Dave,
On Friday, Aug 6, 2004, at 11:19 Europe/London, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> The cost of the former 100-150% more than a guided bus of equivalent
> capacity is tempting some authorities to consider this as a more 
> flexible, less
> costly option for on-street and reserved track running.  2-wheel road 
> users  also
> view this with delight - as they no longer have rais to contend with, 
> and
> equally ther are less likely to ber claims on the scale of Roe vs 
> Supertram and
> others, which accompanies 2 reported cyclist deaths on the Sheffield  
> system
>
> With the IVECO (Renault) CIVIS coming to Manchester for 10 days to 
> show a
> typical on-street vehicle, it might be opportune to ask after any  
> literature or
> other material to discuss the pros anbd cons between tram and  pseudo 
> tram.
> Also out for consultation is a major on-street proposal for W  London 
> where
> the 40m 300 passenger vehicles are the biggest allowed but are  
> actually longer
> than the equivalent capacity of buses, and pronmise major  upheavals 
> in moving
> services and track construction.

There are various studies, and the LRTA (Light Rail Transit 
Association) have a range of small papers on the subject, albeit from 
something of a biased perspective.

Almost everything I've read comes to pretty much the same conclusions:

Guided bus is cheaper, primarily because track is only provided where 
it is needed to overcome traffic problems (as in the schemes in Leeds 
and Bradford, where you will notice a. that track is not provided along 
the whole length of the route, and b. that there are differing amounts 
in different places townbound and outbound)

Total track laying costs for both are in the region of £1 million per 
km, both need utility diversions and the concrete tracks are laid to a 
much higher standard than normal road, need approx 50cm "margin" 
between them and the road, and apparently are classified as "railways".

Vehicle costs for guided bus are much lower, and in a scheme like East 
Leeds / elite can be offset by the fact you are often replacing life 
expired buses anyway. Typical costs are climed in the region of 20-30% 
higher than a normal bus, or something around £120,000 for a single 
deck vehicle. On the other hand, Civis is rumoured to cost around 
£700,000 per vehicle, and trams are typically over £1 million each 
(though with much larger passenger capacity, of course)

Only light rail is shown to have created significant modal shift from 
the car, while guided bus tends to abstract more from other 
conventional bus services. However, there are still strong upward 
trends in passenger numbers (reportedly over 10% per annum growth on 
Leeds Scott Hall Road against decline in the rest of the city, though 
growing road congestion is changing the pattern and Scott Hall Road 
services are now double the frequency they were 4 years ago when I used 
to live up there).

In addition, both Leeds York Road / elite and Bradford Manchester Road 
schemes have bus stops provided on street as well as in the guideways, 
as on roads also served by interurban buses, often from different 
operators, it can be difficult to guarantee availability of guided 
buses and trained drivers. In addition, express services don't use the 
guideways as they get held up behind slower "town" services. Giles 
Fearnley of Yorkshire Coastliner (who run on York Road) has offered 
this explanation as to why his buses aren't fitted with guidewheels. In 
addition, the four miles or so of the entire York Road scheme 
(including both guideway, bus lanes and running with traffic) are only 
a small part of the route for services between Leeds, Scarborough and 
Whitby.

Despite the success of the York Road / elite scheme in Leeds, there are 
still serious shortcomings that have worked in favour of those 
promoting the Supertram system:

Guided busway in a pedestrian area is impossible, and keeping cars out 
of the bus only areas in Leeds is proving difficult at the moment.

Guided busway does not offer the security of route that a light rail, 
with a fixed track does. Indeed the Scott Hall Road services have 
changed several times in the last 10 years. Granted , that can also be 
stated as an advantage, and over the core guided section the route 
doesn't change.

Ride at 30mph on a guided busway is not always comfortable for standing 
passengers, especially the "jolt" where the bus changes from normal to 
guided operation.

I'm not against guided bus, it's just that I think light rail is a more 
practical proposition for big cities, but guided bus is more suitable 
for corridors where there is a very diverse range of origins.

By the way, when is the Civis in Manchester, and will it be 
demonstrated in use?
-- 
Anzir Boodoo MRes MILT Aff. IRO
transcience, Leeds Innovation Centre, 103 Clarendon Road, LEEDS LS2 9DF