In planning Rio de Janeiro's bus rapid transit (BRT) system, integration with bicycles is getting significant attention. Planners are not only using bikes as feeders to the system, but are also considering adding separated bike lanes along the route.

Observations by Randall Crane (UCLA Department of Urban Planning) on Bogotá, Colombia and Curitiba, Brazil, two cities renowned in planning circles for their aggressive innovations in bus rapid transit (BRT) and other urban sustainability measures.

Mayor Enrique Peñalosa's unorthodox initiatives transformed the megacity of Bogota, Colombia from a sprawling, polluted, violent mess a into successfully model for mobility, social equity and --perhaps most surprisingly-- citizen happiness. This lengthy article describes what Peñalosa did, how he did it, and what lessons might be learned by North American cities.

As cities grow and fuel becomes more expensive, modern bus systems are getting a surge of attention from officials, planners and engineers. In this article, IEEE Spectrum --the magazine of the world's largest professional technology association-- looks at the operations and technology behind the world's most technologically complex bus system, in São Paulo, Brazil.