Whats going to happen when all those concrete blocks start to degrade in 20 years and they need to shut down every other week to do repairs, what then?
Hi @@valhallascorner8563 I don’t know how things work in your part of the world. In Australia, major infrastructure maintenance is highly efficient. Regular engineering checks and upgrades are done seamlessly. All our major transport roadways/corridors 👍
Shhh don't mention repairs needed on infrastructures for motor vehicles that needs to be shut down I say less than 20 years and shut down for weeks and months at a time?
have been to Adelaide three times, the last of which was 10 years ago, going back there next year, had no idea this existed at all until 2 years ago. If I'm going back there I'm checking this one out for sure
Best way to do it is to catch one of the double buses (2 bus sections conjoined in the middle with an accordion-like thing) and sit on the very back seat. The vertical movement while travelling is like a mini roller coaster for those of us afraid of heights. ^^
I can see a lot of advantages to this. Being that it’s just a concrete track, it’s cheaper to build than a tram or train track which both require electrification the entire way. That’s a lot of infrastructure that’s very expensive and places load on the local electricity grid. It’s also much faster than a bus travelling on a road due to not having any traffic, and the track’s corners being designed to support the maximum speed of the bus (no tight angles just flowing corners). It’s very flexible as it’s still a bus that can travel on any other road while a tram is useless outside of its track. It doesn’t affect local neighbourhoods as much as a freeway would with the massively increased traffic and its noise that would filter through their streets. It’s safer for animals as it’s enclosed. There are some negatives though. It’s not as efficient as a train due to it not having as many carriages. It’s worse for the environment due to it using petrol instead of electricity (it could use LPG or even electricity these days). The engine is louder than a train (the weight of a train on metal tracks may cause sound that travels further though). And also, the open nature of the tracks will cause cars to accidentally drive onto it too. Overall it’s a very interesting idea though. Being that it’s built in the 1980s, it’s obviously a product of its time, and may have been the best option after looking at all the options they have. I live in Sydney and am just hearing about this today after seeing it on Daily Dose Of Internet.
I have just discovered this video and your channel, and really enjoyed it! Absolutely impressed by your professional production values as well! I have subscribed, and hope to see more content from you in time to come. Cheers from Adelaide!
Fantastic, just fantastic and extremely enlightening, interesting information mentioned in this very video, extremely interesting indeed I must say. Do take care. Thanks for sharing. From Foxy.
The OBAHN bus in Australia is ONLY in Adelaide South Australia. The OBahn bus route is lovely and parts of the route are very scenic. ONLY a few BUS NUMBERS will get you on an OBahn route bus. The trip starts in Grenfell street - for example bus 556 at 8:48 am from Stop H1 Grenfell St - North side - starts off on the road then swiftly slips onto the Obahn track and takes you out to St Agnes. I love it. The trip is worth the fun from Adelaide and then out to St Agnes and back to Adelaide. I WISH there was a route from Adelaide to Victor Harbour via an OBahn (BUT there is not) as it would save so much time and be fun.
Yes, and the tyres rub on the side of the track, needing constant replacing. A tram was about to be built when Liberal politicians over ruled the decision, and screwed Adelaide for a long time.
0:48 Smaller guide wheels are installed in the front and back of the bus, perpendicular to big wheels. When the bus goes through a guided way, those wheels will roll on kerbs and "push" the bus away from kerbs.
Before the O'Bahn was built the river was a waste land and people were illegally dumping rubbish plus other litter polluting the water way and was an unsightly mess, when construction started it was cleaned up and turned into a linear park that many enjoy today.
Here's another explainer, with more facts. I'm not even Australian but think the O'Bahn is great. The cost savings alone are very impressive, as detailed in this vid: ua-cam.com/video/9A5BCbovR9s/v-deo.html
@@patcom1013 Considering the low number of passengers it carries on each bus, it is actually quite expensive. Tram line was a better option, but politics reared its ugly head.
You'd regret it. This also was costly and it carries too few passengers. Also regularly shut down when a car drives on the track and crashes into the center.
Anyone complaining would be like moving next to an airport, people will laugh at them, track has been there longer than most people living near it or building next to it.
@@michaeleverett1479 way to late for that, very popular with commuter's, government data, operating cost per passenger km, O'Bahn $0.39, road bus $0.48, light rail (tram) $0.61, heavy trunked rail $0.53 with the Belair line being the most expensive to operate at $0.81 and the Gawler line the cheapest to operate at $0.48.
@@TheTurbulant, Where did you find that data from?? Can you also find Adelaide's public transport data on the subsidy per passenger, operating costs, etc maintenance costs, distance passenger travels, number of transfers and etc. Also, the average occupancy (load factor) of public transport systems are not well published. It would be nice if you were able to have a complete dataset of Adelaide public transport and compare it to other Australian cities and other cities around the world.
@@TheTurbulant, I strongly disagree with you about keeping the O'bahn. The O'bahn guided busway is running far too many buses an hour (60 - 70 buses per hour with 20 different bus lines) during the peak hours on Grenfell to Currie Street which contributes to massive road congestion in Adelaide CBD. The roadway surface on Grenfell to Currie Street is heavily deteriorated due to heavy bus traffic and that bus lane requires urgent repair. There's so much passenger demand on the O'bahn guided busway, even biarticulated buses like those in Bogota and Curitiba won't meet the demand permanently. The O'bahn must be converted to a steel wheeled metro system (electrified third rail) to future proof capacity and allow buses to serve the eastern suburbs rather than Adelaide CBD. Removing excess infrequent O'bahn buses (branched bus lines) out of Adelaide's CBD will substantially increase overall system capacity, average occupancy and improve patronage. A highly branched nature of the O'bahn busway has low frequency due to branched bus lines while being a capacity bottleneck in Adelaide's CBD. Even if the O'bahn had one bus line from Grenfell Street to TTP operating at a high frequency of 60 seconds for all stations with normal 12 m buses and 18 m articulated buses, then bus bunching in the Adelaide city and the busway stations will be a highly frequent problem.
@@fredbrunoThis is still retarded😂 in the Netherlands you have bus lanes that only buses are allowed to ride on. No reason to make a “bus rail way”. Doesnt make sense and waste of money
@@taasmr4203 You didn't listen to the video. The track is made this way because the buses have wheels guiding the bus instead of having to steer manually.
@Leo WRONG. This O bahn thing is perfect for a train line. Adelaide doesn't have a train service in the North Eastern suburbs. It needs one other wise why don't you just close the Gawler, Seaford, Grange, Outer Harbor & Belair lines and replace them with O bahn's you ignorant dopey fuckwit. Fuck your buses up your cock-fucked bum!
My cousin used to lie in the tracks as a teen, he's 50 now. Never did that and seems stupid now, but coins on train track while in the bridge inches from the track, was fun at the time.
So many people fail to see how bad this system is. Originally was to be either a train or tram. Tram was chosen to save money, but then... there was an election. The new Liberal government could not just do what Labor had set up, and they did not want to spend more on a train, even though that was always the best option. The O-Bahn cost a lot to build, but carries much fewer passengers. As you watch this video, you may notice the track is fenced off because the huge (ugly) concrete track is too high for people to cross, unlike railways. People regularly drive cars onto the track and fall into the center. Then the track is closed till a crane comes to remove the offending vehicle, meaning the busses have to take the roads (slow). It really is minimum result for maximum cost, which is why this is the only one of its type left in the world.
So much wrong here. It was chosen as it was more versatile, cheaper, and easier to implement. The grades are too steep to make heavy rail effective, and the versatility this offers over any rail option options is great. Rail would also have been far more intrusive to existing infrastructure. Cars ignoring the warnings is a minus, but the rate at which they get stuck is comparable to the rate that cars get hit at rail crossings. There was recently a 133-day streak with no incidents that unfortunately just ended. It's also not a one-off. There are currently 3 other guided busways in operation, including the one Adelaide based their design off of in Essen. The O-bahn has been very successful, and you just sound bitter about it!
@@willausterman3104 Sorry but I must reply that so much is wrong here too. It was chosen because of political bias. One party chose tram so the other party had to do something different. Cheaper, yes but it does less. Like using a small car to pull a semi-trailer, it just doesn't work. In the long run it has NOT been cheaper because of all the extra expense. The rear tyres on the articulated busses rub on the concrete track and must be disposed of before the tread is worn. They use more fuel per passenger mile and as such, are far more polluting than all other options. None of the grades are too steep for rail, and you will find most of the arguments against rail and for the O-Bahn can be put down to political cherry picking of certain facts, while ignoring the long term benefits and savings that come from building the right infrastructure from the start. Am I bitter? Maybe, but I am trying to get people to look at future projects with a more critical eye, and not just accept what politicians say, just to get elected.
I love our O’Bahn … I’m a lucky commuter that relies on this service to get into town (work). It’s so fast and easy … no traffic, no stress 😎
Whats going to happen when all those concrete blocks start to degrade in 20 years and they need to shut down every other week to do repairs, what then?
Hi @@valhallascorner8563 I don’t know how things work in your part of the world. In Australia, major infrastructure maintenance is highly efficient. Regular engineering checks and upgrades are done seamlessly. All our major transport roadways/corridors 👍
Shhh don't mention repairs needed on infrastructures for motor vehicles that needs to be shut down I say less than 20 years and shut down for weeks and months at a time?
You would have been better off if the original idea of a railway had been built.
I had no idea we had this in Australia, pretty sweet!
Actually it is rubbish. High cost and low passenger capacity means it should have been a tram, as originally planned.
This is the best 3-minute explanation video.
I had been on this bus ride in 2018 and enjoyed it a lot
one of the best kiwi narrators i've heard 🤣
Sweet as broe...😉
have been to Adelaide three times, the last of which was 10 years ago, going back there next year, had no idea this existed at all until 2 years ago. If I'm going back there I'm checking this one out for sure
Best way to do it is to catch one of the double buses (2 bus sections conjoined in the middle with an accordion-like thing) and sit on the very back seat. The vertical movement while travelling is like a mini roller coaster for those of us afraid of heights. ^^
@@katiekat2921 Considering the tyres of the rear section rub on the track and are at risk of bursting, I wouldn't recommend sitting back there.
Imagine an electric bus being charged in this lane. May never need to stop to recharge
Sir, thats just a tram
@@patana256 or a cable bus
Putting inefficient batteries on big things like busses is the STUPIDEST IDEA EVER, considering cable busses exist with near 100% efficiency
@@__Mr.Long__ Yes but a cable bus can only go on the cable track. An electric bus is more flexible.
@@percy832 except that hybrids exist
Cable bus on a fixed route. Detour? No problem. Batteries engaged.
There is one in England also called The Leigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit There they have double-decker bus
I can see a lot of advantages to this. Being that it’s just a concrete track, it’s cheaper to build than a tram or train track which both require electrification the entire way. That’s a lot of infrastructure that’s very expensive and places load on the local electricity grid. It’s also much faster than a bus travelling on a road due to not having any traffic, and the track’s corners being designed to support the maximum speed of the bus (no tight angles just flowing corners). It’s very flexible as it’s still a bus that can travel on any other road while a tram is useless outside of its track. It doesn’t affect local neighbourhoods as much as a freeway would with the massively increased traffic and its noise that would filter through their streets. It’s safer for animals as it’s enclosed.
There are some negatives though. It’s not as efficient as a train due to it not having as many carriages. It’s worse for the environment due to it using petrol instead of electricity (it could use LPG or even electricity these days). The engine is louder than a train (the weight of a train on metal tracks may cause sound that travels further though). And also, the open nature of the tracks will cause cars to accidentally drive onto it too.
Overall it’s a very interesting idea though. Being that it’s built in the 1980s, it’s obviously a product of its time, and may have been the best option after looking at all the options they have. I live in Sydney and am just hearing about this today after seeing it on Daily Dose Of Internet.
I have just discovered this video and your channel, and really enjoyed it! Absolutely impressed by your professional production values as well! I have subscribed, and hope to see more content from you in time to come. Cheers from Adelaide!
I agree. Great journalist 👍
Fantastic, just fantastic and extremely enlightening, interesting information mentioned in this very video, extremely interesting indeed I must say. Do take care. Thanks for sharing.
From Foxy.
The OBAHN bus in Australia is ONLY in Adelaide South Australia. The OBahn bus route is lovely and parts of the route are very scenic. ONLY a few BUS NUMBERS will get you on an OBahn route bus. The trip starts in Grenfell street - for example bus 556 at 8:48 am from Stop H1 Grenfell St - North side - starts off on the road then swiftly slips onto the Obahn track and takes you out to St Agnes. I love it. The trip is worth the fun from Adelaide and then out to St Agnes and back to Adelaide. I WISH there was a route from Adelaide to Victor Harbour via an OBahn (BUT there is not) as it would save so much time and be fun.
The sound produced by the bus, seems higher on concrete, than on the regular road
Yes, and the tyres rub on the side of the track, needing constant replacing.
A tram was about to be built when Liberal politicians over ruled the decision, and screwed Adelaide for a long time.
As a 35 year transit driver in Vancouver Canada it’s a very unique concept but I prefer an open lane to drive in ! 🇨🇦👍
Trust me, it is horrid. Side wall of the tires rub on the track, cars drive on and crash regularly, and it can't carry enough people.
What the bloody hell did I just stumble upon
a bussy
An expensive and useless public transit system.
No needs to hold steering?? Can someone describe technical points??
0:48 Smaller guide wheels are installed in the front and back of the bus, perpendicular to big wheels. When the bus goes through a guided way, those wheels will roll on kerbs and "push" the bus away from kerbs.
@@ЦзинКэ-ы5х okay, thanks 👍
Amazing video! Would is be ok to use little clips of this in my O-Bahn video? Credit would be given :)
Use the contact email on our website to discuss licensing fees and for stock footage purchases
Thats pretty cool! But I dont get how the buses helped to rejuvenate the river?
Before the O'Bahn was built the river was a waste land and people were illegally dumping rubbish plus other litter polluting the water way and was an unsightly mess, when construction started it was cleaned up and turned into a linear park that many enjoy today.
It didn't. The busway and the river clean up were two different projects, done around the same time.
Whats the point, why not just make a regular road?
Lack of traffic to contend with, therefore higher throughput in passenger numbers.
@@patcom1013that doesn’t explain the track. We also have designated roads and divided lanes for just buses, but what is the benefit of the track?
Here's another explainer, with more facts. I'm not even Australian but think the O'Bahn is great. The cost savings alone are very impressive, as detailed in this vid:
ua-cam.com/video/9A5BCbovR9s/v-deo.html
@@patcom1013 Considering the low number of passengers it carries on each bus, it is actually quite expensive. Tram line was a better option, but politics reared its ugly head.
Why the hell isn't this regular for busses?
Because it was expensive, and is the worst choice when considering this, train, or tram.
Why can’t we load our cars onto theses buses
You mean trucks?
I went on that on my first visit there. My first guided busway :) back in 2001?
Funny name grand junction road.
Reason the road is name to grand Junction Road is that five rows connect at one Junction
Five roads connect at one Junction
This is what Melbourne should do instead of the really costly SRL
You'd regret it. This also was costly and it carries too few passengers.
Also regularly shut down when a car drives on the track and crashes into the center.
Seems like a noisy system... any complaints from the neighbours?
Anyone complaining would be like moving next to an airport, people will laugh at them, track has been there longer than most people living near it or building next to it.
@@TheTurbulant, The O'bahn busway should be replaced with steel wheeled trains/ heavy rail.
@@michaeleverett1479 way to late for that, very popular with commuter's, government data, operating cost per passenger km, O'Bahn $0.39, road bus $0.48, light rail (tram) $0.61, heavy trunked rail $0.53 with the Belair line being the most expensive to operate at $0.81 and the Gawler line the cheapest to operate at $0.48.
@@TheTurbulant, Where did you find that data from?? Can you also find Adelaide's public transport data on the subsidy per passenger, operating costs, etc maintenance costs, distance passenger travels, number of transfers and etc. Also, the average occupancy (load factor) of public transport systems are not well published.
It would be nice if you were able to have a complete dataset of Adelaide public transport and compare it to other Australian cities and other cities around the world.
@@TheTurbulant, I strongly disagree with you about keeping the O'bahn. The O'bahn guided busway is running far too many buses an hour (60 - 70 buses per hour with 20 different bus lines) during the peak hours on Grenfell to Currie Street which contributes to massive road congestion in Adelaide CBD. The roadway surface on Grenfell to Currie Street is heavily deteriorated due to heavy bus traffic and that bus lane requires urgent repair. There's so much passenger demand on the O'bahn guided busway, even biarticulated buses like those in Bogota and Curitiba won't meet the demand permanently.
The O'bahn must be converted to a steel wheeled metro system (electrified third rail) to future proof capacity and allow buses to serve the eastern suburbs rather than Adelaide CBD. Removing excess infrequent O'bahn buses (branched bus lines) out of Adelaide's CBD will substantially increase overall system capacity, average occupancy and improve patronage. A highly branched nature of the O'bahn busway has low frequency due to branched bus lines while being a capacity bottleneck in Adelaide's CBD. Even if the O'bahn had one bus line from Grenfell Street to TTP operating at a high frequency of 60 seconds for all stations with normal 12 m buses and 18 m articulated buses, then bus bunching in the Adelaide city and the busway stations will be a highly frequent problem.
But why .? Why not build a road instead
This helps against traffic and congestion. It's a good design. In and off with no issues the schedule is always on time.
@@fredbrunoThis is still retarded😂 in the Netherlands you have bus lanes that only buses are allowed to ride on. No reason to make a “bus rail way”. Doesnt make sense and waste of money
To avoid traffic and to save time
@user-Mac-e9e *But still, why didn't they just make a two-way road instead of this track that looks like railway track?*
@@taasmr4203 You didn't listen to the video. The track is made this way because the buses have wheels guiding the bus instead of having to steer manually.
Whats the point of this though?
No point at all. Just a political choice not to build a tram as originally planned.
Its a "Brain"😂
Just saw some muppet drove his car onto it! Came here to find out about it
Many many muppets have done this, including the cliche of two drunk Irishmen.
Worst decision Adelaide politicians ever made.
Video inutile.Fate vedere come funziona e come fa ad andare dritto
Change it to a Railway to Greenwith.
Buses don't carry the number of passengers trains do. Its not rocket science.
@Leo WRONG.
This O bahn thing is perfect for a train line.
Adelaide doesn't have a train service in the North Eastern suburbs.
It needs one other wise why don't you just close the Gawler, Seaford, Grange, Outer Harbor & Belair lines and replace them with O bahn's you ignorant dopey fuckwit.
Fuck your buses up your cock-fucked bum!
You are the only person in this comment section who is right.
awesome idea
My cousin used to lie in the tracks as a teen, he's 50 now. Never did that and seems stupid now, but coins on train track while in the bridge inches from the track, was fun at the time.
Why not build a tram?
Too slow
Politics. Labor gov. chooses tram design, election happens, Liberal gov. scraps tram but does not want to spend extra for train. So now we're screwed.
Wow
So many people fail to see how bad this system is. Originally was to be either a train or tram. Tram was chosen to save money, but then... there was an election.
The new Liberal government could not just do what Labor had set up, and they did not want to spend more on a train, even though that was always the best option.
The O-Bahn cost a lot to build, but carries much fewer passengers. As you watch this video, you may notice the track is fenced off because the huge (ugly) concrete track is too high for people to cross, unlike railways. People regularly drive cars onto the track and fall into the center. Then the track is closed till a crane comes to remove the offending vehicle, meaning the busses have to take the roads (slow).
It really is minimum result for maximum cost, which is why this is the only one of its type left in the world.
So much wrong here. It was chosen as it was more versatile, cheaper, and easier to implement. The grades are too steep to make heavy rail effective, and the versatility this offers over any rail option options is great. Rail would also have been far more intrusive to existing infrastructure. Cars ignoring the warnings is a minus, but the rate at which they get stuck is comparable to the rate that cars get hit at rail crossings. There was recently a 133-day streak with no incidents that unfortunately just ended. It's also not a one-off. There are currently 3 other guided busways in operation, including the one Adelaide based their design off of in Essen. The O-bahn has been very successful, and you just sound bitter about it!
@@willausterman3104 Sorry but I must reply that so much is wrong here too. It was chosen because of political bias. One party chose tram so the other party had to do something different. Cheaper, yes but it does less. Like using a small car to pull a semi-trailer, it just doesn't work. In the long run it has NOT been cheaper because of all the extra expense. The rear tyres on the articulated busses rub on the concrete track and must be disposed of before the tread is worn. They use more fuel per passenger mile and as such, are far more polluting than all other options. None of the grades are too steep for rail, and you will find most of the arguments against rail and for the O-Bahn can be put down to political cherry picking of certain facts, while ignoring the long term benefits and savings that come from building the right infrastructure from the start.
Am I bitter? Maybe, but I am trying to get people to look at future projects with a more critical eye, and not just accept what politicians say, just to get elected.
Is it the South Aussie Accent, or just another Kiwi "obsessed " with sex/six. No idea how to pronounce the vowels ;)
Our schools aren’t that good here in NZ haha
真.類火車