Adelaide's guided busway: the operating experience

The State Transport Authority is the operator of public passenger transport in the City of Adelaide, South Australia. In addition to operating the Guided Busway at timetabled speeds of 100 km/h, it operates an extensive diesel bus network of 675 buses, a passenger train network using 141 diesel electric railcars, and a single electric tram line. This paper focuses on the Authority's guided busway experience and sets out our main operating practices and experience that converted the concept into the popular passenger transport service that it is today. Many of the practices were developed before the Busway opened for regular passenger service and were built on the recommendation of the system supplier. Other facets led to changes in practice as the Adelaide system established new operational grounds, especially with the high speed of its bus operation. The paper deals with three separate time frames, namely: (a) action taken in preparation for passenger service, (b) adjustments necessary with the benefit of a few days' operating experience, and (c) longer term experience.