Epping-Ongar news?
 

In article , Dave
writes
I was in Adelaide earlier this year and had no idea they have guided
busways. If I'd known, I'd have had a look - as I've never seen one
before. Are they what Adelaide Metro call the 'O-Bahn Bus Routes'?

I believe so, yes.

--
Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8371 1138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Written on my laptop; please observe the Reply-To address

Epping-Ongar news?
 

In article , Dave
writes
Clive D. W. Feather writes

[1] The only place I can see guided bus technology being of use is in
bus *stations*, to be honest, for ensuring flush boarding and coping
with often restricted areas.

Apparently it works well in Adelaide because of the layout of things:
[...]

I was in Adelaide earlier this year and had no idea they have guided
busways. If I'd known, I'd have had a look - as I've never seen one before.
Are they what Adelaide Metro call the 'O-Bahn Bus Routes'?
Yes, from the City Centre to Tea Tree Plaza. City Centre penetration
isn't brilliant and signposting and publicity for public transport was,
I thought, worse in Adelaide than any other Australian city I've ever
visited.

(It would help if the Glenelg trams ran further North to connect with
more other city transport, including the O-Bahn to Tea Tree Plaza.
Apparently they once did.)

I did have a few rides on the 1920s Glenelg tram (not a museum piece,
but a working part of the city's transport network).
Yes, great, isn't it? ;-)
--
Ian Jelf, MITG, Birmingham, UK
Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide for
London & the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

Epping-Ongar news?
 

In article , Clive D. W. Feather
writes
In article , Ian Jelf
writes
While I don't doubt the truth of what you say for a minute, Clive *and*
while being deeply sceptical of the advantages of guided buses [1], how
does the Cambridgeshire system actually increase a particular journey?

Crude map:
Snipped clear explanation
It seems likely that the presence of the busway will mean that all
routes around here are altered, and that the bus to Cambridge will be
diverted to it.
Thanks, Clive. I see what you mean.

[1] The only place I can see guided bus technology being of use is in
bus *stations*, to be honest, for ensuring flush boarding and coping
with often restricted areas.
I was in Adelaide in 2001 and rode the Guided busway, from the City
Centre to Tea Tree Plaza several times to see "how well it worked".
(As a Brummie, I have memories of our ill-fates "Tracline" guided busway
here in the 1980s.

The Adelaide one works better, principally because it's longer.

Apparently it works well in Adelaide because of the layout of things:

Adelaide: Cambridge:

Wide streets in central Narrow congested streets in
area, no busway centre
Ys, although Adelaide dies indeed suffer from central area congestion
which led to bunching on the Busway in the peak hours.

Congested suburbs bypassed Congested roads in suburbs
by busway
But the busway *did* miss some inner suburban housing areas on its way
to the further flung suburbs. Of course, this could be a Good Thing or
a Bad Thing, depending on where you lived!

Quiet roads in countryside Quiet countryside roads bypassed
by busway
The Adelaide Busway doesn't really get to anything I'd call
"countryside" (although it's certainly a beautiful green city). But
the idea of busways serving anything like English "countryside", as is
apparently suggested in Cambridge, seems to me to be bordering on
lunacy. In fact, it rather confirms to me a suspicion I've always had
about Busways: that they're a solution in search of a problem.

Is there an online map of the Cambridge proposals anywhere? And isn't
there something almost as rural running in the outer suburbs of Ipswich?

--
Ian Jelf, MITG, Birmingham, UK
Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide for
London & the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

Epping-Ongar news?
 

In article ,
(Ian Jelf) wrote:

Is there an online map of the Cambridge proposals anywhere? And isn't
there something almost as rural running in the outer suburbs of Ipswich?

I think it's on www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk somewhere.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Epping-Ongar news?
 

In article ,
Colin Rosenstiel writes
In article ,
(Ian Jelf) wrote:

Is there an online map of the Cambridge proposals anywhere? And isn't
there something almost as rural running in the outer suburbs of Ipswich?

I think it's on www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk somewhere.
Found it; many thanks, Colin.

It's at:

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/sub...ptrans/rts.jpg
--
Ian Jelf, MITG, Birmingham, UK
Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide for
London & the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

Guided Bus [was: Epping-Ongar news?]
 

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Ian Jelf) wrote:

Is there an online map of the Cambridge proposals anywhere? And isn't
there something almost as rural running in the outer suburbs of Ipswich?

I think it's on www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk somewhere.

Crossposted to uk.local.east-anglia for those around Ipswich to comment on
whether such a scheme exists.

--
Brian
"This isn't the longest day of the year: it just feels like it"

Epping-Ongar news?
 

In article , Ian Jelf
writes
Is there an online map of the Cambridge proposals anywhere?

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/sub...ptrans/rts.jpg

That's it. From Science Park to just beyond Swavesey is an existing rail
line (though mothballed; the track is still there). The rest of the way
to St.Ives is trackbed but no track. The "local service" in Longstanton
appears to be a new route; it's unclear whether this is on an existing
road (in which case, what happens to the cars?) or takes over new land
and, if so, how it gets through the houses.

From Station to Trumpington is existing trackbed that's been disused for
30 years or more. The "on-street section" to Addenbrookes Hospital uses
a non-existent street (so why is it not guideway as well?).

The on-street section connecting the two uses roads that are either
already full of traffic, or narrow, or both. The cam.transport
contingent are, um, skeptical about their ability to carry the traffic.

You should also look at:
http://www.davros.org/rail/diagrams/camtrams.html
I suppose I should add the MGB to it.

--
Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8371 1138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Written on my laptop; please observe the Reply-To address

Guided Bus [was: Epping-Ongar news?]
 

Guided Bus [was: Epping-Ongar news?]
 

In uk.local.east-anglia Robin May wrote:
wrote the following in:


The route 66 bus from Ipswich station to Martlesham has a short
section in one of the Ipswich suburbs where it runs between guides
and thus the driver doesn't have to steer. Is this what the
question was about?

How do these guides work?

There are a couple of little wheels either side at the front of the
bus, these wheels are horizontal with the spindles vertical. I guess
they're around 9" diameter and a foot or so from the ground. These run
against a raised guide either side of the track the bus runs along.
Presumably there's a servo system that detects pressure on the wheels
and thus steers the bus.

--
Chris Green )

Guided Bus [was: Epping-Ongar news?]
 

wrote in message
...
In uk.local.east-anglia Robin May wrote:
wrote the following in:


The route 66 bus from Ipswich station to Martlesham has a short
section in one of the Ipswich suburbs where it runs between guides
and thus the driver doesn't have to steer. Is this what the
question was about?

How do these guides work?

There are a couple of little wheels either side at the front of the
bus, these wheels are horizontal with the spindles vertical. I guess
they're around 9" diameter and a foot or so from the ground. These run
against a raised guide either side of the track the bus runs along.
Presumably there's a servo system that detects pressure on the wheels
and thus steers the bus.


Do they look anything like those in like the guidewheel shown in the second
photo at http://www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters/49/article1.html (you'll
need to scroll down a bit) ? That photo is taken from Cambridgeshire County
Council's own publicity. It would be useful to know whether the Ipswich
scheme is similar to the one proposed for Cambridgeshire

PaulO