Portal:Rapid transit/Selected article/Archive/Week 12 2008

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The O-Bahn Busway in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide is the world's longest and fastest guided busway. The O-Bahn — from the Latin omnibus ("for all people") and the German bahn ("way" or "road") — was conceived by Daimler-Benz to enable buses to avoid traffic congestion by sharing tram tunnels in the German city of Essen. The route was introduced in 1986 to service Adelaide's rapidly expanding northeastern suburbs, replacing an earlier plan for a tramway extension.

The design is unique among public transport systems; busways typically use dedicated bus lanes or separate carriageways, but the O-Bahn runs on specially-built track, combining elements of both bus and rail systems. The track is 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) long and includes one station and two interchanges: Klemzig Station in Klemzig, Paradise Interchange in Campbelltown and Tea Tree Plaza Interchange in Tea Tree Gully. Interchanges allow buses to enter and exit the busway and to continue on suburban routes, avoiding the need for passengers to change. Buses travel at a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), and the busway is capable of carrying 18,000 passengers an hour from the Central Business District to Tea Tree Plaza in 15 minutes. Services are operated by Torrens Transit under contract from Adelaide Metro, an agency of the South Australian Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure.