January 16, 2018

ASCE Oregon Section Meeting 

Bus Rapid Transit - Northwest Leadership in Advancing Cost Effective, High Capacity Transit Service

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has emerged over the last decade as a means to provide better transit service to communities in a cost effective manner.  Incorporating many of the branding, speed and reliability, and amenities of a lightrail or street car service with the flexibility of a rubber tired vehicle has created a cost effective alternative to rail transit while providing better bus service to a population that either by age, circumstance, or choice is becoming more transit dependent.  The Pacific Northwest has emerged as a leader in the advancement of BRT as a transit mode, and the area’s largest transit provider TriMet will soon be adding this mode to their operations as well.  This presentation will examine what BRT is, how it fits within the range of High Capacity Transit options, and use examples of services developed in the Pacific Northwest, including C-Tran’s Vine (Vancouver, WA), LTD’s EmX (Eugene, OR), Community Transit’s Swift (Everett, WA), and King County Metro’s Rapid Ride (Seattle, WA), to highlight the range of strategies for BRT implementation.

 
Christopher Hemmer, PE

Chris Hemmer is a Supervising Civil Engineer with WSP USA’s Transit and Rail Division.  Working out of Portland, Chris has provided BRT planning and design services to more than 40 BRT projects across the country.  Recent projects include the recently opened third line for LTD’s EmX in Eugene, C-Tran’s Vine, BRT planning in St. Petersburg, Florida, and most recently TriMet’s Division Corridor BRT.  Recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on BRT, Chris is a member of APTA’s Bus Rapid Transit Committee and a longtime member of ASCE.

Schedule

6:00PM - Networking
6:45PM - Dinner
7:45PM - Announcements
8:00PM - Presentation