History
Only a few examples currently exist, but more are proposed in various countries.
The first guided busway in the United Kingdom was in Birmingham, branded as Tracline 65, and had a short 1,968 feet (600 m) length as an experiment in 1984. It has since been removed. A number of guided busways have since been planned or built in the United Kingdom. In Mannheim, Germany, from May 1992 to September 2005 a guided busway shared the tram alignment for a few hundred metres, which allowed buses to avoid a congested stretch of road in a location where there was no space for an extra traffic lane. It was discontinued as the majority of buses fitted with guide wheels were withdrawn for age reasons. There are no plans to convert newer buses.
The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway between Cambridge and St Ives is the world's longest guided busway.
The Nagoya Guideway Bus in Nagoya, opened in March 2001 and is the only guided bus line in Japan.
The KGB guidance mechanism is a direct development of the early flangeways, predating even the railways. The Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad of 1809 therefore has a claim to be the earliest guided busway. Earlier flangeways existed, but were not for passenger carrying.
Read more about this topic: Guided Bus
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