Most of us know that First rolled out their FTR scheme with their Wright StreetCar's to cities like York and Swansea. To cut a long story short, it failed.
Yet this type of scheme seems to be having a revival. The Glider in Belfast along with what Birmingham has planned (I forget the name, CitySprint I think) seem to have the same principles/format as FTR.
First York also still operates Mercedes-Benz bendies albeit in a different format which seem to be infinitely more successful at what they're designed for.
Why do councils or however plans these things seem to want to go back to the FTR style of things? Is the Glider successful? Is it because it uses Van Hooks? Would the FTR been successful if it used Mercedes-Benz like the ones on York Park & Ride duties?
Sorry, I know I've rambled. Any thoughts?
York's current bendi fleet is employed on standard bus (Park and Ride) operation rather than anything like FTR. Bendi operation is perfectly fine in the UK (yes, even in London) and also still persists in Bath and Aberdeen among other places. It also operated in Birmingham along the Tyburn Road. The main blockers on using standard bendis being a) road design and position of street furniture, b) cost - both purchase and running is higher than a decker c) fare evasion, d) bus stop design, e) restrictions on depot space including maintenance facilities.
I know that people will point to other countries and why can't we be like Germany or the Netherlands and you can have an umpahloompahkaart that is a chip inserted into the left earlobe (I exaggerate
).....and indeed we could but we don't. Our spending priorities have been different. Operators and local authorities have gone for bendis with a measure of success in the past and could in future but the issues listed above will need to be tackled.
The main reason FTR failed is that it didn't have open boarding. Prior to tap-in tap-out contactless, open boarding was key to getting tram-style dwell times.
But now we do have contactless, we can get "regular" dual door buses down to almost tram boarding/alighting speeds...so things change a bit. London buses now turn over passengers far faster than even the old Routemasters did with conductor operation.
That said, I don't like "fake tram" buses, if you want a bendy bus just get a good bendy bus like a Merc Citaro-G.
FTR failed on two counts. You are right to highlight fare handling. First were to have off bus ticketing as a central part of the concept but failing to achieve this meant a double crew which killed the economics. However, in the intervening 14 years, the world has changed markedly with smart phone technology so tap in/tap out is now much more cost efficient.
Secondly, the capacity was pitiful so you had a highly compromised design where a Streetcar had the same capacity as a standard B7RLE Eclipse. So on that basis.... if it seats the same, costs more buy, consumes more fuel, demands more maintenance....why buy it? One of the most baffling and stupid episodes in the Lockhead years and that's saying something.
You're absolutely right - if you're going to have a rapid transit system based on bendis....just get a Citaro to the highest standard (e.g no Urban 90 seats).