Editing Bus rapid transit (section)

===Comparison with heavy rail===
Fjellstrom/Wright distributed a map of the mid-term goal to expand Bogota's BRT system, TransMilenio, so that 85% of the city's 7 million inhabitants live within 500m distance to a TransMileneo line. Such an expansion program would be unrealistic for a rail-based MRT-system, according to Bogota's mayor.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fjellstrom |first1=Karl |title=Mass Transit Options, 4.4:Flexibility |website=www.gtz.de |url=https://sutp.org/download/8100/?tmstv=1676136996 |publisher=GTZ on Behalf of Bundesminister für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung|access-date=24 February 2023}}</ref>

An additional use of BRT is the [[Rail replacement bus service|replacement of heavy rail services]], due to infrastructure damage, reduced ridership, or a combination of both where lower maintenance costs are desired while taking advantage of an existing dedicated right of way. One such system in Japan consists of portions of the [[East Japan Railway Company|JR East]] [[Kesennuma Line|Kesennuma]] and [[Ōfunato Line|Ōfunato Lines]], which were catastrophically damaged during the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami]], and later repaired as a bus lane over the same right of way, providing improved service with much lower restoration and maintenance costs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=気仙沼線BRT・大船渡線BRT（バス高速輸送システム）：JR東日本 |url=https://www.jreast.co.jp/railway/train/brt/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=JR東日本：東日本旅客鉄道株式会社 |language=ja}}</ref> Another system set to open in August 2023 is a portion of the JR Kyushu [[Hitahikosan Line]], which was damaged due to torrential rain in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |title=日田彦山線 BRTひこぼしライン 2023年8月28日 開業予定 |url=https://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/train/hikoboshiline/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=日田彦山線 BRTひこぼしライン |language=ja}}</ref> In both cases, ridership had dropped considerably since the lines opened, and the higher capacity of a rail line is no longer needed or cost-effective compared to buses on the same alignments.