Cost,flexibility and availability of drivers. If it can be automated from a control room, it can be run with less fixed staff costs, and it can help reduce the shortage of bus drivers by redeploying them to other areas where VLR/light/heavy rail is not justified.
But the easy part of automating the bus is following a line, the difficult bit is interacting with the public. The VLR still has to do the latter.
That's why I suggested driving via CCTV from a control room, rather than full automation.
It's not the buses themselves, but the costs associated with them.
May I ask what this project is? And how VLR would be more suitable than a normal bus.
They won’t have the required safety systems (e.g TPWS) but if they fit I can’t see why they otherwise couldn’t.
The VLR is currently using a unit from Furrer+Frey. It’s a reverse pantograph charger and looks very similar to an OppCharge unit used for buses.
Unlikely to be much different to that of a tram. If you need more climbing ability look at a rack railway… or a normal bus.
It is for an area which is off the beaten track. The line (or at least a larger part of it) could be dedicated. The concept is about opening up the area for both tourists and as commuter towns. At this stage it is to be able to present a case for the local MEP, MPs, and mayors to look for public funding for a professional feasability study.
There are buses but as with the trains a very poor service and serving different towns. Think of two sides of a mountain range converging at the head of the range in a connecting valley. Some of the towns could not be
A point that I had not considered but obviously one that could be included in the specifications for rolling stock
They've been decommissioning bus lanes out of Cov. In fact the only one left that I use is Sky Blue Way when driving the 86 or 85A if I'm unfortunate enough to be in on a Sunday.
That's the plan. The initial bit will be Grove Street to the old IKEA, so close to the station and a kind of 'Get people into town' kind of thing, along a part of the proposed route. Certainly I'll find it useful to not have to park so I can access the Lower Precinct and the market, with Thunderbolt Models in mind... And thatcrevord stall right opposite. And the computer stall just round the corner.
In casescwhere overhead wites are needed could they not stick lamp posts opposite each other instead of staggering them and put the wires (where they're needed) on those? No need to mount them on buildings at all. Not relevant to Coventry trams, I know, just a passing thought.
That makes a lot of sense. I can't see autonomous buses working well in most of the UK, because a lot of our suburban and rural road markings/quality is just not good enough for an autonomous bus to drive safely and consistently.
Absolutely. As I said up thread, you'd have to have a member of staff in the cab which would defeat the point of them, and I'd just drive it around on manual thr whole time, mainly to stave off the boredom. But also because computers just cannot be trusted.
I could see a computerised version of a guided busway perhaps, with a driver joining for any service section using a public road.
That was done, for example, on the Metrolink Ashton line.
maps.app.goo.gl
Unless the public road section was very short, you'd need so many drivers to avoid the risk of a bus being stopped awaiting a one, that you might as well keep them on board for the guided section too.
Could you not import the railway practise of "stepping back"?
Even if you did that, it only requires a bus in one direction to be delayed for another one to be as well, unless you have some spare drivers sitting around at the busway to highway transition.
Spares at the busway transition would make sense if you used autonomous buses on e.g. the Luton and Dunstable Busway.
Yeah that could work. And save the boredom. That said I'm not sure where a Guided busway might fit in between Rugby and Coventry, where I'm often found on either the 86, or if I'm unfortunate enough to be working a Sunday, the 85A.
Oh, sorry, yes I went off-topic a bit with guided busways in general. VLR will hopefully work for Cov!
Might be like the ones Stagecoach trialled in Scotland - they ended up with two staff on them!
Sounds about right. We're about to start using our electrics in the next couple of weeks so let's see how much of a horror show we have. We'll all need to be reminded how to start them.