By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

A city in Brazil that most people have never heard of may end up playing a crucial role in Honolulu's transportation future.

Curitiba, a coastal city of 2.2 million people and more than 700,000 cars, is being held up around the world as a model of how so-called "bus rapid transit" systems can move lots of people quickly and efficiently.

Local transportation officials who have visited Curitiba praise its BRT and say the lessons learned there may be invaluable as work on a similar system here moves into the construction phase in the next two years.

"It shows what can be done when you make a commitment to public transit," said Claire Tamamoto, a member of Honolulu's Transportation Commission who visited Curitiba in 2000.

Today, the city has an integrated system built around bus-only corridors. Using double-articulated buses that can hold as many as 270 passengers, a fleet of 1,900 buses makes 14,000 trips a day, serving more than 1.9 million riders. The buses come every 90 seconds and can keep loading times under 20 seconds.

Planners in the United States also praise the way Curitiba implemented a series of zoning rules that steer commercial growth toward the bus lines and promote housing development, parking, employer-paid subsidies, parks, schools and more in the BRT areas.

"Transportation doesn't exist on its own," Tamamoto said. "You need to plan the whole system."

In Honolulu, BRT proponents envision little urban centers developing around some of the main BRT transit sites, just like those that surround European train stations. Waiting for a bus, a passenger might be able to buy coffee and a doughnut, get a haircut, pick up some flowers or book a flight to the Neighbor Islands.

Of course, Curitiba's system can't just be plopped down in Honolulu. Federal officials, who have money available for BRTs across the country, stress that each public transit system has to be tailored to local conditions and needs.

Planners, though, say there is much that U.S. cities can learn from Curitiba's experience, especially the way it built the success of its BRT over more than 20 years, introducing hundreds of modest improvements in stages as money became available. It's an approach already being undertaken in Honolulu, where officials are restructuring hub-and-spoke bus routes and have started a CityExpress service that will feed into the BRT plan.

"It's nice to see somebody has done it before," Tamamoto said. "Sometimes, it's nice to know that you don't have to be the first guy trying new things."

Mike Leidemann's Drive Time column runs Tuesdays. Reach him at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.