Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
Transit
»
Will "BRT" begin the end of new "LRT" development?

Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="marknewton"][quote user="Samantha"] Unlike Adelaide, where the BRT runs on a dedicated right-of-way for a portion of the routes...[/quote] Routes? What routes? There is one O-bahn route, singular, in Adelaide. And it was nothing more than a politically-motivated quick fix. It has never been extended, whereas the Glenelg tramway has been, and will be further extended, as well as getting new rollingstock. Electrification of the Adelaide suburban railway network has also been approved. [quote] Given the numbers that I showed for the implementation of light rail in Austin vs the implementation of BRT, the future value of the difference could cover a lot of maintenance, even if your assertion is true.[/quote] Not my assertion, it was the finding of a series of studies carried out by the Service des ponts et chaussées some years back, comparing tramways to BRT, of which France has both. [url]http://lannuaire.service-public.fr/services_nationaux/conseil,-comite,-commission-organisme-consultatif_171069.html[/url] [quote] I would like to see some verifiable numbers from the people who claim that the cost of maintaining a bus lane in the U.S. is four times the cost of maintaining a tram line. [/quote] [url]http://www.lcpc.fr/en/sources/blpc/index.php[/url] Mark.[/quote]Multiple bus routes use the O-bahn or Adelaide Rapid Bus right-of-way to get from the central business district to outlying areas.  They enter it just outside of the central business district.  At points along the right-of-way it expands into a station plaza.  Some of the buses leave the O-bahn at the plaza and run routes through neighborhoods.  Others continue on to the next plaza, where they repeat the process, while others run to the end of the O-ban, where they too repeat the process.  One clear advantage of the system is that it allows people to stay on the same vehicle, whereas in the case of rail, they must transfer to another vehicle.  Interestingly, in Dallas, with the implementation of the light rail system, some bus riders had their commute time increased because of the need to transfer from the bus to the light rail train.  Light rail and commuter rail makes sense if it can be built on existing rights-of-way or represents an upgrade of existing rail lines, i.e. the Glenelg tramway and electrification of the Adelaide suburban railway.  Accordingly, it would make no sense to extend the O-bahn to duplicate the Glenelg tramway or one of the suburban rail lines.I lived in Melbourne for nearly five years and traveled to Adelaide every month.  I have more than a tourist's perspective of the public transport systems in Adelaide.  I rode a variety of bus routes on the O-bahn.  I also rode every commuter line.  And of course I would not have missed the Glenelg tram, since it stops close to the Hilton Hotel, where I stayed when I was in Adelaide.  I also rode the Overland to and from Melbourne on four occasions, as well as the Indian Pacific to and from Sydney twice.      Nothing in the references that you listed speaks to the cost of maintaining the roadways in the U.S. that hoist RBT.  I did not say that you made the assertion; I referenced the fact that other people have made it.  Frankly, I don't believe it.In most areas where RBT has been implemented, at least in the U.S., or where it is envisioned, the buses share the roadway with a variety of vehicles.  Most of the dedicated lanes are not walled off or wholly dedicated to RBT.  They are usually the right hand lane through congested areas, i.e. the central business district, or they are HOV lanes, as is the case in Dallas.  Buses, because they are heavier, cause more damage to roadways than cars, but less damage then heavy trucks.  Thus, when it comes time to repair the roadways, it would be fair to say that the portion of the cost attributable to the bus is greater than that attributable to cars, although less than that attributable to trucks, but that does not make the case for saying that the cost of maintaining the roadway over which RBT operates is four times greater than the cost of maintaining a light rail or commuter rail line.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag