Bus Rapid Transit - excluding cyclists?

Lumen

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/rapid-bus-network-for-capital-2887236.html

"BRT involves buses running on lanes which are segregated from all other traffic, including taxis."

...and presumably cyclists?

Where do the taxis and cyclists get displaced to?

tomasrojo

White paint, footpath -- Hey presto! A "perfectly good" cycle lane.

rp

Lumen wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/rapid-bus-network-for-capital-2887236.html"BRT involves buses running on lanes which are segregated from all other traffic, including taxis."

They have these in Essen: they are effectively concrete railways, completely inaccessible to cyclists unless you bring your bike onto the platform and hop down onto the road bed.

"It has already been provided successfully in a number of cities, including Cambridge in the UK and Eindhoven in the Netherlands. It's definitely something that we would like to pursue if we have the funding."

But of course in Eindhoven, they provide a decent cycle infrastructure as well...

tomasrojo

It did occur to me before that if buses were given all the advantages of the Luas, they probably could give an equivalent service. Except that they can't carry as many passengers in one go.

Lumen

rp wrote: »

They have these in Essen: they are effectively concrete railways, completely inaccessible to cyclists unless you bring your bike onto the platform and hop down onto the road bed.

Since the case for introducing these here is to save money, I fear that the Irish solution may be more like...

tomasrojo wrote: »

White paint...Hey presto!

Doctor Bob

Lumen wrote: »

...and presumably cyclists?

Yep.

Lumen wrote: »

Where do the taxis and cyclists get displaced to?

Parallel cycle infrastructure or the road.

I was intrigued by this bit:

"BRT is effectively a Luas on wheels..."

tomasrojo

Yes, I was unaware that the Luas was a maglev.

bogmanfan

tomasrojo wrote: »

It did occur to me before that if buses were given all the advantages of the Luas, they probably could give an equivalent service. Except that they can't carry as many passengers in one go.

Sorry for going off topic, but I have to agree with this. What makes the Luas work is that it is given priority at junctions, and doesn't have to share road space with cars/taxis/bikes. I have always considered the Luas a gigantic waste of money, as running buses on the Luas tracks would have the same effect.

kenmc

bogmanfan wrote: »

Sorry for going off topic, but I have to agree with this. What makes the Luas work is that it is given priority at junctions, and doesn't have to share road space with cars/taxis/bikes. I have always considered the Luas a gigantic waste of money, as running buses on the Luas tracks would have the same effect.

Except that you would need a hell of a lot more busses and subsequently drivers to achieve the same throughput of passengers, especially at peak hours.

tomasrojo

The Luas is also easier to get buggies and awkward loads onto.

However, the point remains an excellent one, because I made it.