The Vice Secretary of the Yichang City Government and related high level officials including the Vice Director of the Yichang Transport Bureau, Director of Yichang Road and Transport Authority, Yichang Bus Company and Investment Agency and other agencies related to BRT visited the Guangzhou BRT last week. The purpose of the visit was to discuss and learn from the Guangzhou BRT’s opening and operation for the up-coming Yichang BRT, which will open in mid-2015. Intensive meetings and site visits were held during the two-day visit, relating to BRT operation preparation planning, BRT route improvement, fares, operational subsidy, regulatory and institutional setup, emergency planning, staff training, operations training, and management issues. Other issues included traffic management, BRT intersection organization and phases, BRT special lane management regulations, and BRT traffic light priority issues.

ITDP arranged the site visits, attended the meetings and provided presentations and on-site briefings. At the BRT control center, small group discussions were organized between the Yichang personnel and their corresponding counterparts among the Guangzhou BRT management and operation company personnel on all related operational issues (stations, vehicles, dispatching, and so on).