Article Super buses shrunk to fit state's roads

[ozbob]

From the Sunday Mail click here!

Super buses shrunk to fit state's roads

Super buses shrunk to fit state's roads
Article from: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

Kelmeny Fraser

July 12, 2009 12:00am

SUPER buses able to seat 200 people have been rejected for the southeast in favour of slightly smaller models better able to negotiate suburban bus routes.

The State Government announced it was considering a trial of  the "revolutionary" 25m-long Swiss-style buses common on the streets of Switzerland - known as LighTrams - two years ago.

But at twice the length of a normal bus, the State Government cautioned issues over its size would have to be resolved before being given the green light for a trial.

A decision on whether to trial the LighTrams was expected to be made by late 2007.

Two years on, Transport Minister Rachel Nolan has told The Sunday Mail the Government was preparing to roll out super-sized buses, but mega-models such as the LighTram have been ruled out.

Ms Nolan said the LighTrams and several other super bus models had been found unsuitable for the southeast's busway network, being slightly too large to run on normal roads.

Instead, the Government has opted for an 18m-long, three-door bus able to seat 110 people.

Standard buses in the TransLink fleet can carry only 70 people.

Two of the Melbourne-built buses will be trialled by the Government early next year at a cost of $1.5 million.

The first bus will hit the streets in January, with more to follow if the trial is a success.

Ms Nolan said the bigger buses would prove to be a "congestion buster".

She said the three-door design would reduce the amount of time it took passengers to enter and exit the buses, saving commuters time.

"If the trial proves successful we will certainly look to roll out additional super buses across the TransLink network on the most appropriate routes," she said.

The buses are still small enough to run on both dedicated busways and normal streets.

[ButFli]

I am a bit concerned over the focus on bigger buses. For me at least, bus capacity is very rarely an issue. I almost always get a seat to and from work.

I think an increase in the total number of buses and the corresponding increase in frequency would be a much better improvement. Rather than doubling the size of the buses we should be doubling the number of them.

[stephenk]

I am a bit concerned over the focus on bigger buses. For me at least, bus capacity is very rarely an issue. I almost always get a seat to and from work.

I think an increase in the total number of buses and the corresponding increase in frequency would be a much better improvement. Rather than doubling the size of the buses we should be doubling the number of them.

Whilst I agree that more high frequency services are required, some routes will require both high frequency and high capacity buses. Try getting on a city bound bus from RCH Herston at 4:30pm and you will see that bus capacity is an issue!

[skippy]

There is a reliability issue with buses once the service headways are less than 10 minutes. In these frequent services the numbers of people turning up to board is relatively constant.

If a bus is delayed early in the run for any reason, (e.g. slow boarding caused by dispute over concessions / zones, searching for change, asking for directions etc) than the number of boarders at subsequent stops increases every minute delayed. This then causes more people than usual forced to stand up early in the run, which causes increased dwells due to people struggling to get off. The cycle of events very quickly turns a 2 minute delay into a 10 minute delay and the bus to be full.  The following bus, however picks up less than usual number of passengers, and a near emply bus can sometimes catch the full bus in front. 

This bunching effect can also occur to rail services, however a train a minute of two late may pick up a few more riders however does not usually cause boarding delays.  Translink has introduced some pre-pay bus services to try and counter this bunching effect on busy routes.

In summary, once bus frequencies reach 10 mins increasing bus capacity is a good way to address the bunching effect, and is more cost effective.