If the buses use electric traction and charge continuously whilst on the guideway, that could be a win, in allowing for smaller batteries and less downtime than a regular electric bus (especially if the unguided portion of the route is a “last mile”, comprising a relatively small proportion of the route). If they’re just regular diesel buses, it seems somewhat pointless.
Yeah, but what’s the advantage of it being guided? Instead it could have just be a private road that supports trolleybuses as well as emergency vehicles. Instead, it’s a gadgetbaun.
If it is travelling on a precise guideway (more precisely aligned than a traffic lane), then it is possible to transfer electrical power to it safely, either by aligning a pantograph with an overhead catenary or by a system of conductive rails, Once you can do that, the vehicle’s weight drops (as it doesn’t need to carry as much fuel), increasing carrying capacity and/or reducing the frequency of required road maintenance, Additionally, as electrical power is fungible (and can be sourced from whatever generation method is most economical), running costs are decreased over combustible fuel (as long as you don’t need to store it in the vehicle).
A trolleybus’s speed is limited by the need to maintain contact with the cable (or two cables, as the current needs an earth connection, which doesn’t help). A fixed guideway allows the vehicle to travel at higher speeds whilst retaining contact.
If the buses use electric traction and charge continuously whilst on the guideway, that could be a win, in allowing for smaller batteries and less downtime than a regular electric bus (especially if the unguided portion of the route is a “last mile”, comprising a relatively small proportion of the route). If they’re just regular diesel buses, it seems somewhat pointless.
Yeah, but what’s the advantage of it being guided? Instead it could have just be a private road that supports trolleybuses as well as emergency vehicles. Instead, it’s a gadgetbaun.
If it is travelling on a precise guideway (more precisely aligned than a traffic lane), then it is possible to transfer electrical power to it safely, either by aligning a pantograph with an overhead catenary or by a system of conductive rails, Once you can do that, the vehicle’s weight drops (as it doesn’t need to carry as much fuel), increasing carrying capacity and/or reducing the frequency of required road maintenance, Additionally, as electrical power is fungible (and can be sourced from whatever generation method is most economical), running costs are decreased over combustible fuel (as long as you don’t need to store it in the vehicle).
None of those are advantages over a trolleybus.
A trolleybus’s speed is limited by the need to maintain contact with the cable (or two cables, as the current needs an earth connection, which doesn’t help). A fixed guideway allows the vehicle to travel at higher speeds whilst retaining contact.