Busways/Bus Rapid Transit

[mattboogs]

Here is Brisbane Australia we have "BusWays" which are different to Bus lanes in that they are a dedicated corridor for Bus rapid transit. They have their own road network thus avoiding traffic. They are good in several ways:

• Suburban buses can enter and leave the busway to allow congestion free trips for part of the route
• At the main busway stations there will eventually be in peak times a bus at least every thirty seconds
• There are central CBD busway stations where you can catch a bus to anywhere in the city.

I was wondering if anybody would consider this for development in the next NAM?

Of course these are not exclusive to Brisbane, they operate all over the world.

[Tarkus]

We've got them here in Eugene, Oregon, too.  Unfortunately, though, the way traffic types are defined, there is no way to distinguish between cars, buses and freight trucks with the paths, so there's really no way to do bus lanes, unless one were to use some sort of workaround.  allan_kuan1992 had an idea for such a workaround, which you can read about here

-Alex (Tarkus)

[allan_kuan1992]

technically it was SA's workaround, which you actually expanded on =P I only introduced the idea.

However, with my transition to Vista, I'm finding making textures impossible since two of the major FSH-handling programs, SC4Tool and FiSHMan, can't read them properly for odd reasons. Until that is fixed, someone may have to create the other textures for the network.

As well... I know that you people released AVE-GLR in puzzle pieces due to the fact that the pieces are a "continuous intersection". I'm guessing that will inadvertently change our approach to the solution here unless something else was done?

Another possibility could be the use of overrides or two-tiled networks with starter puzzle pieces, with lot blockers for one of the lanes in between (Yes, I'm no longer thinking 1 tile, but maybe two or three. Besides, were there supposed to be speed increases for the buses with such networks?). Of course, knowing the NAM team's dislike for TE-enabled lots sometimes, that might not be the best solution, but still an idea to consider.

- Allan Kuan

[Diggis]

Of course, knowing the NAM team's dislike for TE-enabled lots sometimes, that might not be the best solution, but still an idea to consider.

We don't have a dislike for TE lots, just for innapropriate uses of them... and it's really just Jason. 

[A200]

Here is Brisbane Australia we have "BusWays" which are different to Bus lanes in that they are a dedicated corridor for Bus rapid transit. They have their own road network thus avoiding traffic. They are good in several ways:

• Suburban buses can enter and leave the busway to allow congestion free trips for part of the route
• At the main busway stations there will eventually be in peak times a bus at least every thirty seconds
• There are central CBD busway stations where you can catch a bus to anywhere in the city.

I was wondering if anybody would consider this for development in the next NAM?

Of course these are not exclusive to Brisbane, they operate all over the world.

Hey a fellow Brisbaneite!!

I love the busway, I use it all the time.

in 1995 the state gov first proposed a new busway concept that was officially opened in 2001, a 20km busway from the edge of the southern city limits to the city centre. In 2004 the next one opened to the northside, with the final connection for it to the city centre finished in may 2008. It would be awesome if someone could modell the busway stations too, as some are elevated, others are below ground and some at ground. but then they are complex in their design so it might be hard to do.

But being able to add in a busway to my simcities would be awesome.

Also, the on street sections of the busway are painted red, and all buslanes are red too!

More info here >>> http://www.transinfo.qld.gov.au/qt/TransLin.nsf/index/busway_southeast

[SamJam]

It's possible to create your own bus rapid transit system using urbanlegend's Bus HOV lot at Simtropolis.
http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=1834
It can be used on roads and one-ways... if you have the NAM you can attach one-ways to avenues if you want a four lane busway. You can use the NAM to construct bridges across other road networks or just use the lot to plop before an intersection to block other traffic from using your busway. I've used this method before (I got the idea from Ottawa, Ontario's bus rapid transit) and it works well as long as you don't make it the sole street connection to a building. Bus routes tend to "wander" off and onto it if you have other nearby road bus stops, though.