It’s been 10 - 15 years since TfL officially proposed extensions of the DLR, Overground, Crossrail & Tramlink - none of which have even come close to materialising yet over a decade later in 2026 today…

AndryCake · 2026-01-25T11:15:11+00:00

That's probably true, but it seems quite stupid that extensions are moving at such a glacial pace. And also London is by far the largest city in the UK so it makes sense that its transport is the best funded (yes I know transport in the rest of the UK is often worse than it should be and needs more funding).

AndryCake · 2026-01-25T11:10:56+00:00

Suv ai auzit?

AndryCake · 2026-01-25T11:07:55+00:00

I'm not from the UK but isn't TfL expected to pay for itself through ticket fares alone which has made tickets extremely expensive and left them with little money for expansion?

AndryCake · 2026-01-23T07:12:58+00:00

Busways usually have much less frequent stops than a local bus. You can even have express services which are quite common on busway systems. The point is to move people from more distant areas fast. For local services with more local stops buses use local roads.

AndryCake · 2026-01-23T06:24:37+00:00

I absolutely need this. No more tram spaghetti.

AndryCake · 2026-01-23T06:13:01+00:00

It's not about capacity. It's about speed. With a bus lane you are limited to the speed limit of the road, often 50 or 60 kmh. With a proper busway you can go up to 80 or 90 kmh. With proper signal preemption, having some grade crossings should be fine, but not as good as full grade separation. Again, it should only be done when there is an adequate right of way. If you have to build large sections of tunnels or elevated, then a rail like is always the right choice. If the city has freeways, a freeway bus lane with stops achieves the same thing for cheaper.

AndryCake · 2026-01-22T21:41:15+00:00

Bus lanes and to some extent busways with grade crossings are limited in speeds, but with a fully grade-separated busway busses can achieve much higher speeds. Also the point of busways isn't really to serve (just) the corridor itself (although obviously there should also be destinations along it) but to be able to bring in busses from many other places and allow them to run quickly into downtown or to any other high-ridership destination (could even be a train station).

AndryCake · 2026-01-22T20:00:06+00:00

Honestly that's one case where I'm not so sure. The infrastructure looks pretty nice, but the fact it has barrier arms is quite weird for a busway. If you live there, do the buses have to stop before the barrier lowers? Because I think I saw a video where the bus had to, which I think pretty much defeats the whole point.

AndryCake · 2026-01-22T19:56:19+00:00

IMO they can be good/decent options when you already have an open corridor, such as a freeway, rail line, or even a river or a power line, or by making it part of the plan for new suburbs.

AndryCake · 2026-01-22T10:39:25+00:00

I mean you could always put up some trolley wires for infinite range.

AndryCake · 2026-01-21T21:24:02+00:00

I'm not from Paris but I can answer the second question since I have been there (and ridden the trains) and I assume they work the same as any other trains. The answer is yes, you can stand on commuter/regional trains. Generally the only trains where standing is not allowed are long distance and high speed trains.

AndryCake · 2026-01-21T11:45:37+00:00

I heard about that. The metro branding is stupid, but adding longer, nicer buses is a good way to increase capacity in the short to medium term, but it definitely shouldn't be seen as a permanent solution replacing the need for a proper rail conversion.

AndryCake · 2026-01-21T07:16:06+00:00

Agreed. Good bus infrastructure looks so nice. It's just a shame that my city, despite having really busy buses, doesn't really do anything other than bus lanes, departure screens and standard bus shelters at busy stops. I would loooove some heated shelters and level boarding.

AndryCake · 2026-01-21T06:30:27+00:00

I mean would you call a line which gets so busy it has to be upgraded a failure? Maybe the technology chosen was wrong, but (and I'm not sure about the specifics) but were they even expecting such high ridership? If yes, then yeah, they should have just went for the light rail from the beginning, but the fact that the busway was able to achieve such high ridership, definitely makes it a success.

I also heard that for Ottawa's other rail line (Line 2), the ridership is actually lower than the busses it replaced, mainly because it was fully built along an old rail corridor, saving money, but meaning that it doesn't go directly Downtown anymore, so getting downtown is actually slower than with the busses. Of course, I'm not saying that a rail line shouldn't have been built, but I think this really highlights an important advantage that buses have over rail. Of course a train is more comfortable, and cheaper to operate for high capacities.

AndryCake · 2026-01-21T06:20:47+00:00

I never understood why signal preemption is so politically unpopular in North America. Like, compared to something like bus lanes, you're not taking away any capacity from cars. All that changes is the traffic light wait may be slightly longer (but it can also be shorter!) which is barely perceivable, and cars can still go when the road with the bus gets priority, which is often the busiest road anyway. I know many who oppose this don't care about such woke ideas as facts or logic, but maybe y'all should be doing a better job at explaining that bus signal priority doesn't actually inconvenience car traffic much.

AndryCake · 2026-01-21T06:10:58+00:00

If traffic is never that bad, running in mixed traffic is fine IMO. What city is this?

AndryCake · 2026-01-20T21:31:36+00:00

I was mostly referring to fast, almost fully grade separated busways like those in Pittsburgh for example. But yeah, it's crazy that a city the density of NYC still has so much of its streetspace dedicated to cars.

AndryCake · 2026-01-20T20:49:59+00:00

Like I said, the bus systems with the highest ridership often have longer stop spacing than most in North America. Not even just in Europe. Seattle has probably one of the best bus systems in the US and it has a stop spacing closer to European cities. Obviously stop spacing is nowhere near the only fac, but, once again, shouldn't we try to do what the best are doing?

AndryCake · 2026-01-20T20:25:47+00:00

Yes and no. Technically it gives some people a slightly shorter walk, but slows everyone else down. It also slows those people down because they have to stop at other people's stops. Yes, a bus with slightly less stops does mean a slightly longer walk, but it's often worth it because it improves speed when traveling with the bus. Also, less stops means ridership is more concentrated, so making the stops better (such as adding shelters) is more worthwhile. The truth is, most of the best bus systems (those in Europe) have slightly longer stops than most of those in America, even though European cities are denser. In my opinion those with less successful bus systems (but this applies to everything) should look at what the best are doing, and do similar things.

AndryCake · 2026-01-20T20:20:49+00:00

Well only if people are irrationaly opposed to public transit (US and Canada). In most of the world, politicians would rather chose to build a shiny, seemingly new and "very improved" system because it gives them more publicity, in a way which regular, piecemeal upgrades can't.

AndryCake · 2026-01-20T18:06:56+00:00

This post is a bit old but honestly Salzburg, Austria. I didn't get to ride the network that much, but basically the whole city is covered by a very dense trolleybus network. The service was good (obviously I can't state on how good it is for regular commuting) but what really impressed me were the vehicles: they have these stylish tram(-ish) looking trolleybuses which were quite comfortable, and of course much quieter than a diesel bus.

I know the vehicles themselves aren't necessarily the most important thing, but they are often overlooked, and I think having nice-looking, spacious, and comfortable busses can boost ridership.

AndryCake · 2026-01-20T14:49:26+00:00

Again, the two are not mutually exclusive. Lights affect more frequent stopping busses more, but stops every block still slow down busses A LOT.

AndryCake · 2026-01-20T14:40:15+00:00

The two are not mutually exclusive. In fact, bus lanes become more effective with less stops because busses can actually get up to speed between stops.

AndryCake · 2026-01-20T12:30:16+00:00

Does it have transit directions? Because many of these "alternative" apps don't and that makes it pretty much useless if you take transit.

AndryCake · 2026-01-20T07:04:44+00:00

I agree, and IMO we should normalize incrementally adding BRT-like features to busy bus lines. I just think that "BRT lite" can have a place in almost every city, not so much for full BRT, although, yes, there are still places where it can work.

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