Why Trams Work (But Integrated With Buses) Whereas Buses Alone Don’t, In Tackling Pollution Congestion, Climate Emergency in cities and towns
- The key unassailable fact is that nowhere have buses persuaded drivers to significantly shift from driving into cities to buses whereas trams have been shown to routinely have a high shift from cars to buses. This is for fundamental engineering reasons enumerated below, they cannot offer the same high quality and prestigious service which a tram can. See: https://bathtrams.uk/buses-have-a-much-lower-modal-shift-ie-attracting-car-drivers-capability-than-trams/
- Freiburg is a good example of how trams cut growth of car usage and double the usage of public transport. See: https://bathtrams.uk/how-freiburgs-tram-solution-was-much-more-effective-than-yorks-bus-solution/
- Modern methods of installing lightweight trams can be significantly cheaper than the method used in Edinburgh, and some glue in tracks can potentially be installed without closing roads and generally without service diversions. See :https://bathtrams.uk/modern-quick-to-install-low-disruption-track-systems-do-not-require-wholesale-diversion-of-utilities/
- Bath Trams have demonstrated that at least two routes are likely to be viable, confirmed by the Atkins report which found “no show stoppers” See: https://bathtrams.uk/solving-baths-traffic/one-set-of-proposals-for-a-new-tram-layout/
- Tram can climb all the hills in Bath and the road to Radstock without resort to rack or cables. See: https://bathtrams.uk/trams-in-other-cities/can-trams-climb-steep-gradients-bath-winter/
- Trams have much lower bearing pressure and shock loading than buses, and it is buses that are breaking up Bath’s roads and vaults. See: https://bathtrams.uk/8152-2/
- Putting trams into Bath would protect vulnerable vaults against the damage primarily caused by buses’ heavy rear axles as they spread the high bus axle load rather like a tank track. https://bathtrams.uk/8152-2/
- There are at least 33 towns or cities with trams of the same size or smaller than Bath. 10 towns have populations less than 35,000 compared to Bath’s C 100,000. https://bathtrams.uk/cities-with-small-population-tram-systems/
- Some modern trams do not need overhead wires See: https://bathtrams.uk/trams-without-overhead-wires-rail-engineer/
- Trams typically get a 30 – 40 % modal shift due to fundamental engineering differences which translate into a more economic and attractive vehicle.
- All 7 new trams in Britain have achieved significant reduction in pollution and congestion, something not achieved with buses alone, which are great for rural routes or tram feeders Nottingham being the only city which met emissions guidelines. See: https://bathtrams.uk/evidence-that-car-drivers-will-switch-to-trams-but-not-buses-1/
- In trams passengers are not cramped in bench seats. Passengers are not stuck next to potentially bad actors (important for school children and young women for example) due to non-bench seats and walk through vehicles.
- Trams are smoother and quieter than a bus due to the rails, whereas a bus has to deal with defects in the road and on a dedicated busway soon creates bus bumping ruts and grooves. See: https://bathtrams.uk/8152-2/
- Trams have a much higher individual capacity ( 450 Budapest) and are more frequent than buses https://bathtrams.uk/2-minute-tram-service-interval-budapest/ passengers are never left at the stop, and a much higher line capacity. See: https://bathtrams.uk/relative-carrying-capacity-cars-buses-trams/
- Trams have a lower overall running cost per passenger due more passengers sharing the most expensive part of running cost, the driver. Trams can be financed at 3 % over 40 yrs ( users not yet born will pay some of the cost). Buses have higher running costs and higher financing costs due to short lives. See: https://bathtrams.uk/solving-baths-traffic/comparative-benefits-trams-vs-buses/
- Trams have much lower boarding and de-boarding times leading to only 20 sec dwell times.
- The above means that trams can operate at much more rapid frequency around the clock – 2 minutes in Budapest, 6 minutes in UK. See: https://bathtrams.uk/2-minute-tram-service-interval-budapest/Buses can’t do this because they have to accumulate enough passengers at bus stops with long service gaps (and then cram them into bench seats) and have much longer boarding times due to fewer narrow doors, an unavoidable result of being essentially a road vehicle.
- Trams are much more reliable, and coupled with high frequency eliminate the 1/3 extra morning traffic due to parental peak journeys to school by permitting even two tram journeys to be feasible and acceptable for unaccompanied school children.
- Any fixed rail link increases property values, and commercial activity. See :https://bathtrams.uk/property-value-increase-tram-lines/
- Any fixed rail link which starts out rural soon attracts development alongside ( eg Metropolitan line – numerous examples.)
- Numerous examples of super/metro type bus schemes that have not been successful in UK eg Swansea £10m failure https://bathtrams.uk/difficulties-and-problems-encountered-with-bus-rapid-transit-in-the-uk/ and: https://bathtrams.uk/buses-and-busways-some-factual-observations-by-prof-lewis-lesley/
- Trams have zero pollution at point of use if run on renewables . Both buses have large tyre, brake and road dust emissions equal to the exhaust emissions. Electric cars are unlikely a solution either, due to the tyre and road tar dust pollution, ocean plastic pollution and shortages of rare metals.
- Trams have much lower energy consumption per passenger than a bus. See: https://bathtrams.uk/the-most-energy-efficient-mode-of-public-transport/
- Due to low noise pollution and fixed path, trams are ideal for lineside dining and cafe culture. See: https://bathtrams.uk/people-dining-around-tram-line-centre-kassel/
- “A tram system provides 90% of the benefit of an underground railway / metro at 10% of the cost” Pierre Laconte, Secretary General of the International Public Transport Association (UITP)”
- Cities with trams have high levels of cycling https://bathtrams.uk/arguments-against-trams/bikes/and walking. https://bathtrams.uk/how-freiburgs-tram-solution-was-much-more-effective-than-yorks-bus-solution/
