Mason Corridor BRT

Located in northern Colorado along the front of the Rockies, Fort Collins is a thriving city that was experiencing increasing traffic congestion along College Avenue, its busiest street. IBI Group was retained in 2009 to integrate the new BRT system into the city’s master plan to improve overall access, enhancing mobility and circulation for automobile users, pedestrians, and bicyclists who travel along the busy corridor.

The Mason Corridor BRT is a five-mile system operating in mixed traffic for approximately two miles in the city’s downtown core. For the remaining three miles, the BRT operates in a dedicated guideway located between South Mason St. and the Colorado State University Campus which houses three BRT stations.

IBI provided a wide range of services including final design for BRT station area planning, station architecture of shelters and signage, transit operations, fare collection feasibility studies, and BRT major investment study plans. Station’s design includes side platform or a center island platform with passenger amenities, and provides a unique, easily recognizable ‘icon’ identifier.

The system’s intelligent transportation system (ITS) elements include: closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, public address (PA) systems, variable message signs (VMS), blue light emergency telephone (ETEL), ticket vending machines (TVM) and ticket validators (TV), and LCD displays to provide system information and marketing information at the stations and stops.

As part of this project, a fare collection study was conducted during the preliminary design phase, focusing on comparing alternatives for off-board vs. onboard fare collection, as well as for incorporating a smart card payment system with the capability to accept the existing smart card system already used for ID/payment by Colorado State University students.