[sustran] Re: bus lanes research

[Alan Patrick Howes]

And UK is worse, in terms of regulatory/ legislative frameworks inhibiting
busway development. The public authorities have no interest in building
busways unless they can control the quality of the buses and services on
them - which is difficult.


-- 
Alan P Howes, Special Transport Advisor, 
     Dubai Municipality Public Transport Department
aphowes at dm.gov.ae
Tel:    +971 4 286 1616 ext 214
Mobile: +971 50 5989661


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brendan Finn [mailto:bfinn at singnet.com.sg]
> Sent: Tue, April 09, 2002 7:32 AM
> To: sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org
> Subject: [sustran] [sustran] RE: bus lanes research
> 
> 
> Dear Sustran colleagues,
> 
> An additional Asia-Pacific city which has an active busways project is
> Sydney, Australia. This aims to implement six linked sections 
> of busway in
> western suburban Sydney, in a district which is served mostly 
> by private bus
> operators with historic operating rights. The website is
> www.transitways.nsw.gov.au
> 
> I bring this example to your attention since it has been the 
> subject of
> lawsuits by the existing bus operators, based on their 
> interpretation of
> their historic rights. They have had some success in the 
> courts, and this
> could have very serious impacts on the project, on the 
> services which will
> be operated on the busways, and the extent to which the 
> incumbent operators
> can dictate access to the market. It ties into the need for 
> significant
> restructuring of the regulatory and institutional approach to 
> bus services
> in New South Wales (the state in which Sydney is located).
> 
> For those of you who are more interested in the 
> transportation issues than
> the civil engineering aspects of busways, I suggest that you 
> examine the
> Sydney case. It offers some very interesting lessons of the advance
> preparation you may need to do in your home country (or 
> application site if
> you are a consultant or adviser). A busway is simply a piece of
> infrastructure, and there needs to be an appropriate 
> framework to stimulate
> and integrate the transport services offered to the users.
> 
> For those who are interested in the functioning of a busway, 
> I strongly
> recommend a visit to Adelaide. Although I have worked in the 
> bus industry
> for more than 20 years, I was not prepared for the impact of 
> being able to
> travel at 100 kph on an urban bus. In my opinion, it totally 
> negates the
> argument that only light-rail etc. can attract users.
> 
> With best wishes,
> 
> 
> Brendan Finn.