The Busway - reliable, fast and frequent

The Busway will give people a reliable, fast and frequent public transport alternative to long and frustrating queues on the notriously congested A14. This video shows how guided buses seamlessly move from ordinary roads to the dedicated Busway track and gives the views of residents who have tried out a section of The Busway.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• The Busway
• Guided Busway
• Rapid Transit
• Bob Menzies

[TheLordTurbo]

I'm not an expert, so I can only compare with a known example - the Manchester Metrolink.

Cost per miles for the Didsbury line (construction of light-rail on a disused track bed) are length: 4.5km, cost: £85m, cost per km: £18.9m/km.

For cambs busway figures are Guideway Length: 25km, Current Cost (after overruns): £181m, Cost per km: £7.24m/km. £18.9m/km > 2*£7.24m/km

[jamiethompson]

@TheLordTurbo Feel free to link to any figures which back up your statement...I can throw things like Cast.Iron's analysis and costed plans into the mix which suggest quite the opposite...

...as for Edinburgh, the two can't be compared. Edinburgh involved extensive utilities diversions due to new alignments through ancient city streets. The St. Ives branch involved reinstating a railway over a mostly existing one over largely open countryside.

[TheLordTurbo]

@jamiethompson rail-based solutions are about twice as expensive (yes I know that now with cost overruns they could have built a rail-based solution, but costs could have overrun for that as well - see Edinburgh)

[jamiethompson]

Can't help but notice the complete omission of comparisons with rail-based solutions...the guideway might well be better than a road, but a rail-based solution would probably have been far better than the guideway.