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Trams don't actually scale higher than busses; the highest ridership BRTs have far more ridership than the highest ridership light rail. The key thing that make
by Veedrac 1y ago
Trams don't actually scale higher than busses; the highest ridership BRTs have far more ridership than the highest ridership light rail. The key thing that makes it work is having a dedicated right of way. I expect busses get a bad rap as a scaled transit solution mostly because they have to share the roads so often. But it's indeed an advantage of light rail that it's a lot harder to make that mistake with it.
- laurencerowe 1y agoThose BRTs will have lower passenger/operator ratios though since trams tend to be bigger than articulated buses and are frequently coupled together for busier routes. I definitely agree that the dedicated right of way is the main thing. It's why some of San Francisco's trams are so slow outside of the city centre (where they run in a tunnel) and why Manchester's trams are so slow through the city centre (where they run at surface level sharing the street with pedestrians.)
- scott_w 1y agoAbsolutely! I’ve used the Manchester Metrolink and it definitely slows down in the city centre. It does speed up a lot (and likely beats bus in rush hour) when you’re off the streets, which makes it an incredible commuter option!
- laurencerowe 1y agoMuch of it is built on repurposed heavy rail lines and those sections are great. The Eccles Line through Salford Quays is horribly slow and windy though which was a pain for commuting to Media City from south east Manchester. I believe the new Trafford line improves things somewhat but Manchester really needs much more heavy rail capacity.
- rjsw 1y agoThe line out to the airport isn't using an old rail line and is fairly slow.