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- Report n°6: Urban Public Transport
Report n°6: Urban Public Transport
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Table of contents
- Measuring exclusive right-of-way efficacy
Measuring exclusive right-of-way efficacy
In towns where exclusive rights-of-way have been installed, mostly for tramcars but also for buses, guided or otherwise, assessments have revealed the various dimensions of what can be called the "exclusive right-of-way effect". Some examples drawn from various existing networks do provide an indication of what can be expected from an exclusive right-of-way, but this particular investigation has a special objective.
As mentioned above, the question which remains to be seen is the specific added value of a tramway as a vehicle compared to the bus, when the bus is given equal traffic advantages as well as equal quality as regards all the services which accompany transport itself. The aim of this attempt to measure added value is not so much to legitimise tramways which have amply proven their worth, as to evaluate a contrario the extent to which buses can provide an equivalent solution as regards the "exclusive right-of-way effect" when demographic, geographic and economic considerations of capacity and cost preclude the use of tramways.
To start with, we shall examine the exclusive right-of-way effects on the use made of the networks, a measurement which evaluates the impact of structure on the global efficacy of public transport. However, to achieve sustainable development, the aim is to promote a modal shift in favour of public transport, or even of cycling and walking. The impact on modal distribution is of course more difficult to measure since it may be easy enough to count the number of trips using public transport instead of a private car, but it is more difficult to isolate the effect of improvement to public transport on urban road traffic which is sensitive to a number of totally external effects. Finally, we shall mention the recognised or likely effects on urban ways of life.