Bus rapid transit has become an increasingly popular investment in cities in the Global South, where policy discourse often positions BRT as a pro-poor investment. Planners usually expect BRT to reduce commute times in urban areas, particularly for economically disadvantaged populations, thus reducing mobility gaps between transit users across different socioeconomic population groups. Despite increased interest in BRT, there is surprisingly limited research testing these assumptions. Using data from a retrospective survey administered in Barranquilla, Colombia, and Cape Town, South Africa, we investigated whether BRT contributes to reducing commute time gaps between socioeconomic populations. Our comparative and distributional analyses indicate that, while BRT narrowed the gap in commute times in Cape Town, it did not contribute to closing the gap in Barranquilla. We argue that this contradiction may, in part, be explained by the degree to which BRT route configuration responded to the urban form and pre-BRT transit conditions in each city—two factors often overlooked in academic literature and discussions surrounding BRT planning. We close by providing policy recommendations that promote more equitable planning practices and recognize the links between transport and land uses in the Global South urban context.

中文翻译：

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更短的通勤时间，但为谁？比较快速公交对南非开普敦和哥伦比亚巴兰基亚通勤时间的分配影响

快速公交已成为全球南方城市越来越受欢迎的投资，在这些城市，政策讨论经常将 BRT 定位为有利于穷人的投资。规划者通常期望 BRT 能够减少城市地区的通勤时间，特别是对于经济上处于不利地位的人群，从而减少不同社会经济人群中公交用户之间的流动性差距。尽管人们对 BRT 越来越感兴趣，但测试这些假设的研究却出人意料地有限。我们使用在哥伦比亚巴兰基亚和南非开普敦进行的一项回顾性调查的数据，调查了 BRT 是否有助于减少社会经济人群之间的通勤时间差距。我们的比较和分布分析表明，虽然 BRT 缩小了开普敦的通勤时间差距，它无助于缩小巴兰基亚的差距。我们认为，这种矛盾的部分原因可能在于 BRT 路线配置对每个城市的城市形态和 BRT 前交通条件的反应程度——这两个因素在学术文献和围绕 BRT 规划的讨论中经常被忽视。最后，我们提供政策建议，促进更公平的规划实践，并承认全球南方城市环境中交通与土地利用之间的联系。