Guided business ways.

[Ginger66]

Apologies  in advance  if this is a repeat topic

WMPTE (CENTRO) in the 80's experimented with a guided bus on route 65 which was scraped after about a year.   

Did WMPTE/CENTRO learn anything from the errors of tracline65 before planning the sprint network.

[Gareth]

Apologies  in advance  if this is a repeat topic

WMPTE (CENTRO) in the 80's experimented with a guided bus on route 65 which was scraped after about a year.   

Did WMPTE/CENTRO learn anything from the errors of tracline65 before planning the sprint network.

It lasted almost three years. I think the main issue was deregulation from October 1986.  Tendered journeys on sundays (and evenings?) were operated by Midland Red West. What's the point of a guided busway if one of the operators can't use it.

[busfan2847]

Apologies  in advance  if this is a repeat topic

WMPTE (CENTRO) in the 80's experimented with a guided bus on route 65 which was scraped after about a year.   

Did WMPTE/CENTRO learn anything from the errors of tracline65 before planning the sprint network.

Tracline 65 started operation at midday on 9th Oct 1984 and ran until ~Feb 1987.

From http://citytransport.info/Tracline65.htm

"The guided section of Tracline 65 was just a 600 metre strip at the very end of the route in an area where traffic congestion was not an issue; elsewhere new bus lanes were created, parking restrictions introduced / stiffened, more and better bus shelters erected and there was much media publicity. As far as guided operation was concerned the experiment was always meant to be of limited duration and closure came in 1987 when following bus deregulation a rival bus company won the contract for the Sunday service and with it not willing to spend money equipping vehicles with guide wheels the situation arose whereby there would have had to be different stops (on the parallel dual carriageway) for different days of the week.

Within the parameters set for it this experiment was proven successful. Bus patronage on route 65 rose by 29.3% compared to a more modest 4.2% within the West Midlands area as a whole. The guidance system proved both safe and reliable in operation, the initial fears that the protruding guide wheels might prove hazardous - especially to unwary pedestrians - were proven unfounded (although one did snap off when a bus that had been diverted away from its normal routing hit a kerb) and although little now remains of the Birmingham installation much valuable information was gained."

[Justin Tyme]

I suspect there is a reasonable chance that if Deregulation had not happened, there would have been more guided busways in the West Midlands.

If you get the chance I highly recommend riding the Cambridgeshire Busway, between Cambridge and St Ives, which is based on the same ideas.  Travelling on a "track" through the countryside at over 50 mph on a double decker is quite an experience!

[Westy]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't there certain services where the buses concerned are owned by the local authority & the operator concerned 'borrows'(for want of a better word!) them?

So in other words, the Tracline vehicles could have been owned by WMPTE after deregulation & 'borrowed' by both WM Travel & Midland Red West/whoever operated the service!

(Or am I being too simplistic?)

[busfan2847]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't there certain services where the buses concerned are owned by the local authority & the operator concerned 'borrows'(for want of a better word!) them?

So in other words, the Tracline vehicles could have been owned by WMPTE after deregulation & 'borrowed' by both WM Travel & Midland Red West/whoever operated the service!

(Or am I being too simplistic?)

Yes that does happen but usually when one operator runs a tendered service for one tender period and another for the next. In this case WMT was operating a commercial service Monday to Saturday and MRW operated the tendered service on Sundays.