Rapid Bus Transit

The State Government recently confirmed it is pursuing Rapid Bus Transit as the preferred mass transit solution for Greater Hobart and, in particular, the Northern Suburbs Transport corridor. So what is Rapid Bus Transit and what does this mean for combatting congestion and the evolution of public transport in Hobart.

Rapid Bus Transit has operated successfully around the world for small and medium sized cities for decades. In Australia, great systems have been developed in multiple capital cities, including Adelaide’s O-Bahn and Brisbane’s Busways. International examples exist, with the best being

The key to successful Rapid Bus Transit systems around the world is a network of cohesive and connected dedicated lanes and corridors that are only available for mass transit vehicles. And in the modern era, removing the visual association of the traditional bus is an important enabler for those who “just wouldn’t catch a bus”

Technological advances mean that modern Rapid Bus Transit is even better than its predecessors. A Rapid Bus Transit in Hobart would not simply be a bus lane with some yellow Metro buses running around. It would be a whole new approach to the movement of people. 

Modern Rapid Transit vehicles look and feel like light rail or trams. They are comfortable and pleasant to ride. A great example is the fledgling Brisbane Metro project. Its HESS vehicles are Swiss made, fully electric bi-articulated “busses” that look and feel nothing like a conventional bus. Brisbane’s vehicles have a capacity of 150 passengers, but can be scaled down These vehicles require stations akin to light rail to operate. While passengers alight, the vehicle receives a rapid charge through Pantograph charging; a retractable charger extends from the roof of the bus and docks with a terminal automatically. This system allows a vehicle to complete its route fully charged with no need for additional charging.

As with any other public transport system, there are a number of key attributes, in addition to comfort, that this proposed system must have to be successful. 

Firstly, this Rapid Bus Transit must be reliable and predictable. Public transport experts routinely tell government that public transport needs to run to a timetable and stick to it. Public transport cannot be late, or worse early.

 Live tracking is a key component of ensuring expectations of consumers are met. Some tracking systems even talk to google/apple maps. So when you ask for directions on public transport, it will show you where your vehicle is in real time, thus managing expectations. Frequency of service is part of this picture. Frequent services enable consumers to skip memorising the timetable when the service comes every 10 minutes or so.

Secondly, ticketing must be cost effective and easy. It is beyond time that we moved to a universal ticketing system in Tasmania. I recently travelled to Sydney and found that their Opal card system has been expanded to allow credit card use. That means you can get any form of public transport in Sydney and all you need is a credit card. Light rail, bus, trains and ferries all use the same system. 

Public transport should never be expected to run cost neutral, let alone turn a profit. We all pay through our taxes and fuel excise for the road network, providing roads for people to use is a significant cost burden on ratepayers at the council level. There is no reason why we should expect public transport, which is fundamentally good for society, to be run with different fiscal expectation. For this reason, ticketing has to be cheap to enable as many people as possible to change their transport practices.