No and No! But this is much more robust than the Tesla thing they were trying to do in Las Vegas! It looks cute too! Although, if the bus is used a lot, might make more sense to build a tram! Thanks for uploading!

@@kiitc thanks for watching! I presume the main advantage of this is a seamless connection between the busway and places that a conventional tram setup would not work, like a housing estate for example.

The only thing I don't understand is why this better than a normal road. It certainly would be much cheaper to build and maintain a normal road... and you don't need special buses to run on them.

@@davidlloyd1526 I don't know that a normal road would be cheaper to build. Land acquisition cost can be quite high. Normal roads would be 300-500% wider. Human drivers cannot drive that precisely for any length of time at 80kmh. They will crash. You not only need the lanes to be wider if the road is unguided, you also need additional grassy/safety area next to the lanes, because on regular roads, crashes happens all the time. Look at the video, the actual surface the vehicle travels on don't even cover the entire width of the track. You're using less material. Plus these tracks will only be used by buses. It would not be filled with cars, nor other heavier vehicles that will degrade the surface faster. Dedicated BRT routes are good, but BRT-creep is a disease nobody has a solution to. And you don't need special buses. These aren't special buses built for them. They're normal buses modified to work on the guide tracks. LRTs are so crazy expensive because they ARE specially built. These are less expensive because you just take a regular bus, and then modify them. The modifications adds a bit of costs, but not necessarily a crazy amount of it.

Yeah it must have been fun though in the 80s with all the classic buses roaming about

Although the first ones appeared in the 1970s and 80s, very few were built then. The vast majority of current UK guided busways were created in the past decade or so. The Leigh one opened in 2016.

Don't forget the Cambridget to St. Ive's busway that's been opene since ~2010

Japan also have this kind of busway, check out Nagoya Guideway Bus

What is the use of this! Isn't it just additional cost

@@naveenchitturi2334 The guideways makes it trivially easy to noob/less skilled drivers to drive at speed. There has been zero accidents on Adelaide system since it was installed decades ago, if we ignore the crazy car drivers who ignores the signs and try to get famous by successfully navigating it without falling into the gap in the middle (only 1 has succeeded). Well, actually there were two accidents recorded. One was in a terminal where one bus rear-ended another. However, the terminals were not on the guideways themselves. The system was designed so that the guideways ended shortly before the terminals. This allows buses to leave the guideways to go to the terminal, which are just regular terminals with buses driving on normal pavement. Express buses can then "overtake" them. The other accident happen when somebody (suspected to be a vandal) left a bicycle on the track. The bus driver stopped to remove the bicycle, which was when another bus rear-ended the stopped bus. The driver was hospitalized with spinal injuries while two passengers had minor injuries. I like that the construction of the o-bahn makes it proof against BRT-creep. THAT is a real thing. My own city has a dedicated BRT, which cost a whopping $25m/km for a 5.4km track (3 miles). It looks just like an elevated highway, and is losing money all the time. It is 9 years old. Don't know how long it will last before they simply turn it into a normal road for cars.

I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching

It's much more expensive

I was going to say more or less the same but you have beaten me to it. It just seems something different for the sake of it.

Cheap to build, doesn't need much space and busses don't break down regularly. They almost never break down.

No other road users to delay the bus. Cheap road surface costs as it's essentially 20% the materials. Good soakaway. It does have benefits

(1) it doesn't cost more to build. It costs less, mostly because it is narrower, and so use less material, but most importantly, land can be expensive. The surface lasts longer because millions of cars are not running over them, and super heavy vehicles like lorries and cement trucks are not using it. (2) originally, they intended that each bus would be able to tow any bus that breaks down to the next station at a somewhat slower speed. However, the union objected, so the buses were not equipped to do this. Instead, they obtained a dedicated recovery truck which they named Dumbo. This is not limitation of the system. It is a restriction imposed by the union. Buses can be easily equipped to be able to tow other buses, especially since the guideway itself is guided. (3) the construction makes it impossible for cars to use it. You think that is a fault. I believe it is a feature. This ensures cars do not fill it up at peak hours. And it is proof against BRT-creep.

It definitely stands out

The bus uses normal road too. The guided part is just part of the line.

You're welcome! Hope you enjoyed the video

I think BRT would be better

@@지구미순간 This *IS* a BRT, with track guidance added on top.

Actually at the entry points there's a "car trap" so unless your car is as wide as a bus, it will not physically be able to enter the tracks. There's been instances of people driving into them and getting stuck, which delays the service

There is a wheel trap at the entrance to grab on to cars which is normally much narrower wheel base than buses. However, if you carefully avoid that, there is a sump-buster device that rips open the bottom of your engine, because cars are usually lower than buses. Only if you avoid both, do you get onto the guided tracks, with a large opening down the middle, that cars typically fall into. Only insane people, or those who views it as a challenge will drive there. Motorcycles will have less of a problem, but unlike motorists, if you fall in the central hole, you might hit your head and break your neck on the concrete on the way down and die. In India, the solution is simple. Just have a guard stationed at every entrance and exit. They will raise a gate at an approaching bus, and close it after them. If you make it through anyway, he will use his mobile, and cops would be at the next exit waiting to give you a huge fine.

I think it's just to ensure the bus doesn't hit the kerbs

They are directly linked to the steering.

This was initially a disused railway line, and apparently converting it into a tram line or a normal road for buses would cost more than making a guided busway

You definitely aren't alone there

The buses are separate from other traffic therefore a quicker journey with much less driver stress. As an ex London & Sydney bus driver it can be a very stressful job at times.

No cars on this thing, so at peak periods, buses are not stuck crawling along slower than a snail because of all the cars blocking it.

That would be something!

I suppose it's designed to withstand that

they can withstand going 55mph for longish duration without any issues. at cambridge busway thats the speeds the busses go

These have been used in Australia since the early 1980s, and no issues. The buses travel at 100km/h (62MPH)

There is basically weight on the wheel, so it doesn't get hot.

One of the reasons cited by developers was lack of space; considering this used to be a railway I believe they could not widen it to be a normal road.. I don't know.

According to the people who built it, Prevents use by unauthorised vehicles Improved public perception Sustainable drainage system Less space required etc ... I get your point though as there are many disadvantages like when a bus breaks down on the tracks There were a few more but I can't remember.

no traffic is a huge bonus

The guided track allows the track to be much narrow, despite the relatively high speed. Imagine trying to drive that without guidance. Perhaps a few very skilled people could do it. Most would probably crash after a couple of days. Why is track guidance such a terrible thing? Why do people buy cars with cruise control and track following? Why do people pay Tesla additional thousands for self driving? More automation is generally a good thing. The driver can relax a bit while on the guided portions of the track. The tracks are narrower, allowing us to use the adjacent land for other things. And if we have a lot of these, I can see overhead powercables for electric buses to charge their batteries/capacitors.

Thats what came to mind when i saw the guided wheels.

it's repurposed from an old railway line, supposed to offer the seamless connectivity between express rail and normal roads

@@glitchFan2428 Thank you!

It's too narrow for human drivers to drive. At least at high speed. You could probably do it for a bit. But after a couple of days, you'll probably fall off those narrow tracks and have an accident. The guide rails makes falling off impossible. And in fact, since the thing was installed decades ago, it has never happened. The only two accidents have been rear-enders.

Just for fantasy like building something no one ever build. It doesn’t matter how efficient or not efficient at all 😂

how so? being guided allows the bus to have higher maximum speeds since no steering required. Having a highway bigger will still cause a chance of congestion and would be invasive. Having it being a normal way would require very fine steering therefore the maximum speed would be drastically reduced. This is a very good solution.

And this is actually much more expensive in the long run.

Theres something very failed 'bright future of transit' about this system that's typically british. Cities in the UK need to stop messing around with strange experiments and start building more full size metros like the tyne and wear

The main reason for the installation of the guided busway is because Leigh doesn't have a train station and there is no plans of extending the track to the town for either train or tram services. The buses pre-installation were always too full for school and work commutors, and the nearest train station was the next town over in Atherton, meaning you would need to catch a bus to catch a train anyway. At a population of just over 40,000 it was the most effective way to easy congestion on both the roads and rail services in Leigh and Atherton (as the guided busway also stops in Atherton), whilst also keeping costs to a minimum. The service also shortened the travel duration from Leigh to Manchester by up to 15 minutes

@@dalmo001 Exept... This is more expensive than a tram network in the long run... Saving a few dollars now to have it be multiple times more expensive later is not wise.

@@GegoXaren I live in Leigh so I know the frustration, but this is what the UK seems to be doing these days. Short term quick fixes an dnot seeing the bigger picture.

The point is to have seamless travel between the express guided section and other parts where building a railway or tramway isn't possible. Why not just build a road for buses is another matter entirely 🤔🤔

It actually used to be a railway line 😅

Yes

It was apparently a disused railway line before they converted it into this. And this was cheaper and took up less room than a road for buses

Because train can't go through a normal small town road.

All train lines and stations in Leigh were closed down in 1969 and all tracks were ripped up. Before the guided busway was built, it could sometimes take 30 minutes on the bus to travel the two miles to the A580 road that heads to Manchester, due to the heavy slow moving traffic in the morning. The bus on the guided busway misses all that heavy traffic for two miles and joins the A580 four miles further along that road. Relaying a train track all the way to Manchester from Leigh would not be possible, as many houses are now built on sections along where the line used to run.

@@peteince Japan has buses with additional rail wheels that goes up and down, that can travel on rail lines. But that's overly complicated compared to welding on these simple guide wheels. Plus it's harder to have to carefully align the bus exactly on the rails before the mechanism lowers the rail wheels. The hydraulics to lift the entire weight of the bus cannot have been trivial.

Is asphalt better than concrete?

much the same way as a good slot car set handles the crossroads, the guide tracks widen slightly to allow the bus to enter the other side of the gap without error, I would assume this is where the driver comes in handy to ensure a stable ride.

There are a few, with the longest being in Cambridgeshire

Well I was thinking, it wouldn’t take much to hit the kerb, a heavy bus only being kept on the road by a couple of small guide wheels, surely at speed could be easy for mechanical deviation then bang, bus could go over ! Doesn’t look safe at all this.

@@oddities-whatnot The guide wheels does not keep the bus on track by sheer brawn. There is a clever mechanical linkage system that turns the main wheels of the bus ever so slightly if it drifts out of alignment. Think about it, the human driver can easily exert enough force on the steering wheel to aim the bus in whatever direction he wish to go. The guide wheels only need to exert that much force to move the main wheels to the correct position.

Good question. I'm not sure if the snow in the UK ever gets heavy to the point it would interfere with the guided busway, but if it does I assume that the buses will just use regular roads

It would effectively shut down, just like the rest of UK transport when we get a smattering of snow.

​​@@OllieTastersallby the way, the UK handle snow better than people think. But the media only report problems because normal is not interesting. Also, some other European countries have worse handling of snow than the UK. But self hatred is a British national sport. You're doing great at that.

That's right

It is a B5LH, with Wright Gemini 3 bodywork

If the back window only covers the right half of the lower deck and it's either an EvoSeti, Enviro 400 MMC or Wright Eclipse Gemini then it's most likely a B5LH. Also you can tell by the long gear changes due to the semi-automatic Volvo i-Shift gearbox, normally used in trucks.

I believe so

They are using two kinds of buses on it right now (and in fact from the start). A smaller rigid bus, and a two car articulated bus.

Supporters of guided busways have given the following reasons: 1) usage of existing resources, thus saving money 2) flexibility, the bus can continue off the guideway providing sealess travel between it and places where it's not possible to build a tram 3) land savings as the busway only needs to be about as wide as a bus I'm not for or against it btw

Passengers doesn't need to transfer from bus to train and to bus again.

I'm not sure about this one but in Leeds there have been cases like that

@@glitchFan2428 what about outsider like a car driving in the rail?

@@PopCapMusicTrendingthey are car traps os most probably yes

@@goutamsaha8136100% in Cambridge there has been cars stuck in the guided busway

Yeah very dumb, like the idea of your parents conceiving you

Doesn't wear out nearly as quick as you think it might. Reinforced, high grade concrete. Same stuff a lot of buildings are made out of. It's not your normal asphalt road surface

Whoever decided trollies were a bad idea is a dick. Why do we always regulate the best ideas into oblivion?

Disagree! Obahn buses have been operating for decades. They don't wear out the tracks because they're designed for the buses. 🤦‍♂️😆

Nice to know that same crazy train fans love to spread lies on the internet.

hence the inverted commas

That would not work on normal roads tho

@@glitchFan2428 how about a hover bus instead?

True

It follows the route of a disused railway line according to the website of the developers

@@glitchFan2428 quite uneven for a railway line

Nooooooooooo! Kidding, thank you 😄😄

Familiar auras 😁😁

Indeed the one in Adelaide existed for much longer than this one, there's one in Leeds England that's been around since the 90s as well. Yet people are still unaware of how it works hence this videos exists to educate them.

I think it depends on the level of traffic. If the bus shares the normal road it will be held up in traffic. If you want to encourage people to take the bus instead of driving you can have dedicated bus lanes so the busses can zoom past the cars stuck in traffic. If you are going to have a strip of road used only for busses then this system means the strip of land required is narrower because the guaranteed steering means you don't need to leave so much of a gap to allow for driver error as with a normal road. A lane on a road with a 55mph speed limit would be a lot wider than this. Also the central strip can be left as grass which is better for rain absorption. It rather depends on what the cost is like per mile compared to a normal road, over a long period allowing for resurfacing etc. In most places the cost of the land itself probably won't be too much, so I suppose the cost per mile must be competitive other wise why would they do it? There is the disadvantage that the track can't be used by taxis cyclists and emergency vehicles, like a normal bus lane could be.

The route from Leigh to Manchester city centre is a busy route, especially in morning & evening peak periods, so instead of a bus being stuck in traffic It travels the majority of the route on a Bus only Busway, Why should 50/60 people have yo wait in a traffic jam that has Cars with mainly one person using it.

Why do u think so

No waste

I appreciate and understand your viewpoint, however I stand by my decision to provide context, showing off the scenery as well as showing that there are actually people who genuinely don't know how it works, rather than having others be like "oh it's so obvious how it works what's the point of this video". Thank you for your feedback and I hope you at least enjoyed the "20 seconds" of useful information. Cheers 👍🏻

There's literally people who I showed who have never seen it before and are unaware of how it works 😅😅😅

And Cars with just the Driver Not bad ?., Silly comment.