Analysis and evaluation of bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Isfahan based on standards of ITDP institute

The beautiful city of Isfahan is among the cities with transportation, traffic and parking problems resulting in an increase in environmental pollutants which can be considered among the most important problems of this city. Development of public transport and infrastructure equipment can be mentioned as one of the ways to reduce the city's problems. In this regard, developing BRT lines with its numerous advantages might have a very significant role. Currently, the first line of Isfahan BRT is implemented in two phases and it gives service to many citizens daily. Though the system has many benefits to urban transport systems and plays a very significant role in reducing the environmental pollution of the city, if you do not set up the system in accordance with the appropriate standards and criteria, it would cause several problems. The current attempt is an applied one and the method applied is based on documents, with inductive data collection. Data used in this study were collected from statistical sources, questionnaires, library and etc. The study used international standard questionnaire in comparison format. The mentioned questionnaire which was completed by 40 experts, professionals and bus drivers was developed by Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and was released in 2014 for the first time in international level. The results obtained from this study pointed to the fact that Isfahan’s BRT lines would get the bronze medal and inappropriate condition based on the international standards. The score for Isfahan BRT system would be 45 and since based on the classification of this institute the gold line needs a score of more than 85, the silver line needs a score of 70-84 and the bronze line needs a score of 50-69, unfortunately, the city of Isfahan with the score of 45, from the sum of negative and positive indices, even would have a place lower than the bronze line.