The future of Leeds guided bus way

[edwin_m]

I can see that signage would be tricky, but making the buses faster than cars is utterly fundamental to successfully getting people onto public transport.

Busways can achieve that by avoiding traffic queues - the top speed is probably not a significant factor in journey time on the Leeds busways although it may be in Cambridgeshire. They have the advantage over tramways that infrastructure is only needed on the congested parts of the route - according to a senior First Group person this was the rationale for Scott Hall Road, but it doesn't apply to the long continuous busways elsewhere. Of course this can backfire if traffic increases and congestion spreads to other sections.

 

[Deerfold]

Busways can achieve that by avoiding traffic queues - the top speed is probably not a significant factor in journey time on the Leeds busways although it may be in Cambridgeshire. They have the advantage over tramways that infrastructure is only needed on the congested parts of the route - according to a senior First Group person this was the rationale for Scott Hall Road, but it doesn't apply to the long continuous busways elsewhere. Of course this can backfire if traffic increases and congestion spreads to other sections.

The speed may be advantageous in Cambridgeshire, but avoiding queues is definitely key. Shortly before it opened I commuted between Cambridge and Huntingdon for a few days. Catching the same peak-time evening bus took 40 minutes longer on the Tuesday than it had on the Monday with on-time departures from Cambridge both days.

 

[philthetube]

Busways built on railway alignments cannot run at high speed if not guided as they are just not wide enough for safe passing at 60mph

 

[charley_17/7]

Crawley's 'Fastway' network seems barely used. They'd be more use as a segregate cycle track, hardly any buses use them. I remember the Bradford one opening, it made the X6 Huddersfield - Bradford - Leeds express slower than it was before, some drivers didn't bother using it, and stuck to the main carriageway as it was quicker!

 

[CBlue]

That sounds like a good example of "how not to do it".

Much like the Ipswich one which is a few hundred yards long at most..

 

[edwin_m]

That sounds like a good example of "how not to do it".

Much like the Ipswich one which is a few hundred yards long at most..

The short busways to avoid congestion hotspots are obviously cheaper than the long ones, but only work if the road network is mostly uncongested.

The fact they are only partly used is yet another consequence of bus deregulation. A rational country would have a contract for the bus operator to use the busway rather than leaving them free to ignore it so the public investment is wasted.

 

[markymark2000]

The short busways to avoid congestion hotspots are obviously cheaper than the long ones, but only work if the road network is mostly uncongested.

The fact they are only partly used is yet another consequence of bus deregulation. A rational country would have a contract for the bus operator to use the busway rather than leaving them free to ignore it so the public investment is wasted.

Busways/bus gates yes, The Ipswich busway is guided for the few hundred yards and many buses need guidewheels specifically for this few hundred yards. I think that is what CBlue was referring to.

 

[neilmc]

When I moved to Manchester over 30 years ago the transport network was poor and overpriced with those silly multi-journey bus tickets whilst Leeds pioneered low off-peak fares. How things have changed - Metrolink has transformed Manchester and environs whilst Leeds is stuck with a useless concrete busway costing money to build and for specialist bus equipment, which some buses use and some don't - and for the York Road corridor I am just old enough to remember trams running down the middle in 1959! You knew that for Cross Gates, Halton and Temple Newsam you stood at the stop on the central reservation, for anything else you waited at the roadside, looks like we've come full circle but without the trams or a proper separation. 60 years of no progress at ridiculous cost.