Friday Reads - 7 January 2022 - London Reconnections

Check out our other sections:

Industry News – updated every business day
Webinars and Online Conferences
Podcasts

And some of our most popular articles:

Feel we should read something or include in a future list? Email us at [email protected].

Reconnections is funded largely by its community. Like what we do? Buy us a cup of coffee or visit our shop.

The “Day in the Life of a Bus” video is excellent. It’s a shame it hasn’t been more widely viewed.

It makes a great point about bus priority from the infrastructure side. I found the bus summit itself interesting as well. I’ve long felt that allowing buses to use tram signals (both in general and specifically for easily allowing buses to make right turns where this is prohibited for other vehicles). Tram signals (specifically those using white dots in various configurations) are far more compact than a full set of lights, so can be more easily mounted underneath an existing set of lights and are also much less likely to be misinterpreted by drivers. Given that space it as a premium, using them would perhaps enable bus priority at locations where it would otherwise not be feasible, making them a useful tool.

Similarly I think it might be time to reconsider all-door boarding at least on some routes. Yes, that means increased fare-dodging, but combined with good bus priority and perhaps increased revenue inspections the operational savings from reduced dwell times would outweigh this, while also making journeys faster.

As for the new Moscow metro openings: The new stations and new line are sorely needed, but the speed and manner in wihich they have been built means significant corners have been cut and design flaws built that are unlikely to ever be fixed, ranging from platforms that are too narrow, needlessly long and winding interchanges and entrances, to most of the new stations not being fully accessible. I recently found out that the Moscow metro does not yet actually use full ATO anywhere. Only automatic braking has been implemented on some lines, but even then is rarely used. Reliably running 40tph under these circumstances is impressive, as are some of the operational practices, particularly on the newer trains.

2 comments

MPW says:

7 January 2022 at 06:30

Love the “Day in the Life of a Bus” video. It’s like a zen version of what happens in my head when I ride a bus!
My narrative has much more swearing
dm1 says:

8 January 2022 at 01:20

The “Day in the Life of a Bus” video is excellent. It’s a shame it hasn’t been more widely viewed.

It makes a great point about bus priority from the infrastructure side. I found the bus summit itself interesting as well. I’ve long felt that allowing buses to use tram signals (both in general and specifically for easily allowing buses to make right turns where this is prohibited for other vehicles). Tram signals (specifically those using white dots in various configurations) are far more compact than a full set of lights, so can be more easily mounted underneath an existing set of lights and are also much less likely to be misinterpreted by drivers. Given that space it as a premium, using them would perhaps enable bus priority at locations where it would otherwise not be feasible, making them a useful tool.

Similarly I think it might be time to reconsider all-door boarding at least on some routes. Yes, that means increased fare-dodging, but combined with good bus priority and perhaps increased revenue inspections the operational savings from reduced dwell times would outweigh this, while also making journeys faster.

As for the new Moscow metro openings: The new stations and new line are sorely needed, but the speed and manner in wihich they have been built means significant corners have been cut and design flaws built that are unlikely to ever be fixed, ranging from platforms that are too narrow, needlessly long and winding interchanges and entrances, to most of the new stations not being fully accessible. I recently found out that the Moscow metro does not yet actually use full ATO anywhere. Only automatic braking has been implemented on some lines, but even then is rarely used. Reliably running 40tph under these circumstances is impressive, as are some of the operational practices, particularly on the newer trains.

Comments are closed.