美國羅德島普羅維登斯的東側無軌電車隧道（East Side Trolley Tunnel）是世界上第一條公車專用道，1948年該隧道由無軌電車轉供公共汽車使用。但世界上第一座BRT系統則由加拿大渥太華的渥太華卡爾頓交通局（OC Transpo）於1973年推出。其具有BRT的的第一個要件——專用道，該專用道穿過市中心並設有月台供公車停靠。1983年引進專用且分隔式的公車專用道（稱為「Transitway」）。1996年，最初計畫長31公里的公車專用道系統都已啟用營運；且分別於2009年、2011年和2014年擴張。2019年，Transitway的中心部分已被改建為輕軌，原因是市中心區的載客量已超出原先計畫所能負荷的上限[5]。
1974年巴西庫里奇巴（Curitiba）啟用整合交通網（葡萄牙語：Rede Integrada de Transporte）（Rede Integrada de Transporte, RIT），是世界第二座BRT系統[6]:5[7]。 BRT相關的大多數要件都是由建築師暨時任庫里奇巴市長傑梅勒納（Jaime Lerner）首先提出[8][9]。最初只在市中心主要幹道設置公車專用道，但1980年庫里奇巴BRT新增支線公車與社區路網，更於1992年引進站外收費、封閉式車站和無階化乘車。巴西其他BRT甚至有進一步的創新，包括在阿雷格里港採用列隊行駛（三輛公車同時進出車站但只使用一組交通號誌進行控制），而聖保羅則是增建通過車道並運行特快車等不同的運行模式[10]。
在美國，BRT起於匹茲堡，1977年該市開始營運總長4.3英里的南公車專用道（South Busway）
[11]。它的成功促成了1983年小馬丁·路德·金恩東公車專用道（ Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway ）的設置，該系統提供其中包括9.1英里（14.6公里）的公車專用道、優先號誌以及經尖峰時段間隔2分鐘發車的服務。在1990年全長5.1英里（8.2公里）的西公車專用道（West Busway）開業後，匹茲堡的公車專用道系統現已超過18.5英里長。
Cervero, Robert, The Transit Metropolis, Island Press, Washington, D.C.: 265–296, 1998, ISBN 978-1-55963-591-2, Chapter 10/Creating a Linear City with a Surface Metro: Curitiba Brazil
Lotshaw, Stephanie. Profiles of American BRT: Pittsburgh's South Busway and East Busway. Streetsblog USA. 2011-06-20 [2015-09-01]. （原始內容存檔於2015-02-03）. Pittsburgh’s leadership on the urban sustainability front is not a recent phenomenon – in fact, it was the first city in the United States to implement elements of bus rapid transit, and it paved the way for more robust U.S. BRT systems. In 1977, only three years after Curitiba, Brazil implemented the world’s first BRT system, Pittsburgh opened the South Busway, 4.3 miles of exclusive bus lanes, running through previously underserved areas of the city, from the western suburbs to the downtown. The city was concerned about worsening traffic congestion, and, lacking the funds to rehabilitate the city's streetcar lines, took inspiration from Curitiba and created the South Busway. Funding for the system came from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the state of Pennsylvania and Allegheny County. The Port Authority of Allegheny County, a county-owned, state-funded agency, operates the system. The success of the South Busway helped the city leverage funding for the expansion of the network, and in 1983, the Martin Luther King, Jr. East Busway opened. The East Busway began as a 6.8-mile network, with an additional 2.3 miles added in 2003, connecting the eastern suburbs with downtown. Fifteen bus routes run along its corridor. Its current weekday ridership is 25,600, with annual ridership close to 7 million. The East Busway built on the success of its predecessor and offered fundamental BRT features including a dedicated busway, service as frequent as every two minutes during peak period, signal prioritization, and direct service operations (more on that soon). However, there is no off-board fare collection. Instead, passengers pay upon entrance for in-bound trips and upon exit for outbound trips, which helps reduce delays in service because of fare collection.
Kaenzig, Robin; Mobereola, Dayo; Brader, Colin. Africa's First Bus Rapid Transit System. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 2011-02-04, 2193: 1–8. ISSN 0361-1981. doi:10.3141/2193-01（英語）.
Venter, Christoffel. Assessing the potential of bus rapid transit-led network restructuring for enhancing affordable access to employment – The case of Johannesburg's Corridors of Freedom. Research in Transportation Economics. 2016, 59: 441–449. doi:10.1016/j.retrec.2016.05.006. hdl:2263/60793.
