Thanks... interesting comments and some gap-filling in my knowledge.
I can already hear the British cyclists screaming 'dangerous' at the thought of double-articulated buses being used on our roads. Yet such buses are successfully used in quite a few European conurbations (even in Holland!).
BRT would indeed be the cheapest to implement, but without dedicated rights of way it is very much at the mercy of traffic conditions. Kerb guided busways offer a solution that also minimises land-take.
Whilst some British BRT schemes already exist (and have proven to be popular) this mode of transport is generally thought of being less attractive to passengers than railway type services - trains, trams, etc. Is there not already a bus link between Epping and Harlow?
There is a bus link, but it is slow, expensive and doesn't serve all the parts of Harlow it needs to. This might be partially resolved by a Bus Service Improvement Plan, but I don't think any prospective operator would be interested without a wholesale network transfer to be profitable enough and justify the large investment to bring Harlow's bus network up to standard after years of running down by Arriva.
Such a bus link would not be an issue for cyclists, as in other new towns, a large, comprehensive network of shared cycle/pedestrian paths was provided for cyclists and other non-motorised road users. Cyclists would therefore not be troubled by bi articulated buses as in London where they have to use the same road network as the buses.
Again, being a New Town, the road design is perfect for a BRT, because large verges along the single carriageway arterial road were left for prospective road dualling should road traffic justify it, this space could easily be used for bus lanes. It is only 1.4 miles of road with these verges that needs to be dualled and bus stops devised, the design of the 2 roundabouts along Second Avenue (the road in question) is perfect for a signalised through-about used to enable buses to bypass roundabouts at speed.
The A414 from the Second Avenue roundabout to M11 J7 at Hastingwood is already dualled and the short section from the bus station on the A1019 Velizy Avenue to the start of Second Avenue is already dualled with bus lanes. The journey time along this section would similar to the current car journey time between Harlow Town Centre and M11 Junction 7, currently 6 mins. The section from M11 junction to the projected entry/exit slips for the bus only junction has a current car journey time of 7 mins for 4.3 miles, as it is purely motorway, there is no reason to believe the bus times would be different. The section from the bus-only junction is projected as 3 mins for 1.3 miles.
This gives a total of 16 mins, plus 4 mins recovery time for a 20 mins schedule.
The current bus service 420 operated by TrustyBus from Harlow to Ongar via Epping Station and North Weald Bassett takes 35 mins and runs every 30 mins, a BRT plan running every 5 - 10 mins as I have described above would have a much better chance of encouraging modal shift from car to bus at the right price.
Over half of the town's population lives within a mile's walk from the route and this is only set to increase in future with the planned high density residential development in Harlow Town Centre.