Re: Guided Busways - an alternative to branch lines?

On 28 Jan, 15:27, Les Brown <gunze...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:12:48 -0800 (PST), Stephen Allcroft

<stephenallcr...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 24 Jan, 17:14, Les Brown <gunze...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<snip>

1/ Guided bus mechanism was built for Mercedes buses. I understand they no
longer make them.

Mecedes Benz built kerb-guidance for its own buses, so did MCW (WMPTE
Tracline) and these days Scania and Volvo (among others) build kerb-
guided buses, some others (Irisbus and Bombardier inter alia) use
other types of guidance.

Are they compatible systems? Can the Mercedes kerb guidance system work with
Scania and Volvo buses? Are they all low-floor for easy disabled passenger
access? Can the guidance system cope buses of varying width?

The MCW kerb-guidance system and the modern Scania/Volvo one are
compatible as First used a Metrobus to train its drivers, as for
width, the Metrobuses were 2.5m and the modern kerb guided buses 2.55,
I doubt you'd want to use an Albion Nimbus or a SlimLine Optare Solo
on a guideway. MCW Metrobuses and M_B O305Gs were low-floor for their
time. How low floor and acessible are the trams in Blackpool?

2/ The cost of the guided bus "permenant way" is more expensive than
light-rail.

Figures?

Confusing. Actual costs for light rail permenant way, I think are lower, but
because light-rail's overhead electricity supply and distribution  are
included in construction costs, it appears more expensive.

Nice assertion, but even before it was extended the light rail Tyne
and Wear Metro (the sort of use of old heavy rail alignments you
favour) couldn't cover its capital costs.


3/ Light rail is perceived as being more environmentaly friendly these days.
The price of oil reaching US$147 a barrell, was a wake up jolt to many..

Why, because its powered by a big remote power station. Trolleybuses
exist outside museums you know.  For example, Wrightbus' latest
diesel electric version of Street Car is based on a  Hess trolleybus
chassis, so the perception of environmental benefit could be provided
by stringing up some knitting above a kerb-guided busway.

Sure I've heard of them. They're sort of like rubber-tyred trams, aren't
they?

If you are going to string up two wires instead of one, and build a more
expensive "track" than for light rail, it hardly justifies the expense.

I doubt that the overhead is the limiting factor, or why hasn't there
been more deisel trams; as I asked earlier, do you have costs per mile
for Tramway, Trolleybuses and kerb-guided busways.


Not alll power is supplied by coal-powered generators. It is possible to
supply electricity by other means; wind, wave, solar and nuclear. The best
you can power a bus with is used cooking oil. It's not less polluting but it
does get rid of an unwanted pollutant.

I know that, a lot is supplied by gas which would be better used
directly for heating and cooking, and used as a feedstock. I didn't
mention the source of the power, just the fact it was produced
remotely with the transmission innefficiencies implied.


The oil "shock" was not so much a realisation of the reliance on a lmited
non-renewable energy resource, but in the sudden awareness that the supply
of this resource is determined by the whims of some pretty unstable
countries, playing poker with the economies and welfare of oil-reliant
counties. The likely destablising of these reliant countries would be
justification for the despotic rule.of the countries supplying the oil..

Agreed, so?





The UK seems to toy with the idea every few years, but sanity seems to
prevail and nothing ever comes of it.

Leeds, Runcorn, Cambridge-Huntingdon, North Kent, and the Bedfordshire
scheme on the way. Not all kerb-guided I grant you but I wouldn't be
surprised there are rather more busways than new tramways in the
pipeline.

Ok, so they build a busway, instead of an O-Bahn, fair enough, they can
always build a  tramline on the busway later on.

One major problem with busways and the O-Bahn is that sooner or later, the
bus has to "mix it" with regular motor vehicles at some point of their
journey. Unlike buses, rail does not add to road congestion.

Then there is the public's preference for fixed rail over road. A rail or
two in the ground is indicative in most people's minds, that public
transport passes by, and does more to advertise public transport than a pole
near the kerb with a picture of a bus.

If you say so.

Getting the bus home now.

.

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