Why is it that “People really do prefer trams”

Why do travellers prefer trains and light rail to buses? This article tries to undermine the fact that people really do prefer trams, and implies it is ignorance that they dont prefer buses.  But there are sound reasons why people do. ….”New research confirms what we pretty much already know; travellers generally prefer rail-based modes […]

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2 minute tram service interval Budapest, 0430 to 23.50, 6 minutes Birmingham

See also: https://bathtrams.uk/trams-really-run-every-6-8-minutes-throughout-day/ In budapes trams run from 0430 to 23.50 https://www.budapesttips.co.uk/public-transport/bus-budapest/ Above, yellow is one Budapest tram timetable. Note how he service frequency is increased during school holidays. In UK trams are generally more frequent than trams e.g. 6 minutes in Birmingham is typical, whereas buses are generally around 20 minutes.  In pre-war London […]

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How Freiburg’s tram solution was much more effective than York’s cheap bus solution

https://bathtrams.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/APPLRG151210-1.pdf slides 18 – 30 in above show how much  better Freiburg did by expanding the trams than York which tried the cheap bus solution; similar size cities York’s failed bendy bus solution Freiburg’s pedestrianised area + trams Below, click to see other tram papers:   https://bathtrams.uk/bath-tram-conference/    

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Why building more roads, or any traffic improvement scheme is not cost effective and does not cut overall congestion

People generally spend an hour a day traveling: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchetti%27s_constant So any road improvement simply means that people will journey further to their destinations.   This means there will be the same number of cars on the road as before but they are spread over a longer road mileage. But immediately other drivers will work out that […]

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Buses, Busways or BRT have never attracted sufficient car drivers to reduce congestion even if they are quicker.

See Also: https://bathtrams.uk/buses-and-busways-some-factual-observations-by-prof-lewis-lesley/ It is absolutely not true that if you take away the car choice, people will go by bus. It has been proven over and over again, that people just choose what is easier and go to other destinations”  I spent 15 years in Academia and Local Government trying to get people out of […]

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3. Why was Edinburgh track so expensive and what are the alternatives?

    The picture above  shows why Edinburgh track laying was perhaps so time-consuming, as there was a thick concrete base laid, then tied sleepers placed on that, and this was then all encased in more concrete. Life expectancy will not allow us to see how worn track will be replaced, but meantime Siberian iron-ore trains could probably […]

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