this innovative mean of public transport and to determine its contribution to rising sustainability issues, the technical and operational features of the BRT system are presented and discussed. The paper then outlines the basic demographical and geographical characteristics of the city of Athens, Greece, before briefly analysing the dominant transportational conditions of it. The techniques and approaches used in former international practices of the system are reviewed and related with the city of Athens, on which all respective steps of the planning process are subsequently represented. The paper concludes with a proposal of a possible realisation (area and corridor selection) of the BRT system in Athens, underlying the role of the decision-making process that precedes the selection of public transport technology, and proposing a more detailed multi-criteria analysis for the detailed evaluation of the impacts of a probable BRT implementation.