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Far East Mobility's mission is to help cities plan, design and implement successful BRT and sustainable transport corridors which then inspire replication in other cities.
We are a Guangzhou-based, Hong Kong registered company (the Far East BRT Planning Co., Limited) set up in 2015 to further this mission. Members of Far East Mobility’s team of key experts led the planning, design and implementation of Asia’s two 'Gold Standard' BRT systems in Guangzhou and Yichang, as documented here, and worked on the planning design of numerous BRT systems around Asia.
BRT done well offers the potential of metro-like levels of capacity, passenger service and speed at a fraction of the cost of metro systems. BRT also has a much faster implementation time frame and can rapidly provide a citywide reach, since BRT buses can enter and leave the BRT corridor. BRT done poorly provides none of these benefits. Unfortunately, most BRT systems in Asia perform below expectations, and many are outright failures which likely provide no net benefit to either public transport passengers or other road users. The genesis of a failed or poorly performing BRT system can usually be traced back to errors made during the conceptual and preliminary planning stages which are propagated through the later stages of the project. Many cities repeat mistakes made earlier in other cities. Far East Mobility’s wealth of experience in successful BRT project planning, design and implementation can help cities avoid these pitfalls and take advantage of the transformative potential of BRT corridors integrated with wider urban development and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) strategies and approaches.
Far East Mobility draws on regular consultants as well as full-time staff, researchers and engineers in the fields of BRT, parking, non-motorized transport planning, road design, traffic management, and transit-oriented development. We regularly cooperate on projects with BRT Planning International, LLC, and we have a close working relationship with the Guangzhou Municipal Engineering Design and Research Institute (GMEDRI). Far East Mobility experts have worked with GMEDRI on many projects over the last 15 years, in China and around the region.
Xiaomei Duan presenting at a conference in Kazan, Russia in May 2016 and Karl Fjellstrom being interviewed by Phoenix TV in 2012.
Far East Mobility staff discuss the Peshawar BRT design in June 2016.
Karl Fjellstrom and Du Yipeng from Far East Mobility presented BRT issues and improvement proposals at a Guangzhou Communications Commission meeting with a visiting Shanghai delegation, 24 March 2017.
Left: Far East Mobility Director Karl Fjellstrom won the Guangzhou Friendship Award in 2011, in recognition of his work on the Guangzhou BRT project. This award is the highest honour given by the Guangzhou Municipal Government to foreign experts. Right: Karl Fjellstrom's awards from the Guangzhou Municipal Government and Lanzhou Municipal Government in recognition of work on the Guangzhou and Lanzhou BRT systems respectively.
Guangzhou won the Sustainable Transport Award in 2011, and Yichang won the Sustainable Transport Award in 2016. Both projects were led by Far East Mobility experts working for ITDP and GMEDRI. Far East Mobility staff have won several major design and other expert awards based on the success of their work in Guangzhou and other cities.
Clockwise from top left: BRT Gold Standard Award ceremony to the Guangzhou BRT in 2013, Yichang Sustainable Transport Award in 2016, Guangzhou Sustainable Transport Award in 2011, and the Guangzhou BRT on display as part of a Smithosonian exhibition in the lobby of the United Nations Building in New York in 2012.