The Oil Drum

First of all, there's nothing unreal about CNG, in fact the Orange Line buses in LA are CNG articulated buses. NYC has a fleet of hybrid buses, and I've even seen a fuel cell bus in service, though I think it was a unique example. The problems with Orange Line style BRT amount to the inability to provide crossing gates, the slowness of the buses, and the generally cramped interior of buses and lack of MU ability. Basically, what this amounts to is that service is considerably slower than a light rail line would have been (by at least 50%), and buses get more crowded. Another important issue is the narrowness of the busway, which has two lanes and no shoulder, with oncoming buses passing at 55 mph. It would have been safer with rails.

A side issue is that this is primarily a feeder service for the heavy rail Red Line, but the bus service has to run at half the headway, leading to bunching and a service of two buses every 10 minutes instead of one every five. Oh, and some sections of the pavement had to be replaced after something like 8 months, though I think they replaced asphalt with concrete in curves, so I think it should last a while longer this time around.

I'm not partial to diesel, either. I don't know about fuel cells but electric buses work well all over the world.

These ones don't even need overhead wires:
http://www.tecnobus.it/home/en/prodotti.html

Consider the abject failure of the Shirley Busway (in DC area) versus the later Blue Line of DC Metro. Both servicing the same corridor.

http://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_00004.htm

Alan

"Plus, people just don't like stinky diesel buses. I mentioned this to one BRT advocate, and they started talking about CNG or even fuel cells. Oh, please."

Then the Electric BRT in Quito, Ecuador would be more to your liking. It is similar to Bogota in many ways, including very high ridership throughout the day, but quieter and cleaner, with a surprisingly smooth ride and great acceleration. Go there ... Quito is a nice city.

Obviously there are differences between the customer experience on a bus vs. a train car. Rail cars are smoother and less bouncy, and if electric do not generate local exhaust.

However, is it worth it, if you can haul four times as many people on a subway-like bus system as on a subway system that has the same cost?

The point Ericy makes about the system needing to be designed to succeed is key. It is easier to fail than to succeed.

The most wonderful thing would be of course if AC Transit restored the most important part of the Key System network: the Transbay route. I imagine that it would be cheaper than building a new BART tunnel, and given that the current one is already at capacity, something will have to be done about it sooner or later. A streetcar system, especially with a transbay route, could be very beneficial for Oakland, especially if the city agrees to greatly increase density along the lines and reduce car-dependent uses, for example by allowing supermarkets and other stores with minimal parking. It could provide a nice relief and make Oakland the most affordable and pleasant place to live in the Bay Area.

The OIO task force is enamored with BRT. I'm not sure they will have much luck carving out 4 lanes for a Bogota-style BRT system down Telegraph or any other major street in Oakland. Oakland is not going to become Oil Independent by buying more oil powered buses. Ironic.

PS: my most unpleasant shock (ever) in riding public transit was going to the southern terminus of the Miami Metrorail and transferring to their BRT (exclusive busway built on old RR ROW).

I noted that *ALL* of the apparently middle class riders had exited at earlier stops or walked towards the Park & Ride lots. I exited a quite nice, fast smooth train and waited for the bus.

I ended up crammed nose to underarm swaying in a bus with overworked air conditioning.

EVERY BRT supporter should make that transition in Miami !

Buses move in multiple directions at once, which makes it more difficult to brace one self, engine vibrations, wheelchair access is MUCH more problematic, ergonomics of entering and exiting are typically much worse.

And, quite frankly, there is a cultural cache. I saw New Orleans only billionaire on an 80 year old un-air conditioned streetcar several times as he commuted to work. You would have NEVER seen Pat Taylor on a public bus !

Best Hopes for Buses as Feeders to Urban Rail,

Alan

Add to that list one of the most important problems with anything "bus": transience. Any Transit Oriented Development will represent a huge fixed investment. The French word for real estate, "immeuble", exists for a reason. Busses of any kind are the exact opposite - here this morning, potentially rerouted by this afternoon. That's simply not a sound basis for real-estate investment. The rail modes, OTOH, require a sense of commitment. That's both their curse and their blessing.

Calgary has an excellent light rail system known as the CTrain which passes through the downtown business district and extends out to the suburbs. It is quiet, fast and much more comfortable than buses for long commutes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctrain

Under a program called "Ride the Wind", energy for the CTrain is produced by wind power:

http://www.calgarytransit.com/environment/ride_d_wind.html

There are 12 windmills located in Southern Alberta that generate the wind-power. The equivalent amount of power used by the CTrain is sent to the main power grid.
...
It is expected that the "Ride the Wind" program will increase power costs by less than one-half of one cent per passenger.

Why can't crossing gates be employed just like they are for grade crossings with light rail?

They can but its more cost in infrastructure - if you have been to the valley at night the lighting/signing scheme is a major change from the old railroad line. It can be confusing if you are not aware that the buses are running, and thy have to stop at times for the cross traffic.

Well that's the crux of it, innit'?
If you can repurpose preexisting roadways (as with HOV lanes) - BRT is much more expensive over time, and very cheap to put in place. When you factor in as much infrastructure as Bogota did into the system (which looks quite good), it would be much easier to just use rail. But there's no guaranteeing that the political will to build an entirely new rail network existed - while slowly expanding bus coverage over preexisting infrastructure was much easier to do incrementally.

"As for buses, cabs, trams and trolley buses; history."
That seems a little hyperbolic. No, it seems a lot hyperbolic. That thing in the pix looks like a little cousin to the Tokyo Monorail, or a less little cousin to the monorail pods at Newark Airport. It should change tracks more easily than a monorail, but then monorail was always a dumb idea.

It runs on a track ("guideway" being the fancy name used to market it as "advanced") and it stops at stations, that's perfectly clear from the pix. No liability insurer in the world would insure a fully automated vehicle that stopped just anywhere like a cab, not yet anyway. So it's just another podbahn on a track, a one-car train, that's all, zzzzz. And from the look of it, 3cm of snow or 1mm of ice will bring it to a complete halt. As if the UK wasn't already a laughingstock for perpetually having the wrong kind of snow or leaves on the line.

So as a one-car train, it's only "door to door" if you use a very specialized definition of "door". On that definition, Paris Metro Line 14 is also door to door - as you can see in the picture, there are doors on the station platforms.

So when will this podbahn be coming to your door or my door, which is what most of us mean by "door to door", and what you need to mean if you expect it to replace cabs? Maybe by 2200? Maybe never?

Another gadgetbahn. Operate it, and a half dozen more, for a decade in all sorts of climates. And then release the operating costs and other operating issues, life expectancy of the rolling stock and infrastructure and I will consider it then.

Hint: I do not expect a half dozen more to be built.

Alan

BTW, PRT pods always seemed to be a cheaper alternative than hotel rooms by the hour for "working girls" and their Johns. They might leave a mess behind.