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The greatest single advantage of Guided buses is the ability of the vehicles to run at high speed along dedicated tracks into and out of a city centre, then to 'fan'out' into the suburban roads without the need for extra trackwork.

In Bath, this is no advantage because:

• virtually the entire built-up area is within 500 metres walking distance of the main routes
• The large buses which make a guideway economical would be too big for the suburban roads in most of Bath
• There is insufficient land for the guideway on most major routes
  

When closely examined, the other claimed advantages of Guided Buses turn out to be almost entirely spurious:

• The track is claimed to be cheaper than tram track, but the when all factors are taken into the comparison, this is not the case.
• Capital outlay can be saved because the guideway need not be continuous, but this raises the question of why any is needed in the first place.
• The vehicles are said to be cheaper than trams, but when their operating life and running costs are taken into consideration, they are more expensive than trams.

SAFETY
The guided busway installed to serve the Milennium Dome at Greenwich was not allowed to operate because of safety concerns - it reverted to an ordinary bus service. The guided trolleybus in Nancy (France) was closed a few weeks after opening because of two serious crashes.

STANDARDISATION
A further consideration is the commitment to a single manufacturer's system. Once the particular type of guided bus track is in place, the operator is restricted to purchasing vehicles from one manufacturer. In contrast, tram tracks are generally standardised, allowing the operator to take advantage of competition, economies of scale and secondhand bargains when purchasing vehicles

ADELAIDE
There is currently only one successful guided busway operating in the world - in the north of Adelaide - and this works because of a particular combination of favourable circumstances in those particular suburbs. The proposal to extend this single corridor to the south of the city has now been abandoned.

Pictures of Guided Busway

Other consideration on the Newbridge - Western Riverside route

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