Guided bus
Encyclopedia
Guided buses are bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

es steered for part or all of their route by external means, usually on a dedicated track
Bus lane
A bus lane or bus only lane is a lane restricted to buses, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion...

. This track, which often parallels existing roads, excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of reliable schedule
Public transport timetable
A public transport timetable is a representation of public transport information to assist a passenger with planning a trip using public transport. A timetable details when vehicle will arrive and depart specified locations and may be organised for by route or for a particular stop...

s on heavily used corridors even during rush hour
Rush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...

s.

Guidance systems can be either physical, such as kerbs
Curb (road)
A curb, or kerb , is the edge where a raised pavement/sidewalk/footpath, road median, or road shoulder meets an unraised street or other roadway.-Function:...

, or remote, such as optical or radio guidance.

On kerb-guided buses (often abbreviated to KGB) small guide wheels are attached to the bus which engage vertical kerbs on either side of the guideway. Away from the guideway, the bus is steered in the normal way. The start of the guideway is funnelled from a wide track to the normal width. This system permits high-speed operation on a narrow guideway as well as precise positioning at boarding platforms, facilitating access for the elderly and disabled.

History

Only a few examples currently exist, but more are proposed in various countries.

The first guided busway in the United Kingdom was in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, branded as Tracline 65, and had a short 1968 feet (599.8 m) length as an experiment in 1984. It has since been removed. A number of guided busways have since been planned or built in the United Kingdom.
In Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....

, Germany, from May 1992 to September 2005 a guided busway shared the tram alignment for a few hundred metres, which allowed buses to avoid a congested stretch of road in a location where there was no space for an extra traffic lane. It was discontinued as the majority of buses fitted with guide wheels were withdrawn for age reasons. There are no plans to convert newer buses.

The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway
Cambridgeshire Guided Busway
The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway , branded the busway , is a public transport scheme connecting the population centres of Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives in the English county of Cambridgeshire...

 between Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 and St Ives
St Ives, Cambridgeshire
St Ives is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England, around north-west of the city of Cambridge and north of London. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Huntingdonshire.-History:...

 is the world's longest guided busway.

The Nagoya Guideway Bus
Yutorito Line
is a bus rapid transit line in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. The line is officially called . Its official nickname, Yutorīto Line, is a portmanteau of yutori and . As such, the name is also unofficially spelt Yutreet Line. The line is owned by Nagoya Guideway Bus, whose name is also often used as the...

 in Nagoya
Nagoya, Aichi
is the third-largest incorporated city and the fourth most populous urban area in Japan.Located on the Pacific coast in the Chūbu region on central Honshu, it is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and is one of Japan's major ports along with those of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba, and Moji...

, opened in March 2001 and is the only guided bus line in Japan.

The KGB guidance mechanism is a direct development of the early flangeways, predating even the railways. The Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad
Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad
The Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad, also known as the Gloucester and Cheltenham Railway, connected Gloucester with Cheltenham with horse-drawn trams. Its primary economic purpose was the transport of coal from Gloucester's docks to the rapidly-developing spa town of Cheltenham, and onwards to...


of 1809 therefore has a claim to be the earliest guided busway. Earlier flangeways existed, but were not for passenger carrying.

Rubber-tyred "trams"

A further development of the guided bus is the "tramway on tyres", in which a rubber-tyred vehicle is guided by a fixed rail in the ground and draws current from overhead electric wires like a conventional tram. Two incompatible systems exist, the Guided Light Transit
Bombardier Guided Light Transit
Guided Light Transit is a public transport system manufactured by Bombardier Transportation and used in the French cities of Nancy and Caen....

 (GLT) designed by Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....

, and the Translohr
Translohr
Translohr is a guided bus system manufactured by Lohr Industrie of France. It is used in Clermont-Ferrand, Tianjin, Padua and in the mainland Mestre district of Venice in Italy. Translohr runs on rubber tires and is guided by a single central rail....

 system. There are no guide bars on the sides but there is a central guidance rail that, in the case of Translohr, is a special rail that is grasped by a pair of metal guide wheels set at 45° to the road and at 90° to each other. In the Bombardier system a single double flange
Flange
A flange is an external or internal ridge, or rim , for strength, as the flange of an iron beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam; or for attachment to another object, as the flange on the end of a pipe, steam cylinder, etc., or on the lens mount of a camera; or for a flange of a rail car or tram wheel...

d wheel between the rubber tyres follows the guidance rail
Rail profile
The rail profile is the cross sectional shape of a railway rail, perpendicular to the length of the rail.In all but very early cast iron rails, a rail is hot rolled steel of a specific cross sectional profile designed for use as the fundamental component of railway track.Unlike some other uses of...

. This is why the two systems are not compatible; however, the shape
Shape
The shape of an object located in some space is a geometrical description of the part of that space occupied by the object, as determined by its external boundary – abstracting from location and orientation in space, size, and other properties such as colour, content, and material...

 of the groove
Groove (machining)
In manufacturing or mechanical engineering a groove is a long and narrow indentation built into a material, generally for the purpose of allowing another material or part to move within the groove and be guided by it. Examples include:...

 of the double-flanged Bombardier guide wheel could possibly be adapted to the shape of the top of the Translohr guidance rail. In both cases the weight of the vehicle is borne by rubber tyres on bogie
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...

s to which the guide wheels are attached. Power is supplied by overhead lines
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...

, or by rechargeable batteries
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...

 in areas where there are no overhead wires.
The Bombardier
Bombardier Guided Light Transit
Guided Light Transit is a public transport system manufactured by Bombardier Transportation and used in the French cities of Nancy and Caen....

 system has been adopted in Nancy and Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....

, France, while the Translohr
Translohr
Translohr is a guided bus system manufactured by Lohr Industrie of France. It is used in Clermont-Ferrand, Tianjin, Padua and in the mainland Mestre district of Venice in Italy. Translohr runs on rubber tires and is guided by a single central rail....

 system is in use in Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...

, France and Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

 and Shanghai, China, and is under construction in Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

, L'Aquila
L'Aquila
L'Aquila is a city and comune in central Italy, both the capital city of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 73,150 inhabitants, but has a daily presence in the territory of 100,000 people for study, tertiary activities, jobs and tourism...

, and the mainland Mestre district of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 in Italy. The Translohr system is intended for guidance-only operation, while with the Bombardier system the vehicles can be driven as normal buses as requirements dictate, such as journeys to the depot. The Bombardier vehicles are legally considered buses, and must bear bus-like rear-view mirror
Rear-view mirror
A rear-view mirror is a mirror in automobiles and other vehicles, designed to allow the driver to see rearward through the vehicle's backlight ....

s, lights
Automotive lighting
The lighting system of a motor vehicle consists of lighting and signalling devices mounted or integrated to the front, sides, rear, and in some cases the top of the motor vehicle...

 and number plate
Vehicle registration plate
A vehicle registration plate is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies the vehicle within the issuing region's database...

s. Unlike trams, GLT vehicles have a steering wheel
Steering wheel
A steering wheel is a type of steering control in vehicles and vessels ....

, though it is not used when following the guidance rail. Because the Translohr "tram" cannot move without guidance it will probably not be classified as a bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

. Hence the Translohr vehicles on test runs on the Clermont-Ferrand network are not equipped with license plate
Vehicle registration plate
A vehicle registration plate is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies the vehicle within the issuing region's database...

s.

These systems offer a much more tram-like experience than a regular guided bus, and offer some advantages over trams, such as a potentially smaller turning radius
Radius
In classical geometry, a radius of a circle or sphere is any line segment from its center to its perimeter. By extension, the radius of a circle or sphere is the length of any such segment, which is half the diameter. If the object does not have an obvious center, the term may refer to its...

, the ability to climb steeper gradients (up to 13%), and quieter running around corners. The infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...

 installation can be less complicated than the installation of a complete tram line in an existing street. These systems have been likened to the tram equivalent of rubber-tyred metro
Rubber-tyred metro
A rubber-tyred metro is a form of rapid transit system that uses a mix of road and rail technology. The vehicles have wheels with rubber tyres which run on rolling pads inside guide bars for traction, as well as traditional railway steel wheels with deep flanges on steel tracks for guidance through...

s, and they are also correspondingly less efficient than steel-wheeled light rail vehicles. There is no evidence to prove the superiority of either guidance system. Both Bombardier Guided Light Transit and Translohr have encountered derailment
Derailment
A derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....

 during operation.

Some commentators believe that rubber-tyred "trams" share the same problems of negative perception as other bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

 systems.

Other experimental bus systems have non-mechanical guidance systems, such as sensors or magnets buried in the roadway. In 2004, Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...

 signed a deal with Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....

 to develop an optical guidance system for use in the UK.

A further increase in capacity from rubber-tyred trams is rubber-tyred metro
Rubber-tyred metro
A rubber-tyred metro is a form of rapid transit system that uses a mix of road and rail technology. The vehicles have wheels with rubber tyres which run on rolling pads inside guide bars for traction, as well as traditional railway steel wheels with deep flanges on steel tracks for guidance through...

. Such systems are in operation in a number of cities, notably some of the lines of the Paris Métro
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...

: the system originated in France.

Optical guidance

Optical guidance relies on the principles of image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...

. A camera in the front of the vehicle scans the bands of paint on the ground representing the reference trajectory. The signals obtained by the camera are sent to an onboard computer which combines them with dynamic parameters of the vehicle (speed, yaw rate, wheel angle). The calculator transmits commands to the guidance motor located on the steering column
Steering column
The automotive steering column is a device intended primarily for connecting the steering wheel to the steering mechanism or transferring the driver's input torque from the steering wheel.-Secondary functions:...

 of the vehicle to control its trajectory in line with that of the reference.

Optical guidance is a means of reaching light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

 performance with a fast and economical set-up. It enables buses to have precision-docking capabilities as efficient as those of a light rail system and reduces dwell times. Moreover, optical guidance makes it possible to drive the vehicle to a precise point on a platform according to an accurate and reliable trajectory. The distance between the door steps and the platform is optimized not to exceed 5 centimetres (2 in). Access to the vehicle at foot-level is then possible, and there is no need to use a mobile ramp for people with mobility impairments.

The OPTIGUIDE system, an optical guidance device developed by Siemens Transportation Systems
Siemens Transportation Systems
Siemens Mobility is a division of the German Siemens AG conglomerate. The Mobility sub-division brings together Siemens competencies in rail, road, and air traffic solutions....

 SAS, has been in revenue service since 2001 on the bus transit system of Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

, France. OPTIGUIDE has also been fitted on trolleybuses in Castellon
Castellón de la Plana
Castellón de la Plana or Castelló de la Plana is the capital city of the province of Castelló, in the Valencian Community, Spain, in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea...

 (Spain) since June 2008 and there are plans for it to be used on systems in Nîmes
Nîmes
Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...

 (France) and Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

 (Italy).

Magnetic guidance

Magnetic guidance relies on magnets buried in the roadway.

Two buslines in Eindhoven, Netherlands are used by Phileas
Phileas (public transport)
Phileas is high quality public transport, developed by Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven , Netherlands, along with some other companies for the Cooperation Foundation Eindhoven Region...

 vehicles, a combination of tram and bus. Line 401 from Eindhoven central station to Eindhoven Airport is 9 km long, consists largely of concrete free bus lanes and has about 30 Phileas stop platforms. Line 402 from Eindhoven central station to Veldhoven branches off from line 401 and adds another 6 km of free bus lanes and about 13 stops.
The regional authority for urban transport in the region Eindhoven (SRE) decided not to use the magnetic guidance system any more for some years.

The Douai
Douai
-Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...

 region, France is developing a public transport network with dedicated infrastructure. The total length of the lines will be 34km (21 miles). The first stage is a line of 12 km from Douai via Guesnain to Lewarde, passing close to Waziers, Sin-le-Noble, Dechy and Lambres-lez-Douai. 39 stop platforms will be provided with an average distance between the stops of 400 m. A number of stops will be placed at the right side of each lane. Central stops between both lanes will be placed at locations with limited space at the right side. This requires vehicle to have doors on both sides.

On November 3, 2005 a licence and technology transfer agreement was signed between Advanced Public Transport Systems (APTS) and the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI). KRRI develops the Korean version of Phileas
Phileas (public transport)
Phileas is high quality public transport, developed by Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven , Netherlands, along with some other companies for the Cooperation Foundation Eindhoven Region...

 vehicle by May 2011.

Examples of guided busways

  • Bradford (A641 road Manchester Road Quality Bus Initiative)
  • Cambridgeshire Guided Busway
    Cambridgeshire Guided Busway
    The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway , branded the busway , is a public transport scheme connecting the population centres of Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives in the English county of Cambridgeshire...

    , England – Huntingdon to Trumpington
  • Crawley Fastway
    Crawley Fastway
    Fastway is a bus rapid transit network linking Crawley with Gatwick Airport and Horley, the first to be constructed outside a major city. It uses specially adapted buses that can either be steered by the driver or operate as "self steering" guided buses along a specially constructed track...

  • Edinburgh (West Edinburgh Busways (WEBS) "Fastlink" – Stenhouse to Broomhouse); to be replaced by Edinburgh Trams
  • Ipswich (Kesgrave)
  • Leeds (A61
    A61 road
    The A61 is a major trunk road in England. It runs from Derby to Thirsk in North Yorkshire. From Derby, it heads north via Alfreton, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon...

     Scott Hall Road)
  • Leeds (A64
    A64 road
    The A64 is a road in North and West Yorkshire, England which links Leeds, York and Scarborough. The A64 starts as the A64 ring road motorway in Leeds and then is a dual carriageway for the rest of its route, except parts of the road from Malton to Scarborough.The road approximates a section of the...

     York Road and A63
    A63 road
    The A63 is a major road in Yorkshire, England between Leeds and Hull.-Leeds – Howden:The route out to Selby is shadowed by the Leeds-Selby railway....

     Selby Road) – The East Leeds Quality Bus Initiative "Elite"
  • Essen
    Essen
    - Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...

    , Germany
  • Mannheim
    Mannheim
    Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....

    , Germany
  • O-Bahn Busway
    O-Bahn Busway
    The Adelaide O-Bahn Busway is a guided busway located in Adelaide, South Australia. The O-Bahn – from the Latin omnibus and the German bahn – was conceived by Daimler-Benz to enable buses to avoid traffic congestion by sharing tram tunnels in the German city of Essen.The route was introduced in...

    , Adelaide, Australia
  • Yutorīto Line
    Yutorito Line
    is a bus rapid transit line in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. The line is officially called . Its official nickname, Yutorīto Line, is a portmanteau of yutori and . As such, the name is also unofficially spelt Yutreet Line. The line is owned by Nagoya Guideway Bus, whose name is also often used as the...

    , Nagoya, Japan. In Japan, the bus is legally considered as a sort of railway.


Tram-like guided busways include:
  • Bombardier Guided Light Transit
    Bombardier Guided Light Transit
    Guided Light Transit is a public transport system manufactured by Bombardier Transportation and used in the French cities of Nancy and Caen....

     – Caen
    Caen
    Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....

    , France; Nancy, France
  • Translohr
    Translohr
    Translohr is a guided bus system manufactured by Lohr Industrie of France. It is used in Clermont-Ferrand, Tianjin, Padua and in the mainland Mestre district of Venice in Italy. Translohr runs on rubber tires and is guided by a single central rail....

     – Clermont-Ferrand
    Clermont-Ferrand
    Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...

    , France; Tianjin
    Tianjin
    ' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

    , China; Shanghai, China; Padua
    Padua
    Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

    , Italy; Istanbul
    Istanbul
    Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

    , Turkey
  • Phileas
    Phileas (public transport)
    Phileas is high quality public transport, developed by Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven , Netherlands, along with some other companies for the Cooperation Foundation Eindhoven Region...

     – Eindhoven, Netherlands; Douai
    Douai
    -Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...

    , France

See also

  • Bus rapid transit
    Bus rapid transit
    Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

  • Dual-mode bus
    Dual-mode bus
    A dual-mode bus is a bus that can run independently on power from two different sources, typically electricity from overhead lines or batteries, alternated with conventional fossil fuel ....

  • Light rail
    Light rail
    Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

  • Rubber-tyred metro
    Rubber-tyred metro
    A rubber-tyred metro is a form of rapid transit system that uses a mix of road and rail technology. The vehicles have wheels with rubber tyres which run on rolling pads inside guide bars for traction, as well as traditional railway steel wheels with deep flanges on steel tracks for guidance through...

  • Straddling bus
  • Tram
  • Trolleybus
    Trolleybus
    A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...

  • VAL
  • Road-rail vehicle
    Road-rail vehicle
    A road–rail vehicle is a self-propelled vehicle that can be legally used on both roads and rails. Combining the words "highway" and "rail", one is often referred to as a hi-rail truck or just hi-rail, sometimes spelled high-rail, HiRail or Hy-rail. They are normally converted rubber-tired road...

  • List of buses

External links

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