Spending part of the year in Australia, I was interested to read the article on the new bus rapid transit (BRT) B-Line route introduced in Sydney in November (Global News and Publicity Matters, November) and I had several rides on it over the Christmas period. BRT is a bit of a misnomer as the route makes use of bus priorities that have been in place for many years. Little new infrastructure has accompanied the route launch, beyond the new bus shelters and real-time displays, which have a novel indicator alongside the destination to show how full the approaching bus is.
Still in build are several park-&-ride facilities along the route where drivers will tap on to park their car, then ride the bus for free. However the new route does seem popular, with heavy loads at times, so I wonder how it will cope when the park-&- ride sites come on line, particularly as some are midway on route. I have already seen ‘Bus Full’ destinations on occasions.
Though the peak frequency is every 4min, inter-peak it is 10min. Bunching still occurs at the lower frequency. Oddly, drivers are instructed not to overtake the vehicle in front, so the lead bus is always being hit by the brunt of passengers and this slows…
