tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7011655232093163642.post3582860398450360145..comments2024-01-14T06:16:50.475+13:00Comments on Cities Matter: Spatial Planning 3rd (and final!): a real alternative for AucklandPhil McDermotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06869744647213369964noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7011655232093163642.post-91555202405851119932010-11-25T17:50:32.790+13:002010-11-25T17:50:32.790+13:00Hi,
Contributing a 'techno' comment on bu...Hi,<br /><br />Contributing a 'techno' comment on buses, to show why I don't believe that rail should be respected as a modern urban option at all:<br /><br />Guided busways can be electrified like trams, because computers can now hold buses (and other) to a strict rail-like travel path. (Electrification would also require a cheap central rail on the road as an electrical contact, and an overhead wire as well - like a train of course).<br /><br />Buses can now form into "virtual trains" by operating in platoons on designated guidways, again with the use of electronic controls facilitating ultra-close headways between buses. So in time you could get as much peak-capacity as you could ever possibly use from a bus-only way.<br /><br />So as I see it, buses can ultimately do everything rail can do and more - for less. So stick with the rubber-and-road format, I say. (At least for new developments).<br /><br />Note: Platooning is safe with automated vehicles because a close headway can be consistently maintained. With, say, a 2cm gap between vehicles a significant (high impact) collision between vehicles cannot develop.Andrew D Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04492591375757227409noreply@blogger.com