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Report n°6: Urban Public Transport

A line with partial right-of-way in Grenoble

In Grenoble, apart from the two tramlines, the bus network was also modernised. In particular, line 8, which became line 1, benefited from regenerated roads. This is the bus line with the heaviest load factor of the network. It carried 3 million passengers a year, but the reduction of its commercial speed caused a good deal of its decline: between 1990 and 1996, it lost a quarter of its ridership. In 1997, it was renovated to halt deteriorating load factors. It was provided with vehicles and stops and with exclusive right-of-way on a large section of its route, using 9 km along a straight north-south axis, plus priority at intersections.

The results of these minor modifications were visible: transit time dropped by 12%, commercial speed rose from 15.5 to 17.4 km/h. The determining factor was priority at traffic lights ensuring more regular service. The network entirely reinvested transit time gains on the same line which reduced the headway between two buses by 13% with a passage every five minutes at peak hours.

Effects on use of the line were clear. Growth in use rose to 18% during the first year of operations, as against 7% only for the network as a whole. In 2000, after four years, the figure was 35%, and it carried 14,500 passengers a day.

In all of these exemplary cases of bus-based rights-of-way, it appears over and over again that commercial speed, prompt service following a timetable (passage at stops and duration of journey) and frequency are elements which, together, condition renewed popularity. The type of vehicle — trams on tracks, guided trolley buses, or buses — does not make one exclusive right-of-way stand out from others. Neither on line passenger information displays nor comfortable stations are exclusive to tramlines. On-board comfort which is dependent on capacity, internal stability and ease of boarding are important factors. The use of guided two- to three-car articulated vehicles solves these problems. Using electricity to propel vehicles reduces noise and atmospheric pollution.

In France at this point, what is called "TVR transport", (transport on reserved routes) in Nancy and Caen possess all of these characteristics. But the TVR system costs almost as much as building a tramway, particularly if one takes into account depreciation timetables which are very different and to the detriment of guided trolley buses.

For this reason the guided bus system in Rouen, the cost of which is comparable to the creation of a non-rail road network, does seem to be worthy of duplication. We shall end this presentation of BRTs with exclusive right-of-way with a description of the Rouen guided bus system, known as TEOR.