I’ve always argued that a modern fleet of buses is a superior public transport solution for a city than a surface tram network. Underground is a completely different story, but on the surface? I think there’s no contest. If your city already had a tram network then fine, use it, update it, make the most of it. But building new tram networks from scratch? that’s just nuts, sorry.
Electric or hybrid buses can co-exist with private traffic better than trams, which entail enormous disruptions for car traffic. Some cynics may view this as a feature, not a bug. I don’t; I think that efficient use of infrastructure is always more important than anyone’s pet cause du-jour.
Buses can be rerouted when necessary, you can add capacity or redistribute it much more easily than with trams.
Another advantage is that metropolitan public transport presents the ideal conditions for the development and validation of alternative fuels and energy storage systems. The whole fleet is always at a controlled distance from the recharging station so there’s no need to have a network of fancy refueling stations before you can deploy hybrid, electric, NG or hydrogen fueled buses. We can use public transport fleets to jump-start many innovations that will later extend to the whole road-going transportation ecosystem.
And regarding automation and control, nothing precludes modern buses from having the same stuff that is available on modern trains. Rails? why don’t we just paint them on the road?
So, I’m naturally very happy to learn about Fraunhofer’s AutoTram, a prototype that goes exactly in this direction.
