Officials from Lanzhou, China, a city which just saw the opening of China’s second high-capacity BRT, visited Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba in a study tour hosted by ITDP Brazil in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF). Over the last week of January and early February, the group met with Brazilian officials, visited transport and development projects, and shared experiences and best practices in urban mobility from the two cities.

Over five days spent in Rio de Janeiro, the delegation visited and learned about the various transit and NMT improvements the city has made over the past year. The group visited Rio’s first world-class BRT corridor, ‘Transoeste’, its first bike sharing system, ‘BikeRio’, and took meetings with the Secretary of Transport (SMTR) and Secretary of Enviroment (SMAC), whose officies are responsible for the projects. They visited the construction site of the new metro expansion, the city’s regional train system and the cable cars at the favela ‘Complexo do Alemão’. In addition, the team attended a presentation on clean fuels given by C40 Cities, one of ITDP’s partner organizations.

The delegation was particularly impressed with Transoeste’s speed, station design system to assure consistent bus alignment and gap between the bus and the platform. They also showed great interest in the real-time bus information and control center, along with Transoeste’s accessibility features, such as ramps and gates that accomodate disabled passengers. They also enjoyed car-free Sunday in Rio’s South Zone, and commented on the the segregated cycle lanes and traffic signs for bikes.

The delegation, consisting of several deputy directors, policy consultants, and transport experts from the city of Lanzhou, the ADB, and CAF, also traveled to Curitiba with two ITDP Brazil team members and met with city officials to learn about the city’s innovative BRT system and its carefully planned integration with land-use planning and transit-oriented development.