Nantes Busway

Last updated
Busway
BusWay Nantes logo.png
Flickr - IngolfBLN - Nantes - Busway - Ligne 4 - Ile de Nantes (7).jpg
Overview
Locale Nantes, Pays de la Loire
Transit type Bus rapid transit
Number of lines2
Number of stations15
Daily ridership28.000/day, 7 million/year [1]
Operation
Began operation2006
Operator(s) Semitan
Technical
System length7 km
System map

Busway de Nantes.svg

The Nantes Busways (line 4 and 5) are bus rapid transit lines operating in the city of Nantes, France. [2] The service was inaugurated on November 6, 2006, and is operated by Semitan. The line 4 runs from Place Foch to Porte de Vertou on a dedicated right-of-way, and interconnects with line 1 of the Nantes Tramway at Duchesse Anne Château station. Four park & ride facilities have been built along the construction of the line to encourage passengers to use public transport. Nantes Busway line 4 is NF certified (NF stands for French Norm). A victim of its own success, Busway line 4 attracts higher ridership than Semitan expected, pushing the system to saturation. Buses are overcrowded at peak times and nearly full off-peak. Semitan tested the Hess LighTram in November 2009 to eventually increase capacity of the system and relieve overcrowding at peak times. Though that solution wasn't implemented at that time, Semitan decided to increase passage frequencies to less than 3 minutes at peak times. If saturation recurs, Busway line 4 might be converted into a Tramway line in the future. [3]

Contents

Circle shaped Duchesse Anne Chateau Station Flickr - IngolfBLN - Nantes - Busway - Ligne 4 - Duchesse Anne - Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne (2).jpg
Circle shaped Duchesse Anne Château Station

Such saturation in Nantes would imply that a bottleneck such as the number of landing areas at a crowded busstation [4] could not be opened up, because without any bottleneck peak buses, frequency per hour per direction for instance in BRT Belo Horizonte corridor Antônio Carlos was 500 in the year 2014 [5] and 600 buses in BRT Rio corridor Presidente Vargas [6] compared to 20 (in the year 2008) in Nantes. This meant brazilean headways of 7 and 6 seconds opposite to 180 in Nantes with in theory hugh space in case of french need for lower headways and increased bus frequency. Instead of the planned Tramway line Nantes preferred the e-bus HESS lighTram combined with ultrafast charging (soon HITACHI), which started operation in August 2019. [7]

UITP Award 2021

In February 2022 the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) awarded the HESS e-bus system with HITACHI ultrafast charging in Nantes for “operational and technological excellence”. [8] The mayor of Nantes recalled that two million kilometers had been travelled with the new systems, what already helped to save 3,000 tonnes of CO2. [9]

Operation

The network is operated by Semitan, known as TAN for short. Semitan is responsible for the whole public transport network throughout the Nantes Metropole (Greater Nantes), and the Metropole has a majority shareholding in the company.

Stations equipment

Ile De Nantes station Ile-de-Nantes-station.JPG
Ile De Nantes station

All stations are built with all the services that a Tramway station has. All have real time passenger information LED displays showing real time estimated arrival of the next bus, automatic ticket machines, seating and large unified shelters made of glass.

Hours of operation

Station overview Flickr - IngolfBLN - Nantes - Busway - Ligne 4 - Duchesse Anne - Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne (1).jpg
Station overview

Nantes' Busway does not run 24 hours a day. Service starts at 5am and goes until 0.30am on weekdays and Sundays, and from 5am to 2.30am on Saturdays. Delays are rare and service generally runs smoothly.

Fares

The TAN network in Nantes uses paper tickets and passes, though in the near future contactless smartcards will replace it. There are no travel zones on the network in Greater Nantes. Tickets and passes allow free transfer and are universally valid on the Tramway, Busway, Nantes buses, Navibus, and suburban trains within Nantes Métropole. Tickets are not sold inside the trams, but ticket machines (which accept cash and credit cards) are present at every Tramway and Busway stations. Tickets must be validated inside the trams when boarding. There are also some staffed ticket offices opened for limited periods only.

Single trip and day tickets

Semitan issues singles trip tickets (Ticket 1 h) valid for one hour, a 10x saver ticket booklet (Carnet de 10 tickets 1h) valid one hour each, a discounted 10x saver ticket booklet (Carnet de 10 tickets 1h - Tarif réduit) valid one hour each, an airport transit ticket (Ticket navette aéroport), a 24 hours ticket (Ticket 24h) valid an entire day for one traveller and a 24 hours ticket valid an entire day for up to four persons (Ticket 24h/4 personnes).

Semitan also sells Lila and Métrocéane tickets.

Lila: Single trip tickets (Ticket unité Lila) valid two hours on the Lila network (departemental buses in Loire-Atlantique) and one hour on the TAN or STRAN (Saint-Nazaire buses) networks when transiting from Lila, a 10x saver ticket booklet (Carnet de 10 tickets Lila) valid two hours each on the Lila network and one hour on the TAN or STRAN networks when transiting from Lila.

Monthly and annual passes

Semitan issues a wide range of monthly and annual passes for different categories of travellers depending on their age and working conditions. Free transportation is granted to travellers with low incomes.

Semitan also sells monthly, termly and annual Lila, Métrocéane and Pratik+ passes, for several categories of persons depending on their age and working conditions.

Fleet

Citaro G bus approaching Place Foch Busway, TAN (NANTES,FR44).jpg
Citaro G bus approaching Place Foch

Citaro G

20 Mercedes-Benz Citaro G are running on Busway's line 4 on a dedicated right-of-way. Those articulated buses are 18 meters long, 2.55 meters wide and are natural gas powered only. The driver is isolated from the rest of the bus in a separate cabin. Each bus features:

Rapid Charging Hess by 2018

600 kW flash charging at selected stations will reportedly power new buses by the end of 2018

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Light rail</span> Form of passenger urban rail transit

Light rail transit (LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit characterized by a combination of tram and rapid transit features. While its rolling stock is similar to that of a traditional tram, it operates at a higher capacity and speed and often on an exclusive right-of-way. In many cities, light rail transit systems more closely resemble, and are therefore indistinguishable from, traditional underground or at-grade subways and heavy-rail metros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bus rapid transit</span> Public transport system

Bus rapid transit (BRT), also referred to as a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes roadways that are dedicated to buses, and gives priority to buses at intersections where buses may interact with other traffic; alongside design features to reduce delays caused by passengers boarding or leaving buses, or paying fares. BRT aims to combine the capacity and speed of a light rail transit (LRT) or mass rapid transit (MRT) system with the flexibility, lower cost and simplicity of a bus system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rush hour</span> Time of day with peak traffic congestion

A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: once in the morning and once in the afternoon or evening, the times during which most people commute. The term is often used for a period of peak congestion that may last for more than one hour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calgary Transit</span> Public transit service in Calgary, Alberta

Calgary Transit is the public transit agency which is owned and operated by the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 2019, an estimated 106.5 million passengers boarded approximately 1,155 Calgary Transit vehicles. It operates light metro (LRT), urban tramway, bus rapid transit (BRT), para-transit, and regular bus services. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 144,385,200, or about 463,000 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transitway (Ottawa)</span> Bus rapid transit system in Ottawa, Canada

The Transitway is a bus rapid transit (BRT) network operated by OC Transpo in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It comprises a series of bus-only roadways and reserved lanes on city streets and highways. The dedicated busways ensure that buses and emergency vehicles on the Transitway rarely intersect directly with the regular traffic, and make it possible for them to continue at full speed even during rush hour. OC Transpo operates a network of rapid routes which use the Transitway to connect communities with the O-Train light rail system. Additional bus routes also use segments of the Transitway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guided bus</span> Type of bus

Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours. Unlike railbus, trolleybuses or rubber-tyred trams, for part of their routes guided buses are able to share road space with general traffic along conventional roads, or with conventional buses on standard bus lanes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Transport Authority (South Australia)</span> Agency responsible for public transport in South Australia

The State Transport Authority (STA) was the government agency which controlled public transport in South Australia between 1974 and 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grenoble tramway</span> Tram system in Grenoble, France

The Grenoble tramway is the tram system in the city of Grenoble in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. In 1987, Grenoble became the second French city to reintroduce trams, the first being the Nantes tramway. The current network is 35-kilometre (22 mi) long, and comprises five lines: lines A, B, C, D and E. Line A was opened in 1987, line B in 1990, line C on 20 May 2006, line D in October 2007 and line E on 28 June 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nantes tramway</span> Tramway network in Nantes, France

The Nantes tramway is a tramway system operating in the city of Nantes in Pays de la Loire, France. The first tramway in Nantes opened in 1879 and closed in 1958 due to bombing damage during World War II, while the present tramway was re-introduced to the city in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nice tramway</span> Tramway system serving Nice

The Nice tram is a 27.5-kilometre (17.1 mi), triple-line tram in the city of Nice in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. It is operated by the Société nouvelle des transports de l'agglomération niçoise division of Transdev under the name Lignes d'azur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ticket t+</span> Paris Métro ride ticket

The Ticket t+ is the standard single trip ticket for Paris public transit. It can be bought from ticket machines or staffed counters, but not on board buses. As of 2024, it is available as a single paper ticket at the price of €2.15. Since 2019, the ticket can also be loaded onto a reusable Navigo Easy card, which can be purchased for €2 at staffed ticket counters and select ticket vending machines. When using Navigo Easy, the ticket is also available as a pack of 10 at a reduced price of €17.35. Starting 2021, Île-de-France Mobilités is in the process of phasing out the use of paper tickets, and as of September 2023 has discontinued offering a carnet discount for paper tickets. A reduced-price carnet is available for children under 10 years old and some other groups for €8.65.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bi-articulated bus</span> Bus formed of three sections

A bi-articulated bus or double-articulated bus and sometimes train-bus, tram-bus, trackless tram or double bendy bus is a type of high-capacity articulated bus with an extra axle and a second articulation joint, as well as extended length. Bi-articulated buses tend to be employed in high-frequency core routes or bus rapid transit schemes rather than in conventional bus routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strasbourg tramway</span> Tramway network in Strasbourg

The Strasbourg tramway, run by the CTS, is a network of six tramlines, A, B, C, D, E and F that operate in the cities of Strasbourg in Alsace, France, and Kehl in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the few tram networks to cross an international border, along with the trams of Basel and Geneva. The first tramline in Strasbourg, which was originally horse-drawn, opened in 1878. After 1894, when an electric-powered tram system was introduced, a widespread network of tramways was built, including several longer-distance lines on both sides of the Rhine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semitan</span>

Semitan is the company responsible for the comprehensive public transport network of Nantes Métropole, the urban community of the French city of Nantes. The network operated by Semitan is marketed under the name and logo TAN and this abbreviated form is also sometimes used to refer to the company. Semitan is itself an acronym for the Société d'Economie Mixte des Transports de l'Agglomération Nantaise. The TAN network comprises three Tramway lines, two Busway lines, an extensive network of buses, an airport shuttle bus line, two Navibus lines and a night bus network. A single common fare system covers all these modes and also extends to suburban trains within the Métropole boundaries, although these trains are not operated by Semitan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CT Fastrak</span> Bus rapid transit operations in Connecticut, US

CTfastrak is a regional bus rapid transit system currently operating between downtown Hartford and Downtown New Britain station in New Britain in central Connecticut. Operated by Connecticut Transit, it is the first bus rapid transit system in Connecticut and the second in New England after the MBTA Silver Line. CTfastrak opened on March 28, 2015 after fifteen years of planning and three years of construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navibus</span>

Navibus is a group of water bus routes in the French city of Nantes, operated as part of the Tan urban transit network that also includes buses and trams. Routes operate on both the River Loire and the River Erdre, and accept the full range of standard Tan tickets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rabat–Salé tramway</span> Tram system in the Moroccan agglomeration of Rabat and Salé cities

The Rabat–Salé tramway is a tram system in the Moroccan agglomeration of Rabat and Salé cities which opened on 23 May 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South East Hampshire Bus Rapid Transit</span>

The South East Hampshire Bus Rapid Transit is a 3.4 kilometres (2.1 mi) unguided busway between Gosport and Fareham in the county of Hampshire, the road itself is called Henry Cort Way and is named after an ironware producer. The busway scheme is sponsored by Hampshire County Council using the route of the former Fareham to Gosport Line to reduce congestion on the parallel A32 between the towns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bus rapid transit creep</span> Systems that fail to meet requirements of "true BRT"

Bus rapid transit creep is a phenomenon where bus systems that fail to meet the requirements for being considered "true bus rapid transit" are designated as bus rapid transit regardless. These systems are often marketed as a fully realized bus rapid transit system, but end up being described as more of an improvement to regular bus service by proponents of the "BRT creep" term. The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy published several guidelines in an attempt to define what constitutes the term "true BRT", known as the BRT Standard, in an attempt to avert this phenomenon.

Transport in Copenhagen and the surrounding area relies on a well-established infrastructure making it a hub in Northern Europe due to its road and rail networks as well as its international airport. Thanks to its many cycle tracks, Copenhagen is considered one of the world's most bicycle-friendly cities. The metro and S-train systems are key features of the city's well-developed public transport facilities. Since July 2000, the Øresund Bridge has served as a road and rail link to Malmö in Sweden. The city is also served by ferry connections to Oslo in Norway while its award-winning harbour is an ever more popular port of call for cruise ships.

References

  1. "Tan.fr - Chiffres clés". Archived from the original on 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  2. See system map above, retrieved 2023-03-13
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2012-11-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. https://brtguide.itdp.org/branch/master/guide/why-brt/performance | chapter=2.4.1 |retrieved=2023-03-122
  5. "Belo Horizonte" ((Peak frequency, buses per hour per direction)). Retrieved 2022-11-05.
  6. "Rio de Janeiro" ((Peak frequency, buses per hour per direction∈)). Retrieved 2022-11-05.
  7. https://www.sustainable-bus.com/electric-bus/nantes-e-busways-system-semitan-uitp-award/ retrieved 2023/03/12
  8. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=UITP+awwards+2021
  9. https://www.sustainable-bus.com/electric-bus/nantes-e-busways-system-semitan-uitp-award/ retrieved 2023/03/12