Even if you think what you would say is obvious, please add. This is genuinely something I think makes sense regarding local bus routes given the longevity of light rail and how infrequently routes change, but I also suffer from confirmation bias, so I’m hoping for reasons this would be a terrible idea but obviously would prefer reasons it would be an even more amazing idea than I thought.
Light rail is infinitely more expensive to construct and it only takes one delay/accident and all subsequent trains after cause a log jam…vs a bus which can route around it.
A better solution uses corridors dedicated to buses that are electric powered.
Something like this was done in Colombia with these routes being connected by ground hubs, similar to subway stations.
That’s like saying a ship is more expensive than a car. It depends.
A tram is not „infinitely“ (what absurd statement is that anyway) more expensive than a bus.
Construction cost is not everything, and they’re not even that much higher, you also need to consider service life (much longer with trains), energy cost per passenger mile (much lower with trains thanks to the lower resistance), etc.
What is best is always depending on the specific circumstances.
The biggest limitation of buses is capacity, and a highly used tram is cheaper per passenger mile than a bus. Try replacing the S-Bahn in Berlin with BRT, see how far that gets you. You’d probably need to bulldoze a new highway… speaking of which:
Germany is actually hellbent on building a highway right through its capital Berlin, which currently clocks in at 700 milion € for 3.2 km. I expect the whole thing to end at ~2 bn € for ~7 km.
So I think the costs of public transport are really not the issue people should be focusing on.
You wouldn’t even have to go for the “replacing the S-Bahn” to show how ludicrous a BRT is as a suggestion, unless you’re not paying the constructors and drivers a living wage, which is why it makes sense in say Colombia and not in Germany…just think about replacing the M-lines of Berlin tramways with a BRT. It would have to be couple meters wider, would be terribly unreliable and inefficient, not to speak of noisy and bumpy. Now who would want to have that? Not to mention how much the upkeep of two lanes of dedicated BRT costs vs. maintenance of steel on steel rails and catenary. (Most of the time you’d find the latter to be cheaper.) In Helsinki, Finland we are currently waiting for a new tram/light rail option to replace a bus service that should have been a modern tram/light rail line in the first place: https://raidejokeri.info/en/ In the neighbour municipality Vantaa some parties were trying to push for a BRT option but the independent research suggested light rail/tram option to be the best and this is what was chosen: https://www.vantaa.fi/en/housing-and-environment/traffic-and-transport/vantaa-light-rail (they call it light rail but in some ways it’s also reasonable to call it a tram)
Yes, we certainly can route around it, but having lived in London for most of my life, I can tell you that we seldom route around it. However given the capacity that light railway how. If we keep the vehicles moving on the main arteries, we can move more people alleviating the frustration.
Electric busses are actually a lot more complex logistically than electric trains. With a train, you just need a bunch of big-ass transformers and overhead wires. Expensive to install, but very reliable and relatively low maintenance over many years.
Batteries on the other hand are heavy, relatively fragile, degrade quickly, and very expensive. With a 100KWh EV, about 1/3 of the total cost is the battery, so it would likewise increase the cost of a bus.
Charging is another problem, instead of the whole system using energy real-time, you now need a distribution system that can take hundreds of busses at night and charge them all back up, requiring a massive amount of power in a somewhat short time. While it’s nice that energy is generally cheaper at night, you still need the infrastructure that can take that load.
So, it’s not to say that there’s no place for them, just that our main focus needs to be on rail in most places. There are lots of low-density places with cheap power and temperate weather that absolutely need BEV busses, but a lot more with challenging weather, older grids, and medium density that are a better fit for rail.
IMO electric busses needs to have a trolley bus infrastructure on some route so the bus is recharged during the day. Won’t cover 100% of the energy needs, but will spread out the charging time.
I feel like I remember reading about tests on a roadway that could charge your car as you drive on it, like a qi charger. If that gets hammered out, dedicated bus lanes with the charging tech would limit the cost to implement to one lane while busses still have the freedom to reroute if needed.
Trolley buses do exist…
This is a common misbelief. Trams and light rail usually have points where the units can go around if one unit has derailed, unless the unit has tipped over, which in itself is very very rare. Good planning is crucial. “A better solution uses corridors dedicated to buses that are electric powered.” Nope, nope, nope. You have to present arguments to this claim, maybe then I can be bothered to counterargument such nonsense.
Another problem with light rail would be mountains. Trains don’t like those. On the other hand, cable-cars and cog railway exists and seem to be viable solutions. The city of Lyon even has both and since the cog railway starts on a flat terrain, it is able to switch between both.
We tried in Denmark (Aarhus). Quite expensive, and too many issues. Electrical busses (with dedicated lanes) seems like the better solution, bus but this is also not cheap.
Edit: Spelling
My guess is that hydrogen busses suffer the same challenges as hydrogen short-distance trucks. Due to an overall low energy efficiency (electrolysis -> compression -> decompression), it makes better sense for long-distance transport.
Sorry I’m lazy, but here’s what Bard spat out
According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, approximately 1 billion end-of-life tires (ELTs) are generated every year worldwide. Of these, an estimated 75% are not recycled and end up in landfills, stockpiles, or illegal dumps.
In the United States, approximately 280 million tires are discarded each year. Of these, only about 30 million are retreaded or reused, leaving roughly 250 million scrap tires to be managed annually. About 85 percent of these scrap tires are automobile tires, the remainder being truck tires.
The estimated amount of waste tires generated in India each year is 765 million. Of these, only about 20% are recycled, while the remaining 80% are disposed of in landfills, stockpiles, or illegally dumped.
The improper disposal of waste tires can have a number of negative environmental and health impacts, including:
- Water pollution: Tires can leach harmful chemicals into groundwater and surface water, which can contaminate drinking water and fish habitats.
- Air pollution: Burning tires releases harmful pollutants into the air, such as dioxins and furans. These pollutants can cause respiratory problems, cancer, and other health problems.
- Fire hazards: Tire fires can be difficult to extinguish and can release harmful pollutants into the air.
- Mosquito breeding grounds: Tires can collect water, which can provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes that spread diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.
It is important to recycle waste tires whenever possible to help reduce these environmental and health impacts. There are a number of ways to recycle waste tires, including:
- Retreading: This process involves removing the worn tread from a tire and replacing it with a new one. Retreading can extend the life of a tire by several years.
- Shredding: This process involves shredding tires into small pieces that can be used as a filler material in asphalt, concrete, and other products.
- Pyrolysis: This process involves heating tires in a controlled environment to break them down into their constituent materials, which can then be reused or recycled.
By recycling waste tires, we can help protect our environment and our health.
Aarhus is not really a good example of replacing a bus, as it is a rather regional light rail system with a short inner city section. The difficulties they have seen are probably mainly caused by the technical and budgetary choices made during planning.
For Denmark, Odense looks like a better example, that should be successful if they manage to solve the initial challenges, e.g. with noise/vibrations.
As for the longevity that OP is mentioning, the systems in Bergen (Norway) and Tampere (Finland) show how important this is, with huge private investments being made along the lines. A bus line can be gone next year, but rails will stay for at least decades.
My pet conspiracy theory is that most bus routes are a false compromise sold to voters.
It depends on the type of light rail.
Here in my city the trams share some of the roads with regular traffic, which not only means they can get caught in traffic (though they have priority where possible), but it also means the rails become a real tripping hazard for cyclists (over 800 injuries since 2015 at the last count). There’s been an active campaign to introduce more safety measures but the council has been reluctant to do anything about it.
The tramlines are such a well-known hazard to locals that they actually put people off from cycling, which is surely counter-productive.
Are these the indented rails? Those will throw you off your bike instantly… Cycling lanes AND tramlines can coexist, but I guess the problem here is when you want to take a turn and the rails are in the middle of the road, so you’re forced to just go over them? I guess they could implement some kind of underpass for cyclists and pedestrians.
Having wider tyres ~2"/50mm or so pretty much eliminates the risk (and gives a comfy ride). If you really like the speed of narrow tyres, it’s really quite safe with the right technique – crossing tracks at an angle to avoid mishaps (I find 30° is sufficient, 90° is never a problem), and when they’re slippery, treating them like ice. It becomes second nature soon enough.
I think there are some rubber/elasromer inserts which have been developed which also eliminate the groove – it presents a flat surface to bikes, yet squishes down for the tram wheel flange under the immense weight.
You’re looking at mountain bikes or the sturdier gravel bikes to fit 2" tyres. Your average commuter bike likely won’t have rhe clearance. And yes, even tiny 23mm road racer tyres can cross tramlines with the right technique, but the requirement of a proper technique is still a barrier to entry.
We’ve been calling for those rubber inserts, but so far to no avail.
Sheffield. Though I imagine most modern UK tram systems are in a similar situation.
Light rail transit has its own right of way. Sharing the road means it’s a tram/streetcar.