Post by ReclinerI wonder if the slow switchover might be a problem in Cambridge? These
small converted mini buses are probably also very expensive.
I don't think so - it's roughly like waiting at a set of traffic lights.
You might want to fit cameras so the driver can skip the walk-around and
confirm safe transition while sitting in the cab.
I think the main problem with the Cambridge busway was that the tracks might
have been too far gone - decades of sand trains followed by 20 years of
foliage. Once you're having to renew the formation anyway that gets
expensive whatever you're going to do with them (see the Ashington, Blythe
and Tyne project).
Also it appears to be a high-floor vehicle (3 steps up, at 6:55 in the
video) which is troublesome from an accessibility perspective. But you
could probably make it like a low floor tram with low-height boarding in the
middle and bogies at each end.
On costs, it does mean you need a fleet of special vehicles, whereas the
busway guidewheels can be bolted to more or less any bus for cheap(ish). So it
moves costs from infrastructure onto the vehicles. If you have a small
fleet that's fine, if every bus is going to become guided that gets
expensive (and adds compromises - would they make these in double decker
versions?)
Would be interesting if there was a cheap modification kit for conventional
buses, but the addition of the 'snout' suggests substantial modification of
the base Toyota Coaster.
Ah, wikipedia says the rear tyres are used for drive:
"Based on a Toyota Motor Corporation microbus Coaster (fourth-generation
XZB70 model, minor change model released in June 2018), Hino Engineering
Annex reinforced the chassis and frame, modified the suspension, Tokyo
Tokushu Shabo converted it into a one-man bus and made the interior
fireproof, while NICHIJO was responsible for installing the rail-road
equipment . [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
The vehicle is based on the coaster car body, and the interior is equipped
with seats with seat belts and a grab bar, as well as a button to stop the
vehicle like a regular route bus . The passenger seat next to the driver's
seat is used for operation assistance and wheel mode change, so passengers
cannot use it . [ 4 ] The vehicle is equipped with a ticket issuing machine
and a fare box to prove the boarding station, but a change machine is not
installed due to space restrictions . [ 4 ] In addition, the floor is lower
than a normal diesel car and the width of the car is smaller, so the steps
are deployed when boarding and disembarking to reduce the gap with the
platform. The front wheels used in train mode are stored in the bonnet,
making it 1.07 meters longer than the original coaster . [ 8 ] The rubber
tires of the bus are used for driving in bus mode, both front and rear, like
a normal bus, and in train mode, the front tires are raised because the iron
wheels move along the rails, so no steering is required. The rear tires are
used as drive wheels in train mode as well , transmitting propulsion force
on the rails. There is also a railway wheel behind the rear tire, but this
is a guide to prevent the vehicle from falling off the rails and has no
propulsive power."
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%98%BF%E4%BD%90%E6%B5%B7%E5%B2%B8%E9%89%84%E9%81%93DMV93%E5%BD%A2%E6%B0%97%E5%8B%95%E8%BB%8A
via Google Translate.
Theo
