Buses World News

17.5.10

Replacing * Canada - Bus Rapid Transit with Light Rail

Is the Ottawa model — raise ridership with buses, and then think about more expensive rail options — falling flat? What went wrong? ...

(Video from YouTube, by newflyer800 —13 Feb 2009: 2008 Orion VII HEV NG 5001 on route 4 Hurdman, run 4-1 which is rare, seen in this video going on the Transitway)

Ottawa,ONT,CAN -The Transport Politic, by Yonah Freemark -May 17, 2010: ... Ottawa was too successful, encouraging the city’s citizens to take an average of 125 trips by public transportation a year, more than any equivalently-sized North American city. The transitway has so many riders that it puts 2,600 daily buses onto two downtown streets, and by 2018, the system will have literally no more capacity. By 2030, Ottawa would have to get a bus downtown every eighteen seconds to accommodate all of its riders — an impossible feat... So Mayor Larry O’Brien and his staff have concocted what is now a C$2.1 billion project to run light rail in a three-kilometer tunnel under downtown. The 13-station system will be designed for very high capacity, up to 25,000 riders per direction during the peak hour (up from 10,000 today), thanks to platforms long enough to handle six-car trains and even platform screen doors in the underground stations... By dramatically increasing the average number of passengers per vehicle thanks to long trains and by switching to clean and cheap electricity from diesel fuel, the city will find notable economies in rail. It will also produce far fewer greenhouse gases — saving 38,000 tons by 2031...

Labels: BRT and LR, LR vs BRT

9.1.09

The Purple Line Debate * USA - Light Rail vs. Bus Rapid Transit

The Washington area has neither light rail nor bus rapid transit, the two modes of public transportation under consideration for the proposed Purple Line

Here's a look at how the two systems compare

Light Rail
- Construction cost: $1.2 billion
- Annual operating and maintenance costs: $25 million
TRAVEL TIME BETWEEN . . .
- Bethesda and Silver Spring: nine minutes
- Silver Spring and University of Maryland campus center: 25 minutes
- Silver Spring and New Carrollton: 50 minutes
- Daily boardings: 62,600
- Pros: Route seen as more permanent. Often viewed as better at promoting economic development around stations. Attracts more riders because it is considered faster and more reliable than buses.
- Cons: More expensive. Competition for federal construction money is strong, and state transportation funds are extremely tight.

Bus Rapid Transit
- Construction cost: $580 millionAnnual operating and maintenance costs: $17.3 million
-. TRAVEL TIME BETWEEN . . .
- Bethesda and Silver Spring: 19 minutes
- Silver Spring and University of Maryland campus center: 30 minutes
- Silver Spring and New Carrollton: 55 minutes
- Daily boardings: 51,800
- Pros: Less expensive. Can be established quickly because it is easier to implement in pieces. Buses can use designated lanes on local streets but have flexibility to change routes.
- Cons: Less proven track record on attracting development around stations. Developers are often more reluctant to invest because a bus route is viewed as less permanent than a rail line. Attracts fewer riders because it is sometimes viewed as a second-class system.

Labels: LR vs BRT