The paper offers an analysis of empirical evidence on the equity impacts of operational Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in the Global South. The focus is on vertical equity, i.e. whether BRT systems achieve progressive benefits for poorer segments of the population. Findings from Africa, Asia and Latin America all suggest that BRT does offer significant benefits to lowincome groups, in terms of travel time and cost savings, access enhancement, and safety and health benefits. However benefits are often skewed towards medium-income users and thus less progressive than they might be. Two primary reasons for this are insufficient spatial coverage, and inappropriate fare policies. While many features of BRT potentially allow it to deliver pro-poor outcomes, such outcomes only materialise if BRT implementers pay specific and sustained attention to equity. The paper identifies key issues that need to be addressed to steer BRT implementation towards more socially sustainable outcomes, critical amongst which is to improve integration with other transit, paratransit, and non-motorised transport services, and with the housing sector.

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The City of Johannesburg, South Africa, implemented the first phase of its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system named Rea Vaya between 2009 and 2011. The system design and organisational arrangements drew heavily on precedents from South America, especially insofar as BRT is used as an instrument for securing the transformation and formalisation of a fragmented and problematic informal public transport industry. Despite the inevitable transition problems, the formalisation scheme appears to be generally successful -an outcome that surprised many analysts as it follows a long history of mistrust, resistance, and unsuccessful interventions between government and the minibus taxi industry. The paper offers an analysis of the reasons for the successful transformation of participating taxi operators, by using a life-cycle analogy. We argue that the minibus-taxi industry in South Africa has reached a state of stasis and maturity, with limited opportunities for further growth in its present form. BRT, as it is implemented locally, offers opportunities for re-inventionfor moving onto new a potential growth trajectory -by overcoming the binding constraints of informality and by opening up new markets to operators. The life-cycle analysis also offers some insights into critical success factors that, if not met in the long run, could jeopardize the longevity and scalability of the formalisation project. The paper concludes with insights regarding the planning and management of BRT systems to maximize their potential for leveraging the formalisation of informal operators, both in South Africa and in other developing countries.

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