Monterrey, Mexico opens first BRT corridor

Monterrey in Mexico has formally opened its first bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor. The new Ecovía BRT is a 30.1 kilometre corridor connecting Monterrey, San Nicolás and Guadalupe, and is expected to move nearly 160,000 passengers daily. With the new system, Monterrey becomes the sixth city in Mexico to adopt BRT, bringing the country’s total up to 248.5 kilometres.

The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) has long advocated for BRT in Monterrey, and has been involved with its development from the early stages. Members of the ITDP Mexico team worked with the State Government to draft the conceptual designs, assuring that aspects of a complete street design and non-motorised accessibility were included. By incorporating intermodal connections with the metro and pedestrian paths, prepaid tickets which are shared with the Metro system, and level, accessible boarding, the Ecovía is expected to score highly on the BRT Standard scorecard.

The corridor runs between Terminal Lincoln in the West and Terminal Valle Solando in the East, with 39 stations connecting them and several feeder bus systems connecting at the terminals. The buses will use advanced GPS to coordinate route information, and will run on compressed natural gas. The system is anticipated to reduce carbon emissions by more than 16,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.

Since León’s Optibus became the country’s first BRT in 2003, Mexico has rapidly expanded its BRT network. After the 2005 opening of Mexico City’s Metrobús, representatives from cities across the country have come to see the system as they developed plans for their own corridors, underscoring the importance of demonstration projects in proving the benefits of BRT. Monterrey now joins Mexico City, Guadalajara, León, Puebla, and Chihuahua in their adoption of BRT. Together, these systems carry over 1.5 million passengers a day.