Trams vs. Buses: Making The Right Decision

Malcolm Buchanan, Senior Director, Colin Buchanan and Partners, on 12 February 2002

Since the Transport Group started we have had seven meetings concerned with public transport1, but this was the first to provide a detailed, direct comparison of performance and cost between buses and trams. Mr Buchanan saw that the introduction of trams to Bath raises problems because of local circumstances - narrow, historic streets; city-centre residents; inadequate off-street parking for delivery vehicles, etc - but the general picture given showed

TABLE 1. Time taken to load passengers

how the choice between buses and trams could become closely balanced.

Buses have an image problem, especially diesel-engined ones. Trams, even old designs, are preferred by passengers. This is accentuated because trams have been modernised over the last fifty years to suit current conditions and buses have not. Only recently have buses adopted the multiple door design to speed loading (see table 1) and most have still not eliminated the purchase of tickets on the vehicle. Trams also get more priority in traffic with a defined track that other vehicles keep clear of.

It is possible for a bus service to match a tram service if they are given the same privileges on the road. Edinburgh has `green' bus lanes with enforcement to keep them clear, but it costs a lot- wardens operate for 35 hrs/km/day compared to 2.7 hrs for an `ordinary' bus lane. Bus companies could use more, smaller buses to give a more frequent service, adjusted to demand over the day, or large articulated `bendy buses' to carry more passengers in one vehicle. People want a 10-minute frequency. They could use `smart card' ticketing or a system like that on the Underground with zonal fares and only pre-paid tickets. Buses have the advantage that they can service areas where trams are uneconomic.

The cost of constructing and operating bus and tram systems was illustrated but, of course, depends on local conditions, so that the figures given are only indicative. they are summarised in tables 3 & 4.

A modern multi-door tram-like bus costs £750,000

Discussion

Fare collection by the driver is the main cause of slow boarding on buses and could be replaced by a card, purchased beforehand, which was `swiped' both on entry and exit.

If a tram route is to be introduced it should be on the busiest bus route; the bus is then used where the tram is uneconomic. It helps if the same company runs buses and trams so that integration is achieved.

In Bath, damage to listed buildings by diesel fumes and vibration is not charged to the transport system but to the house owner.

The load pressure on the road surface is higher with narrow steel rails than with rubber tyres; would trolley buses be better than trams in Bath? They are certainly popular in some places, e.g. Arnhem. They are so quiet as to be dangerous sometimes.

Bus lanes suffer from rutting and require frequent maintenance. This is generally only true of contra-flow bus lanes where the width is restricted.

Cycling in bus lanes should be discouraged unless they are wide enough. Mopeds should be permitted in cycle lanes.

To get either a tram system or an efficient bus system introduced needs a political `champion' to drive the project through the bureaucracy.

Donald Lovell

1 13 Jan 1998 A Modern Tramway System for Bath

21 April 1998 How to Improve Public Bus Services in Bath

12 Feb. 1999 A Rapid Transit Proposal for Bath

11 Jan 2000 Developments in Public Transport

12 Sept. 2000 The Role of the `Not-so-Humble' Bus

12 Dec. 2000 Bath Trams: Can They Fly?

12 June 2001 Delivering Croydon Tramlink