The way I see it, guided busways in the UK should be a stop-gap to boost the popularity of public transport but ultimately they should be converted to trams wherever possible, expecially if they are already using the right of way left after the Beeching Axe (e.g. Leigh).
That would be called a tram, and I think if they could afford one, they would've installed one instead. Can't fault Leeds for at least trying to improve public transit on a limited budget.
This is in no way shape or form a train. Its a bus and a bus way. Bus ways is not as uncommon as people might think. In many different cities there is a bus way that is simply a dedicated lane for busses. In most cases those are there to grant the buss instant access to the buss stop when there are traffic sitting at the light. BRT system is then simply a bus way system with full or semi full insulation. That is where the bus way have right of way even in crossings. Guided BRT system is again simply a way of reducing the infrastructure cost of a system like that, and space requierment. Busses are very harsh on the sub roads surface. Having concrete pads to drive on spreed the load from the wheels reducing the wear on the subsurface infrastructure. Guiding the buss, reduces the amount of concrete needed. This is not about being fancy, its about making a cost efficient system
That white concrete thing in the middle of the road at the start (0:21) is called a ‘trig point’, but their actual name are triangulation pillars. They basically were placed on top of hills and embankments and they mounted a ‘theodolite’ on top of it and were often accompanied by a ‘flush bracket’. Basically a metal bracket with a unique code with ‘OSBM’ written on it. (Ordnance Survey Benchmark). They used them to measure the distance of heights all the around the UK and IOM using trigonometry. So, this one is pretty lucky to survive given that it’s in the middle of a dual carriageway! But I’m glad it’s preserved and not destroyed.
Unlike Leeds, we have an actual tram network! A big one too! Four lines with a total length of 53.5 km/33 miles. The network has three main lines, and a smaller fourth one. The fourth one was created to connect the Pyongyang Metro station at Kim Il-sung University (Samhung) to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum of my father and grandpa. A Pyongyang Metro station was once at the palace’s site (Kwangmyong), but once it became a mausoleum in 1995, it became sacred ground and thus it was closed with a new tram line built. Most of the network uses Tatra trams made in the former Czechoslovakia but unlike the rest of the network, the tram that runs on this Kumsusan line uses a Swiss tram built in the late 40s that was retired from the Zurich network in 1994 where it was purchased by us the next year.
This seems like overcomplicating the concept of having bus lanes. There is no reason I can think of to have them guided. Bus lanes in themselves are a good and cool concept as they allow buses to bypass choke points making them competitive with cars. But there is no good reason to not have them just be regular lanes where cars are prohibited, that's how they do them over here in the Netherlands and that works just fine.
Interesting concept... however I can already see the downside of this guided busway - if a bus breaks down along the guideway, that entire stretch of guideway would be unusable and other buses would have to join in the congested roads. With a demarcated lane like in Singapore, other buses can easily bypass the broken down bus and return to the bus lane. And of course - the other downside is that buses would have to be retrofitted with guide wheels and that adds additional maintenance costs.
With your first point, yes there would be issues if there was a breakdown (and this wouldn't be surprising with these hybrid buses), however, these sections of bus guideway on Scott Hall Road are not very long so it won't impact too much. And with your second point, I don't think all of the First Leeds buses are fitted with guide wheels, and this has caused issues before, Someone can correct be if I am wrong, but I don't think that the Wright Streetdecks or the Yutong e10s in Leeds have guide wheels, and I know they no longer have their B7TLs so their number of useable vehicles is dwindling! Also, other operators who may run routes along such roads are unable to use the guided bus way (as seen at 6:48 with a Connexions bus not using the guideway) Overall, an interesting but expensive idea with debatable in results
@@joshuaritchie3836 There's a reason why there are very few guided busways in the world. They are not that great an idea. Cambridgeshire County Council is facing legal action over the deaths of two people, there is a chance that no more will be allowed to be built in the UK.
Like others mentioned, Adelaide has this as well. How did Adelaide get it? The greater Adelaide area experienced significant growth during and after WWII, and thus so did the amount of vehicles registered. By the mid-1970s, transportation had become a problem in the north-east suburbs. This led to a study that concluded that a light-rail would be the best option. However, there was opposition because people thought it would interfere with the well-designed layout of the city proper, and that light-rail vehicles would be too noisy. In search of a replacement for the light rail project, they examined the O-Bahn system in Essen in what was then West Germany by Daimler-Benz. The system was seen as far superior to previous proposals; it used less land, made less noise, was faster and cost less. In addition, its unique feature of a non-transfer service direct from suburban streets to the city center made it more attractive. Adelaide's track is 12 km/7.5 mi long and includes three interchanges at Klemzig, Paradise and Tea Tree Plaza. Interchanges allow buses to enter and exit the busway and to continue on suburban routes, avoiding the need for passengers to transfer to another bus to continue their journey.
I would also like to point out that there is no excessive vibration. Most of the time its smooth and way quicker than going by road. Many people drive their cars to one of the Interchange Stations, park in the monitored car parks, then bus to the city. Great for people who don't like driving in the city.
Actually, tramways require Act of Parliament. Leeds has been denied such since 1970s. What you see here is a fob-off from HMG dating back to about late eighties early 90s.
@Pluviophile Our Lords & Masters did not wish for thundering fiery beasts to roam their estates willy nilly. And having obtained their powers, their successors are unlikely to surrender them. Leeds CC is mostly a dependable Labour vote so Labour govs need not give lavish gifts. Tories see no need either. Hence no support from HMG for restoration of tramways in Leeds.
No they didn't, it is a German idea/ design and the UK just copied it like Australia did. However the one in Adelaide (Australia) was the longest in the world with one bus stop and 2 interchanges, it was also the fastest in the world with buses running at 100kmh and in peak hour they were doing this with a bus length between buses. The one in Adelaide used rigid and articulated buses.
@@IDriveBuses Adelaide didn't "copy" the idea, they consulted with Daimler Benz for the proposal. I've ridden the full length of the Adelaide O-Bahn, it's a brilliant concept that should be widely used in cities with rapidly expanding suburbs where it's not feasible to have trackway in the old city centre. In Adelaide case the city was meticulously planned in a grid system that wouldn't be suitable for change to accommodate trackway.
Looks like the same system used in Cambridge, part of which is actually on an abandoned rail line. Much more sensible than letting the busses get snarled up in traffic jams! Might even encourage one or two people to use the bus and leave the car at home.
Normal bus are already inefficient compared to rail, adding those guided wheels are gonna reduce the efficiency more. Might as well make trams instead...
"It's smooth, it's quiet and an altogether delightful experience." Like riding a real train - assuming you are riding your trains while sitting on a washing machine in its spin cycle. (To be fair, I'm inferring that from the rattling of the bus' interior, which probably just means the buses are built like crap.) And it *is* cheaper than both train tracks and normal bus lanes.
It's far more expensive than a bus lane and if you talk about overall costs, check out the Cambridgeshire experience. Many have been abandoned around the world, and even the inventor of the idea has come out against it.
This seems like overcomplicating the concept of having bus lanes. There is no reason I can think of to have them guided. Bus lanes in themselves are a good and cool concept as they allow buses to bypass choke points making them competitive with cars. But there is no good reason to not have them just be regular lanes where cars are prohibited, that's how they do them over here in the Netherlands and that works just fine.
Well, it looks like a wonderful compromise. But it also looks to be a bumpy ride on this video. To me an electric lowfloor tramsystem is the better solution. I know: Leeds had a tram in the past, but it is never too late to review decisions from the past and make a new start: Nottingham, Birmingham, Croydon, Manchester and Sheffield are examples of such a reviewing. The oldfashioned trams has disappeared in the 50th / 60th in favor of buses and cars (which was seen as THE solution at the time), and now a modern system with lowfloor trams is in use. Succesfully...
Only posible due to using an old train track reserve ( from when the government got rid of so many branch lines. Excellent to see the "line" repurposed for a good way. The first such busway was built in Germany and used as a combination bus and tramway in tunnels and called an O-Bahn. The second such busway was built in South Australia and is also called an O-Bahn (given German is the second language of South Australia). It's been up and running in Australia for over 40 years and is efficient and popular.
I notice, after several viewings of the video, that obeying traffic lights is optional. I have travelled on the Cambridge Busway, where the ride is a lot smoother than this, but it has still turned out to be a very expensive system, plagued with construction faults. It would have been cheaper to reinstate the train service over the abandoned line in the North of the city. As for Leeds, the city has my sympathy because the government action/inaction/dithering/incompetence etc. led to schemes for a tramway being dropped- this busway is a poor substitute, especially so seeing the junctions.
Doesn't get stuck in traffic, and doesn't go where I need to go, and doesn't come anywhere near where I live. But great for densely populated cities - particularly the "metro areas" that are usually made up of dozens to scores of "smaller" cities that have effectively become one huge, densely populated city.
If there is separation, a conventional road would also work for places with lower budget. Plus it can allow the bus to go faster. Eventually the solution is to switch to trams.
Regular trams would most likely be faster and more efficient, while also running on electricity instead of gas, at least for now. This just seems like a solution looking for a problem. Public transport should be more mainstream, but this is not the best way.
The main justification that I'm seeing for this over a tram is the use of existing infrastructure (buses, roads), so the bus can also seamlessly travel on roads that do not need a seperate busway to bypass traffic.
It’s a glorified bus lane if they’re going to put tracks into the road they might as well run a tram or train with multiple carriages which holds more people
Adelaide also has such busways too. However, main problem are the 4 idiots that drive onto the busway and have their oil pans demolished per year and causing delays. A good idea is also to fence it because people might inadvertently walk onto these busways, especially if drunk. Singapore should also have these, but underground to save space.
In my opinion the whole point of a bus is so that it can use existing infrastructure, and that if you want traffic-free travel you should just use a train. Although I do see how this is more cost effective as it's easier to build/maintain than train tracks
@@JustClickApprove92 Trains are also cheaper than buses in some cases. Also guided buses are gadgetbahns, also train and trams are different things and if anything it should be a tram system and not a guided busway.
Initially they were implemented as an alternative as a request to the then government for money to rebuild a tram system was refused. However, the government then reduced the amount asked for so Leeds Council built the bus lanes with the intention of putting tracks down when money was available. The money never appeared so Leeds have since altered their town centre etc, to be bus friendly.
Edinburgh has had bus and taxi greenway lanes for decades, drivers are fined £60 if caught on a greenway lane camera or by police. The greenway are closed to cars between 7am and 9.30 am and 4pm - 6.30pm during peak traffic times. But are open on Sundays.
In Germany,Essen to Mülheim/Ruhr ,we have this kind of separate bus lane on the A40 sind 1970,its called „lane leaded“.Bus driver has nothing to do with the steering wheel,by small rolls the bus is leaded at each side.
It is a project route. Whilst the other test track was torn down in the 2010s, the A40 still remains in usage. The Ruhrbahn Essen ordered 15 new citaros for that route, equipped with guide wheels.
Less expensive than more elaborate gadgetbahnen (and less rider-attractive than a tram.) It’s still a bus with its broad selection of rattles, vibration, noise and pollution. Local authorities should be free to choose their own methods of public transport and government should support them.
Easy to say, that the bus has no traffic jam, as the infra structure is build up . Traffic jam for cars can also easy be prevent if the government takes time to build a correct infrastructure for the cars!!
In Cambridge they're now going to spend more money to re-jig the southern section where people already on their way to/from the hospital get killed by these things. The section has been closed in one direction for some years now. The exact amount spent on legal wrangling with BAM Nuttall over the cracking northern section is not known but could be hundreds of millions. Anything that points out how successful it has been omits that they canned several bus routes forcing people onto the misguided busway instead and that helicoptering passengers would have been cheaper. The city centre is still clogged with buses and news from a few days ago says they're going to have speed limiters so any chance of being remotely as fast as the trains that used to run on the northern section, a Beeching victim, are gone.
So that's what those lanes are for! I've seen them before, but never seen a double decker on them, it always appeared empty, & i thought they were only used by police!
Buses are heavy vehicles and require heavy duty pavements to support them, these aren't two sidewalk strips, they are especially hard in stopping areas where they literally 'push' the pavement as they come in for a stop or accelerate out of a stop. Many communities with asphalt roads will use concrete around bus stops for this very reason. I suspect that paving this 'bus lane' is probably about as expensive as laying track for a tramway. Frankly though, a lot of modern tramways are way overbuilt, wood crossties and stone ballast worked perfectly fine especially for trams that are not going more than 45 mph or so between stops.
We have one of these in west manchester too! helps make trips into the city centre much quicker. Even though a route via the main roads was about 20 miles shorter for me, it was still so much quicker to take a detour to the busway.
I know someone who lives in Leigh. He calls it the misguided busway. He says on the whole its not much faster than the normal service bus into Manchester.
Not very fast is it? The one in Manchester does 50 - 60 mph. No I don't mean Metrolink, that's a road going railway. West Manchester has a guided busway with hybrid busses.
The first guided busway I filmed was actually that Leigh Manchester one that you speak about. I find that a much more comfortable experience compared to this - the coach style seats on the Volvo B5LH Gemini 3 hybrids help :)
Even the chap who invented the guided busway no longer advocates for them. Either put in bus-only lanes on regular roads or put in a tram / light rail with dedicated Right of Way
I remeber years ago saying to my brother that it would be great if in the future all cars were self-drive and went along pre-planned courses on tracks like a scaletrex. No more speeding, no more bad drivers threatening the lives of others...you just input your course beforehand, and the car does all the driving. This is kinda what i had in mind. Almost like a tramline but with everyone still able to have their own personal cars.
Interesting concept, but I don't think Singapore is gonna test out this concept anytime soon. Mainly because is space constraints in Singapore preventing a at-grade railway or tram line being built. What do you think was one of the reasons Singapore shut down the old KTM Tanjong Pagar/Woodlands railway back in 2011? And to add to that, all new MRT lines being built today are all underground to save on space.
That was instead because KTM was run by neighbouring Malaysia (with its immigration facilities @ Tg Pagar railway station), so S'pore felt its sovereignty was being undermined. Actually if Downtown Line between Bt Panjang & Beauty World/King Albert Pk was built a few years later, maybe it could've saved on tunnelling costs by being built on the former KTM permanent way/Rail Corridor. Newer MRT lines are also more likely to be underground as they serve more peripheral areas of our suburbs i.e. further away frm town centres, & @ a longer time after those areas 1st began development, so by the time those lines were built there was less room for them on the ground level
Although this is cool, i still prefer a light rail system (LRT. ie, trams). This is because they are electric, can hold more capacity, but still less than heavy rail (HRT. ie, metro). They are everywhere in Europe. We need to make buses faster than cars. But they often share the road with cars. Plus, in light traffic, they are slow as buses need to stop for passengers to alight/board. Bus lanes partially solve the problem if traffic is heavy. They could also go underground, but then the price will jump heavily. A heavy rail is more useful if they go underground. One useful thing however, is that it is usally cheaper to bus to city than to drive (including parking fees). i guess that outweighs the disadvantages meaning that you save £3 but takes 5 min longer. London is one of the cities where taking the metro is usually faster than driving, and also much cheaper. For example, going from Paddington to Abbey Wood via Crossrail takes just 30 mins, but driving takes at least twice as long due to various factors. It only opened in May 2022, and makes going between these two places a breeze to the point that Google will only point out Crossrail being an option and much easier. Other examples include Paddington to Tottenham Court Road which only takes 5 min.
Still have the issue of traffic and congestion. What's faster is elevated trains. No traffic lights. No intersections. Underground is useful if you don't have waterlogged soil to deal with. Vancouver uses skytrain bombardier automatic technology. Neighboring Surrey voted by an overwhelming majority to scrap the LRT project and just do an expansion of the current sky train system and add in extra bus lines for other routes rather than go with LRT. Skytrain technology can easily send the extremely old uh expo 86 trains in if they need extra trains on that section of track. We had a fiasco with the Canada Line. Didn't have enough trains for the track grand opening haha 😅. People took one look and was like uh nope. I rather have to ride old stuffy trains instead. At least I get to my spot
Busways yes. Guided busways? Looks like a rough ride, especially at 5:08 . Brisbane, Australia has a very good dedicated busway network without wheel guides.
Ohhh a rare comment in support of the system. Personally I think apart from looking cool there's no real advantage over a bus lane , well except the unauthorised vehicles bit, but someone pointed out a bollard could solve it
Here's another attempt at a solution for beating congestion, with an system of elevated roads instead:
ruclips.net/video/_upR3kjG6Z0/видео.html
is this real omg
The way I see it, guided busways in the UK should be a stop-gap to boost the popularity of public transport but ultimately they should be converted to trams wherever possible, expecially if they are already using the right of way left after the Beeching Axe (e.g. Leigh).
Couldn't agree more
As Europe has in many cities.
If I had a nickel for every time someone accidentally re invented the train, I’d be able to buy my own steam locomotive
Next we'll tie them together for a proper railway experience
That would be called a tram, and I think if they could afford one, they would've installed one instead. Can't fault Leeds for at least trying to improve public transit on a limited budget.
@@sackie Is that after scrapping trams and trolley buses 40 years ago,saying they were not a viable mode of transport
@Jamesyahyah what Beeching did 40 years ago doesn't represent the consensus now. I agree it was stupid. Now they're slowly making amends
This is in no way shape or form a train. Its a bus and a bus way.
Bus ways is not as uncommon as people might think. In many different cities there is a bus way that is simply a dedicated lane for busses. In most cases those are there to grant the buss instant access to the buss stop when there are traffic sitting at the light.
BRT system is then simply a bus way system with full or semi full insulation. That is where the bus way have right of way even in crossings.
Guided BRT system is again simply a way of reducing the infrastructure cost of a system like that, and space requierment.
Busses are very harsh on the sub roads surface. Having concrete pads to drive on spreed the load from the wheels reducing the wear on the subsurface infrastructure.
Guiding the buss, reduces the amount of concrete needed.
This is not about being fancy, its about making a cost efficient system
That white concrete thing in the middle of the road at the start (0:21) is called a ‘trig point’, but their actual name are triangulation pillars. They basically were placed on top of hills and embankments and they mounted a ‘theodolite’ on top of it and were often accompanied by a ‘flush bracket’. Basically a metal bracket with a unique code with ‘OSBM’ written on it. (Ordnance Survey Benchmark). They used them to measure the distance of heights all the around the UK and IOM using trigonometry. So, this one is pretty lucky to survive given that it’s in the middle of a dual carriageway! But I’m glad it’s preserved and not destroyed.
Thanks for the interesting and informative comment.
Unlike Leeds, we have an actual tram network! A big one too! Four lines with a total length of 53.5 km/33 miles. The network has three main lines, and a smaller fourth one. The fourth one was created to connect the Pyongyang Metro station at Kim Il-sung University (Samhung) to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum of my father and grandpa. A Pyongyang Metro station was once at the palace’s site (Kwangmyong), but once it became a mausoleum in 1995, it became sacred ground and thus it was closed with a new tram line built.
Most of the network uses Tatra trams made in the former Czechoslovakia but unlike the rest of the network, the tram that runs on this Kumsusan line uses a Swiss tram built in the late 40s that was retired from the Zurich network in 1994 where it was purchased by us the next year.
Interesting information there
Ok this comment is questionable.
the people have spoken, and the resounding answer is.... NO.
Is BRT ( Bus rapid transit )
You can also do that on a regular street as long as it's given a different color
The largest bus rapid transit system in the world is TransJakarta Indonesian
This seems like overcomplicating the concept of having bus lanes. There is no reason I can think of to have them guided. Bus lanes in themselves are a good and cool concept as they allow buses to bypass choke points making them competitive with cars. But there is no good reason to not have them just be regular lanes where cars are prohibited, that's how they do them over here in the Netherlands and that works just fine.
Judging by the comments below, it is not a no.
The benefit of the guided land is that it can be as narrow as the bus. Otherwise might as well just use a buslane.
Interesting concept... however I can already see the downside of this guided busway - if a bus breaks down along the guideway, that entire stretch of guideway would be unusable and other buses would have to join in the congested roads. With a demarcated lane like in Singapore, other buses can easily bypass the broken down bus and return to the bus lane.
And of course - the other downside is that buses would have to be retrofitted with guide wheels and that adds additional maintenance costs.
Both valid points! I have seen in Manchester then entire guided busway section being rendered useless because a car had driven it and got stuck
With your first point, yes there would be issues if there was a breakdown (and this wouldn't be surprising with these hybrid buses), however, these sections of bus guideway on Scott Hall Road are not very long so it won't impact too much.
And with your second point, I don't think all of the First Leeds buses are fitted with guide wheels, and this has caused issues before,
Someone can correct be if I am wrong, but I don't think that the Wright Streetdecks or the Yutong e10s in Leeds have guide wheels, and I know they no longer have their B7TLs so their number of useable vehicles is dwindling! Also, other operators who may run routes along such roads are unable to use the guided bus way (as seen at 6:48 with a Connexions bus not using the guideway)
Overall, an interesting but expensive idea with debatable in results
@@citledtrams and trains can have points to go round a blockage.
@@hairyairey trains might require special forms to work wrong way along the line.
@@joshuaritchie3836 There's a reason why there are very few guided busways in the world. They are not that great an idea. Cambridgeshire County Council is facing legal action over the deaths of two people, there is a chance that no more will be allowed to be built in the UK.
Like others mentioned, Adelaide has this as well. How did Adelaide get it? The greater Adelaide area experienced significant growth during and after WWII, and thus so did the amount of vehicles registered. By the mid-1970s, transportation had become a problem in the north-east suburbs. This led to a study that concluded that a light-rail would be the best option. However, there was opposition because people thought it would interfere with the well-designed layout of the city proper, and that light-rail vehicles would be too noisy.
In search of a replacement for the light rail project, they examined the O-Bahn system in Essen in what was then West Germany by Daimler-Benz. The system was seen as far superior to previous proposals; it used less land, made less noise, was faster and cost less. In addition, its unique feature of a non-transfer service direct from suburban streets to the city center made it more attractive. Adelaide's track is 12 km/7.5 mi long and includes three interchanges at Klemzig, Paradise and Tea Tree Plaza. Interchanges allow buses to enter and exit the busway and to continue on suburban routes, avoiding the need for passengers to transfer to another bus to continue their journey.
I'm biased, I live in Adelaide. But its great! Going strong since 1986. 🙂
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Bahn_Busway
I would also like to point out that there is no excessive vibration. Most of the time its smooth and way quicker than going by road. Many people drive their cars to one of the Interchange Stations, park in the monitored car parks, then bus to the city. Great for people who don't like driving in the city.
leeds really does anything to avoid building a tram
Actually, tramways require Act of Parliament. Leeds has been denied such since 1970s. What you see here is a fob-off from HMG dating back to about late eighties early 90s.
@@algizmo7079 These kinds of archaic laws should be eliminated. The fuck why parliament wants say in building tram.
@Pluviophile Our Lords & Masters did not wish for thundering fiery beasts to roam their estates willy nilly. And having obtained their powers, their successors are unlikely to surrender them. Leeds CC is mostly a dependable Labour vote so Labour govs need not give lavish gifts. Tories see no need either. Hence no support from HMG for restoration of tramways in Leeds.
Dude that’s like a free lane for a bus! UK just took buses have priority to another level! Nice vid
Thanks!
No they didn't, it is a German idea/ design and the UK just copied it like Australia did.
However the one in Adelaide (Australia) was the longest in the world with one bus stop and 2 interchanges, it was also the fastest in the world with buses running at 100kmh and in peak hour they were doing this with a bus length between buses. The one in Adelaide used rigid and articulated buses.
@@IDriveBuses I do want to try a busway with articulated buses one day 😎
@@IDriveBuses it may be a german idea, but god is it awful. The Cambridge guided busway is woeful. Should have been light rail/tram
@@IDriveBuses Adelaide didn't "copy" the idea, they consulted with Daimler Benz for the proposal.
I've ridden the full length of the Adelaide O-Bahn, it's a brilliant concept that should be widely used in cities with rapidly expanding suburbs where it's not feasible to have trackway in the old city centre.
In Adelaide case the city was meticulously planned in a grid system that wouldn't be suitable for change to accommodate trackway.
Very cool. Thanks! Had so much fun watching this! 👍👍👍
Looks like the same system used in Cambridge, part of which is actually on an abandoned rail line. Much more sensible than letting the busses get snarled up in traffic jams! Might even encourage one or two people to use the bus and leave the car at home.
Except the Cambridge one puts buses onto the congested roads in the city.
Bruh the thumbnail has almost the same energy as an SG❤BUS B9TL on Service 7
Familiar auras
Just think you're sitting in traffic and watching this bus go by you what the hell am I sitting here for what I can catch that bus over there
The driver has to be very perfect to drive simultaneously on the path 😮
Buses have guiding wheels
Normal bus are already inefficient compared to rail, adding those guided wheels are gonna reduce the efficiency more. Might as well make trams instead...
Wow! Never knew this existed 😮 great idea
This is a great bus system
We need this in Melbourne
At 00:28 (on the guideway ) the bus drivers like I’m not in rush hour zooom😂❤
"It's smooth, it's quiet and an altogether delightful experience." Like riding a real train - assuming you are riding your trains while sitting on a washing machine in its spin cycle. (To be fair, I'm inferring that from the rattling of the bus' interior, which probably just means the buses are built like crap.)
And it *is* cheaper than both train tracks and normal bus lanes.
Yeah the vibrations really don't help much in making it a "delightful experience" 😅
This is Leeds :D
Trains there was a Pacer's units (till 2021)
So... Still better in this bus ;)
LOL, never been in a pacer myself (should I be glad?? 😂😂) So I can't compare...
It's far more expensive than a bus lane and if you talk about overall costs, check out the Cambridgeshire experience. Many have been abandoned around the world, and even the inventor of the idea has come out against it.
In france we have a lot of reserves lines for buses, separated to the other lines. And it works well, no need to guide the bus
This is just a really expensive way to build a bus lane, and is fine until one breaks down and others can’t just drive around it!
Same as a railway. Why all the complaining?
I always wonder how buses drive on these without scratching the wheels on the curb. Now I know about the guide wheels.
AS a way to bypass regular traffic jams it is OK. For longer stretches a lightrail system is much more comfortable and has a better capacity too.
It's definitely an improvement over regular old bus in terms of speed. But I wouldn't want to be on it too long because of all the rattling.
Guess that’s why trams still roam supreme with smooth ride
This setup is as smooth as a regular road
Busses rattle on regular roadways as well.
This seems like overcomplicating the concept of having bus lanes. There is no reason I can think of to have them guided. Bus lanes in themselves are a good and cool concept as they allow buses to bypass choke points making them competitive with cars. But there is no good reason to not have them just be regular lanes where cars are prohibited, that's how they do them over here in the Netherlands and that works just fine.
@@creesch they make them guided with open pit so cars that enter get stuck and gotta pay out.
If its regular lanes them ppl just drive in them anyway
Well, it looks like a wonderful compromise. But it also looks to be a bumpy ride on this video. To me an electric lowfloor tramsystem is the better solution. I know: Leeds had a tram in the past, but it is never too late to review decisions from the past and make a new start: Nottingham, Birmingham, Croydon, Manchester and Sheffield are examples of such a reviewing. The oldfashioned trams has disappeared in the 50th / 60th in favor of buses and cars (which was seen as THE solution at the time), and now a modern system with lowfloor trams is in use. Succesfully...
Only posible due to using an old train track reserve ( from when the government got rid of so many branch lines. Excellent to see the "line" repurposed for a good way. The first such busway was built in Germany and used as a combination bus and tramway in tunnels and called an O-Bahn. The second such busway was built in South Australia and is also called an O-Bahn (given German is the second language of South Australia). It's been up and running in Australia for over 40 years and is efficient and popular.
Very nicely put together video and very entertaining as well. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it!
@@glitchFan2428 Me too. Thx glitch and commenters, much appreciated 👍🏿
This already exists in turkey its called “Metrobüs”
It doesnt uses train tracks but it has its own road that no other car can enter
Something like this I presume
ruclips.net/video/_upR3kjG6Z0/видео.html
I notice, after several viewings of the video, that obeying traffic lights is optional.
I have travelled on the Cambridge Busway, where the ride is a lot smoother than this, but it has still turned out to be a very expensive system, plagued with construction faults. It would have been cheaper to reinstate the train service over the abandoned line in the North of the city.
As for Leeds, the city has my sympathy because the government action/inaction/dithering/incompetence etc. led to schemes for a tramway being dropped- this busway is a poor substitute, especially so seeing the junctions.
Would have been interesting to see a tramway system in Leeds!
Nice way to skip traffic jam in bus journey to get your destination faster than normal way to wait for traffic light to continue your journey
Yeah, you can really see it's effective during peak times
Doesn't get stuck in traffic, and doesn't go where I need to go, and doesn't come anywhere near where I live. But great for densely populated cities - particularly the "metro areas" that are usually made up of dozens to scores of "smaller" cities that have effectively become one huge, densely populated city.
If there is separation, a conventional road would also work for places with lower budget. Plus it can allow the bus to go faster. Eventually the solution is to switch to trams.
The best and low price solution! 👍
Regular trams would most likely be faster and more efficient, while also running on electricity instead of gas, at least for now. This just seems like a solution looking for a problem. Public transport should be more mainstream, but this is not the best way.
The main justification that I'm seeing for this over a tram is the use of existing infrastructure (buses, roads), so the bus can also seamlessly travel on roads that do not need a seperate busway to bypass traffic.
It’s a glorified bus lane if they’re going to put tracks into the road they might as well run a tram or train with multiple carriages which holds more people
The Volvo DDs (LeedsCity) in this video have a similar paint scheme to SG❤BUS and uses the same O-bahn technology like Adelaide in Australia.
Looks like SBST route 7.
Yes, I've a video coming up tomorrow that showcases the livery and briefly talking about the history behind it
Great concept
Awesome solution🎉🎉🎉
At that point build a tram, more capacity and cleaner
British technology in the 21st century 🎉🎉🎉. Simply brilliant!
we've got buses here in Adelaide Australia that have got the same wheels
Adelaide also has such busways too. However, main problem are the 4 idiots that drive onto the busway and have their oil pans demolished per year and causing delays. A good idea is also to fence it because people might inadvertently walk onto these busways, especially if drunk.
Singapore should also have these, but underground to save space.
The irony though of virtually the entire video was that the traffic was freely flowing.
Indeed, as I had missed the rush hour on the other segments 🤣🤣
I am from Adelaide, Australia, and we have the O-Bahn guided busway here. I imagine you’ve seen videos of this similar concept as well,
Indeed I have
luton and dunstable have one aswell its rlly good tbf, most of the track section if 50 mph
They have the same system in and around Cambridge serving the Park & Ride Parks. So quick and easy.
Is this "Train Track" for Buses the Solution for beating congestion?
No.
Boy am I so jealous of this place
I actually wrote in to oppose the Cambridgeshire one because I thought the trains should be back.
Yeah guided busses have been pretty bad for the city. They just combine the worst aspects of BRTs with light rail.
Great video.
In my opinion the whole point of a bus is so that it can use existing infrastructure, and that if you want traffic-free travel you should just use a train. Although I do see how this is more cost effective as it's easier to build/maintain than train tracks
Valid point there, keyword being existing
@@glitchFan2428A tram are better than guided buses also once have guided bus ways that is the point where trams make more sense.
The train is expensive and not an option for everybody
@@JustClickApprove92 Trains are also cheaper than buses in some cases. Also guided buses are gadgetbahns, also train and trams are different things and if anything it should be a tram system and not a guided busway.
They had this system in Birmingham about 30 years ago and abandoned it.
We have one in leigh to salford nor enough buses
That is a vary good idea, Bus lane only.
It's a busway but now the driver doesn't have to steer. I still prefer rail though, you can't move 1000+ people on a single bus!
Fair point there
We in Indonesia had done this for several years. We called it busway and it doesn't solve any congestion whatsoever
Epic camera angles
Thank you!
Initially they were implemented as an alternative as a request to the then government for money to rebuild a tram system was refused. However, the government then reduced the amount asked for so Leeds Council built the bus lanes with the intention of putting tracks down when money was available. The money never appeared so Leeds have since altered their town centre etc, to be bus friendly.
In the end, it's about capacity and money available.
Great idea
There has been one in Cambridgeshire for many years, running into Cambridge from St. Ives
Edinburgh has had bus and taxi greenway lanes for decades, drivers are fined £60 if caught on a greenway lane camera or by police.
The greenway are closed to cars between 7am and 9.30 am and 4pm - 6.30pm during peak traffic times.
But are open on Sundays.
In Germany,Essen to Mülheim/Ruhr ,we have this kind of separate bus lane on the A40 sind 1970,its called „lane leaded“.Bus driver has nothing to do with the steering wheel,by small rolls the bus is leaded at each side.
It is a project route. Whilst the other test track was torn down in the 2010s, the A40 still remains in usage. The Ruhrbahn Essen ordered 15 new citaros for that route, equipped with guide wheels.
In germany they used that system in Essen around 1975 with bendy busses
A good deal of major European cities use higher capacity, more frequent trams, this seems like a halfway plug gap solution.
It's kind of like what Montreal and Paris (also that college in west virginia and LHR) have but it's only one car and the power is onboard.
Less expensive than more elaborate gadgetbahnen (and less rider-attractive than a tram.) It’s still a bus with its broad selection of rattles, vibration, noise and pollution. Local authorities should be free to choose their own methods of public transport and government should support them.
I really hope SG does this it really helps alot mu goodness
sg no space
How about you think first where in the hell does Singapore have railway tracks?
Excellent Video!!!!
Easy to say, that the bus has no traffic jam, as the infra structure is build up .
Traffic jam for cars can also easy be prevent if the government takes time to build a correct infrastructure for the cars!!
In Cambridge they're now going to spend more money to re-jig the southern section where people already on their way to/from the hospital get killed by these things. The section has been closed in one direction for some years now. The exact amount spent on legal wrangling with BAM Nuttall over the cracking northern section is not known but could be hundreds of millions. Anything that points out how successful it has been omits that they canned several bus routes forcing people onto the misguided busway instead and that helicoptering passengers would have been cheaper. The city centre is still clogged with buses and news from a few days ago says they're going to have speed limiters so any chance of being remotely as fast as the trains that used to run on the northern section, a Beeching victim, are gone.
It is a good idea for something like that every where
Thanks for watching
They have had this system in Crawley for many decades
we need more infrastructure like this
Oooohh I mean that would be visually appealing (subjective also)
So that's what those lanes are for! I've seen them before, but never seen a double decker on them, it always appeared empty, & i thought they were only used by police!
Glad that I solved a mystery for you!
Adelaide in Australia has this for buses for 20 years we call it the o Bhan
I was delivering around Leeds today and saw them bus tracks
Looks and sounds like a very rough ride.
i had a dream! do this but with articulated double deckers like the legendary Neoplan Jumbocruiser!
That would be awesome
They have tracks for busses in Australia which work very well reduces congestion at peak times...
Australian population is 1 crore,1/3rd of Delhi,not a big traffic
You have to see the Essen Spurbus between the A40 and the answer there is yes.
Buses are heavy vehicles and require heavy duty pavements to support them, these aren't two sidewalk strips, they are especially hard in stopping areas where they literally 'push' the pavement as they come in for a stop or accelerate out of a stop. Many communities with asphalt roads will use concrete around bus stops for this very reason. I suspect that paving this 'bus lane' is probably about as expensive as laying track for a tramway. Frankly though, a lot of modern tramways are way overbuilt, wood crossties and stone ballast worked perfectly fine especially for trams that are not going more than 45 mph or so between stops.
And in Germany they are closing more and more train track systems which are built decades ago...
We have one of these in west manchester too! helps make trips into the city centre much quicker. Even though a route via the main roads was about 20 miles shorter for me, it was still so much quicker to take a detour to the busway.
That holds a special place in my heart as it's the first guided busway system that I filmed 😀😀
The v2 I believe
V1 and V2
I know someone who lives in Leigh. He calls it the misguided busway. He says on the whole its not much faster than the normal service bus into Manchester.
@@glitchFan2428 I used to live at the starter of the guided bus route
They have been in Adelaide Australia for years now called the obahn
Not very fast is it? The one in Manchester does 50 - 60 mph. No I don't mean Metrolink, that's a road going railway. West Manchester has a guided busway with hybrid busses.
The first guided busway I filmed was actually that Leigh Manchester one that you speak about. I find that a much more comfortable experience compared to this - the coach style seats on the Volvo B5LH Gemini 3 hybrids help :)
Even the chap who invented the guided busway no longer advocates for them.
Either put in bus-only lanes on regular roads or put in a tram / light rail with dedicated Right of Way
Manchester's system essentially
I remeber years ago saying to my brother that it would be great if in the future all cars were self-drive and went along pre-planned courses on tracks like a scaletrex. No more speeding, no more bad drivers threatening the lives of others...you just input your course beforehand, and the car does all the driving. This is kinda what i had in mind. Almost like a tramline but with everyone still able to have their own personal cars.
We need TransJakarta BRT to be build like this, as bus lanes are often "utilised" by non-buses too.
I suppose that's the main argument for those in favour of such systems, that usual roads are prone to misuse. Maybe a bollard or two might help
Nice video and I like to see my favourite B9TL 37664
Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed it! Ah I suppose the only difference in bodywork between b9 and b5 is the Gemini 1 or 2?
@@glitchFan2428 Yea true
I’d like to see something like this in the US.
I agree with Gareth Dennis that these should just be tram lines
Interesting concept, but I don't think Singapore is gonna test out this concept anytime soon. Mainly because is space constraints in Singapore preventing a at-grade railway or tram line being built. What do you think was one of the reasons Singapore shut down the old KTM Tanjong Pagar/Woodlands railway back in 2011? And to add to that, all new MRT lines being built today are all underground to save on space.
Ahhh yeah the KTM railway being shutdown is a shame
Bingo that’s the point
That was instead because KTM was run by neighbouring Malaysia (with its immigration facilities @ Tg Pagar railway station), so S'pore felt its sovereignty was being undermined. Actually if Downtown Line between Bt Panjang & Beauty World/King Albert Pk was built a few years later, maybe it could've saved on tunnelling costs by being built on the former KTM permanent way/Rail Corridor. Newer MRT lines are also more likely to be underground as they serve more peripheral areas of our suburbs i.e. further away frm town centres, & @ a longer time after those areas 1st began development, so by the time those lines were built there was less room for them on the ground level
Although this is cool, i still prefer a light rail system (LRT. ie, trams). This is because they are electric, can hold more capacity, but still less than heavy rail (HRT. ie, metro). They are everywhere in Europe.
We need to make buses faster than cars. But they often share the road with cars. Plus, in light traffic, they are slow as buses need to stop for passengers to alight/board. Bus lanes partially solve the problem if traffic is heavy. They could also go underground, but then the price will jump heavily. A heavy rail is more useful if they go underground.
One useful thing however, is that it is usally cheaper to bus to city than to drive (including parking fees). i guess that outweighs the disadvantages meaning that you save £3 but takes 5 min longer.
London is one of the cities where taking the metro is usually faster than driving, and also much cheaper. For example, going from Paddington to Abbey Wood via Crossrail takes just 30 mins, but driving takes at least twice as long due to various factors. It only opened in May 2022, and makes going between these two places a breeze to the point that Google will only point out Crossrail being an option and much easier. Other examples include Paddington to Tottenham Court Road which only takes 5 min.
Still have the issue of traffic and congestion. What's faster is elevated trains. No traffic lights. No intersections. Underground is useful if you don't have waterlogged soil to deal with. Vancouver uses skytrain bombardier automatic technology. Neighboring Surrey voted by an overwhelming majority to scrap the LRT project and just do an expansion of the current sky train system and add in extra bus lines for other routes rather than go with LRT. Skytrain technology can easily send the extremely old uh expo 86 trains in if they need extra trains on that section of track. We had a fiasco with the Canada Line. Didn't have enough trains for the track grand opening haha 😅. People took one look and was like uh nope. I rather have to ride old stuffy trains instead. At least I get to my spot
Busways yes. Guided busways? Looks like a rough ride, especially at 5:08 . Brisbane, Australia has a very good dedicated busway network without wheel guides.
Hey, Aussie got one of those!
West Midlands Travel trialed this system many years ago, after a few years they scrapped the idea.
This reminds me of a similar system I learned about in Adelaide, Australia.
Adelaide have had this longer than I can remember 🎉🎉
Like ANY normal bus would be able to pass traffic on a bus lane or dedicated bus road ... doesn't really take a guided busway to achieve that benefit
The sooner we have that across the UK.
The better the service
Ohhh a rare comment in support of the system. Personally I think apart from looking cool there's no real advantage over a bus lane , well except the unauthorised vehicles bit, but someone pointed out a bollard could solve it
alot of bus stops along the guideway route not in the guideway are built with special kerbs to enable the guideway fitted buses to pull up close.
That could be an advantage over regular bus stops I suppose