Express buses—characterized by limited stops and sometimes higher frequencies or priority traffic measures—offer a cost-effective and efficient way to boost service convenience and reliability for riders. This paper assesses how the accessibility benefits of express bus route policy are distributed in Montreal, Canada, while providing a pathway for public transportation agencies to assess their policies and plans. To isolate the impact of bus express routes, we use General Transit Speed Specification (GTFS) data, the Open Trip Planner multimodal routing engine, and the 2013 edition of Montreal’s origin-destination survey to contrast travel time and accessibility at the trip and census-tract levels under two scenarios: one with the existing, complete network and the second a counterfactual scenario with no express bus routes. Our results indicate that bus express routes enable an overall increase in accessibility for the overall population. However, the accessibility benefits do not accrue evenly, as expected, but also tend to benefit a more significant number of higher incomes. This occurs despite the location of low-income populations in some outlying areas of the city, which express bus routes are supposed to serve. This paper closes with policy recommendations that help planners balance economic, environmental, and equity goals, perhaps one of the most complex challenges they face nowadays.

中文翻译：

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谁的快速通道？评估加拿大蒙特利尔公交快车路线的公平影响

快速巴士——其特点是停靠次数有限，有时频率更高或采取优先交通措施——提供了一种经济高效的方式来提高乘客的服务便利性和可靠性。本文评估了加拿大蒙特利尔快速公交路线政策的可达性收益如何分布，同时为公共交通机构评估其政策和计划提供了途径。为了隔离公交快车路线的影响，我们使用通用交通速度规范 (GTFS) 数据、Open Trip Planner 多模式路线引擎和 2013 年版的蒙特利尔起点-目的地调查来对比旅行时间和出行和人口普查的可达性——两种情景下的道路水平：一种是现有的完整网络，另一种是没有快速公交路线的反事实情景。我们的研究结果表明，快速公交路线能够全面提高总体人口的可达性。然而，可及性收益并没有像预期的那样平均累积，而且往往会使更多的高收入人群受益。尽管低收入人口位于城市的一些边远地区，但这种情况仍然会发生，这些地区应该服务快速公交路线。本文最后提出政策建议，帮助规划者平衡经济、环境和公平目标，这也许是他们当今面临的最复杂挑战之一。尽管低收入人口位于城市的一些边远地区，但这种情况仍然会发生，这些地区应该服务快速公交路线。本文最后提出政策建议，帮助规划者平衡经济、环境和公平目标，这也许是他们当今面临的最复杂挑战之一。尽管低收入人口位于城市的一些边远地区，但这种情况仍然会发生，这些地区应该服务快速公交路线。本文最后提出政策建议，帮助规划者平衡经济、环境和公平目标，这也许是他们当今面临的最复杂挑战之一。