Bus rapid transit for growing cities

The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy has worked since 1985 on getting growing cities to build for buses, bicycles and pedestrians instead of for cars. It has supported more than 850 sustainable transport projects and policies in over 120 cities worldwide, with design and advisory roles in the bus rapid transit systems of Ahmedabad, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Jakarta, Mexico City and cities across China and Argentina. Its BRT Standard, updated in 2024, is the scoring system cities and lenders use to tell a genuine rapid transit corridor from a painted bus lane — which matters, because the label is often claimed for systems that don't earn it. ITDP also publishes open data on how many people live within walking distance of rapid transit in cities worldwide.