request for information: busways that “cross over” at stations

The image below, of Sydney's M2 freeway at Barclay Road, shows the two directions of a median busway crossing over each other so that buses can stop on a center platform — without the buses needing to have doors on both sides. 

Busway crossover M2

Another I'm familiar with is on the Los Angeles Harbor Transitway at I-105.  The station is buried under a freeway interchange but the crossovers on the north-south busway are clearly visible.

Los Angeles 110 at 105

 

Can anyone identify other examples of this design in busways anywhere in the world?  Please reply in comments if so.  Thanks!

 

37 Responses to request for information: busways that “cross over” at stations

  1. Electricyvr June 20, 2012 at 11:55 am #

    Hurdman station in Ottawa is another
    http://goo.gl/maps/mMXa

  2. mulad June 20, 2012 at 12:05 pm #

    46th Street station on I-35W in Minneapolis.

  3. Keith June 20, 2012 at 12:13 pm #

    It’s fairly atypical design, but it does pop up here and there. Other than those already noted, Bellaire Transit Center in Houston has a similar design (minus the busway – it’s in the median of an arterial street – see http://goo.gl/maps/5uFL).

  4. Electricyvr June 20, 2012 at 12:59 pm #

    Like Bellaire above in more than name, Bellevue Transit Center outside Seattle, WA is an urban exchange on a block with “reversed” bus traffic (and no autos.)
    http://goo.gl/maps/0uMV

  5. ant6n June 20, 2012 at 1:06 pm #

    What I wonder is whether there are buses which have doors on both sides – but where the doors on the right are designed for street level embarking/disembarking, but on the left they are designed for platform embarking/disembarking. For example when stopping on a street, one can require people to embark in the front and pay/show the fare to the bus driver, with disembarking in the back. On a platform, there could be one super wide door on the left towards the center of the bus, with the fare payment done at the station.

  6. Karl O June 20, 2012 at 3:14 pm #

    There are literally dozens of these in Salvador, Bahia Brazil. Here is one example: http://goo.gl/maps/xCrZ
    Just follow the arterials and you will find many more.
    They call these the required traffic operations “mao inglesa” or literraly “English-handed” driving (figuratively “English traffic flow”).
    I imagine there are many instances in Brazil outside of Bahia.

  7. Brent June 20, 2012 at 4:01 pm #

    Other Ottawa examples: Terry Fox, Baseline, Orleans.
    In Toronto, you might consider the bus terminal and entrance road to Downsview subway station, although I’m not sure if that’s at the same scale as you are considering — it is a monster to the extent it could be considered closer to a loop.
    More Toronto, and slightly off what you’re looking for: The bus entrances/exits to Lawrence station (underground bus terminal) have the buses driving on the wrong side in order to facilitate a centre platform. (There is one driveway on the north side, and one on the south side, and they loop around together so that a bus enters via an eastbound right turn and exits via a southbound right turn, and vice versa. There is no through routing east and west of Yonge.)

  8. Miles Bader June 20, 2012 at 4:42 pm #

    Gah, that freeway interchange is a crime against humanity…
    Somebody put a station in the middle of it?!

  9. David in Ottawa June 20, 2012 at 5:44 pm #

    @Electricyvr & @Brent:
    Ottawa does do this in places like Hurdman, Terry Fox and former Baseline, but all of those the platform is “off-axis” to the busway with buses in at least one direction needing to make a 90 degree turn and come to a full stop.
    Ottawa does not do anything like the Brisbane example with its scissors crossover – unfortunately.
    I had proposed doing something like this in the median of the Queensway at Moodie Drive where there is a central third span (which is a story unto itself) but the uncreative types in charge of designing and building Ottawa’s busways were not interested. Instead, they preferred a plan to dig themselves tunnels through the Moodie A4 parclo interchange in an area with a high water table… bonus points for anyone who can guess which consultants were in charge of this one.

  10. Andrew June 20, 2012 at 7:29 pm #

    The Minneapolis station mentioned above: http://goo.gl/maps/lSGa
    Apparently it causes some issues with snow plowing operations.

  11. John Levin June 20, 2012 at 8:42 pm #

    More information on I-35W & 46th Street Station in Minneapolis is at: http://metrotransit.org/i-35w-46th-street-transit-plan.aspx
    and at http://www.metrocouncil.org/newsletter/transit2010/BRTMay10.htm
    No significant issues with plowing: plows go straight through intead of crossing over, so the snow is pushed away from the platform.
    The crossover has worked well for the relatively low volume of buses (8 to 10 per hour each way), but modeling suggests that at much higher bus volumes planned at other stations in the corridor(100+ per hour), the signal system required for the crossover operation would not keep up.

  12. Joseph E June 20, 2012 at 10:56 pm #

    “Gah, that freeway interchange is a crime against humanity…
    Somebody put a station in the middle of it?!”
    Miles, that station is a transfer point between the Green Line light rail trains (which run east-west in the middle of the Century Freeway) and the Harbor Transitway which run in the middle of the Harbor Freeway. And yes, it is every bit as unpleasant as you might imagine.

  13. Erik Griswold June 20, 2012 at 11:39 pm #

    The El Monte Busway:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Monte_Busway
    http://metrotransportationlibrary.wikispaces.com/El+Monte+Busway
    …which has been gradually turned over to private cars, step by step. The final opening to SOVs will occur next year. The Busway flips over around the Cal State L.A. Metrolink train station shown in these links:
    http://goo.gl/maps/pSq3
    http://binged.it/LEyhvq

  14. Gag Halfrunt June 21, 2012 at 3:16 am #

    The Metrobüs BRT line in Istanbul has island platforms and left hand running. Wikipedia says that Metrobüs buses don’t operate outside the dedicated busway, but perhaps the planners wanted the option of doing so in the future and decided not to get BRT-only buses with doors on the “wrong” side.

  15. Neil Davies June 21, 2012 at 3:29 am #

    The Quadrant Bus Station stop on the Swansea ‘ftr’ route (Wales) has this design, in order to provide a larger passenger waiting area that can deal with variations in patronage according to time of day. Can’t give an aerial image link as the usual map provider hasn’t updated their image yet.

  16. Simon June 21, 2012 at 4:29 am #

    I’m wondering what the advantage is in doing this over having platforms on both sides. Is it just for lack of space for the platforms?

  17. Robert del Rosario June 21, 2012 at 8:51 am #

    The future Transbay Transit Center in downtown San Francisco will have a cross-over on the entry ramp from the Bay Bridge in order to serve the island configuration bus deck platform. The TJPA and AC Transit agreed to this feature in order to prevent having an intersection at the entrance with potentially 300 buses/hr traveling through the terminal. Check out http://www.transbaycenter.org for more information.

  18. Danny Howard June 21, 2012 at 10:25 am #

    The Salvador-Bahia example is particularly noteworthy: it isn’t strictly a cross-over, as the dedicated lanes just run opposite for some considerable length. I assume there is cross-over where the buses enter/leave the system …

  19. Jarrett at HumanTransit.org June 21, 2012 at 10:37 am #

    Simon.  Cheaper to build one platform.  Supports better amenity and safety

  20. Alon Levy June 21, 2012 at 3:10 pm #

    Robert: you should probably mention that the Bay Bridge has westbound traffic on one deck and eastbound traffic on the other, and so they could’ve just designed the ramps leading to Transbay to have left-hand driving. Instead, they programmed at-grade conflict.

  21. Lloyd Skaalen June 21, 2012 at 7:55 pm #

    Your photo of crossovers above the freeway looks like the Spadina spaghetti exchange at Hwy 401 in north Toronto.

  22. Alan Howes June 22, 2012 at 3:21 am #

    More on the Minneapolis example, supplied to me by Mike Abegg –
    “The second case involves a center-median freeway-level transit station, and arises from the decision to have an island platform but buses outfitted for normal curb-side operation. Buses in both directions travel in an HOT lane in the center of the freeway. When they approach the station, they must execute a crossover maneuver so that northbound buses end up between the southbound travel lanes and the island platform. The bus lanes are separated from the opposing travel lanes by j barriers. The access is controlled by gates – only vehicles equipped with the proper transmitter are able to enter the platform lanes. Under normal conditions the gates are triggered far enough in advance that buses can maintain normal freeway speeds until they reach the diverge area leading up to the gated platform lane.”

  23. Matt Miller June 22, 2012 at 3:07 pm #

    In traffic engineering, the ‘crossover’ is known as a ‘diverging diamond’. UDOT build several over I-15, but I had never considered using them for buses.
    http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/11/large_diverging-diamond.gif
    http://blog.udot.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DDI.jpg

  24. Xavier Debidour June 23, 2012 at 1:31 pm #

    Here, in Lyon, France, a bus “cross-over” inside a traffic circle. The automobiles rotate counter-clockwise (normal) in the outer ring. Buses rotate clockwise (reversed) in the inner ring.
    http://binged.it/KtfkuE

  25. paul chasan June 23, 2012 at 3:53 pm #

    SF’s proposed Van Ness BRT line is grappling with a presumably similar issue to the one you’re trying to resolve. IE, how to run a center-median BRT system (more efficient) without requiring special busses w/ doors on the left side (operational nightmare for transit agency). The current preferred alternative takes a different approach than the ones listed above, but it’s pretty clever. You can see it here:
    http://sf.streetsblog.org/2012/05/02/proposed-van-ness-brt-design-would-combine-the-best-of-both-options/

  26. Nathanael June 24, 2012 at 1:27 pm #

    This crossover scheme is a low-capacity solution. Luckily (?) all the routes which use it have underperformed horribly, probably because they are freeway median buses, which suck big time already.

  27. Anders June 25, 2012 at 12:25 pm #

    Outside Malmö Railway station in Sweden. http://goo.gl/maps/FUcS
    Pros: noone needs to cross two lanes of traffic, all stops on island platform eases interchanges and makes it easier to go around and find your stop.
    Cons: everyone needs to cross one lane of traffic, pedestrian crossings with left-hand driving may make pedestrians look the wrong way.

  28. Amitai June 27, 2012 at 6:07 am #

    The Har Hatzofim station at the southern end of the new Jerusalem LRT system has this design for buses serving the station. There are slip lanes so that northbound buses cross over and drive next to the southbound roadway, adjacent to the southbound LRT platform. They then make a U-turn to the right and pick up southbound passengers adjacent to the northbound LRT platform. The only problem with this is that most passengers are connecting NB>NB or SB>SB, so 100% of connecting passengers have to cross the tracks to reach their connection.

  29. Conor July 5, 2012 at 1:13 am #

    There is a central interchange point in Lindau, Bavaria, Germany (the abbreviation is “ZUP” in German, but I don’t know what it stands for).
    There is one central platform and buses from all four lines pass here once along their route.
    https://maps.google.com/?ll=47.55609,9.692219&spn=0.001564,0.00284&hnear=Cork,+County+Cork,+Ireland&t=h&z=19
    http://www.lptw.de/archiv/download/busfahrplan.pdf

  30. Alan Tanaman July 5, 2012 at 3:53 am #

    Here is another good example of feeder bus-LRT interchange in Jerusalem at Mt Herzl:
    http://goo.gl/maps/lknL
    The feeder buses drop off passengers on the left where they can board the tram to the centre of town on the same platform. The buses then swing round the back to face the camera (on the right) and pick-up passengers that have just alighted the tram.
    In the picture you can see a tram that has just terminated at this station. Incidentally, work is now commencing on an extension to this line, but the majority of passengers from this stop will still be northbound.

  31. Amitai July 5, 2012 at 6:23 am #

    @Alan: See my above comment. You are correct; it is the Mt Herzl station, not the Har Hatzofim station. However, when the bus crosses over, the NB>NB transfer requires that a passenger cross the tracks from the west side of the station to the east side.

  32. Daniel Sparing July 5, 2012 at 10:15 pm #

    I only know one for trams, so I am afraid that doesn’t count 🙁
    http://goo.gl/maps/0RYx
    (there is also an island tram stop in Zürich)
    Furthermore, Bogotá Transmilenios don’t have doors on two sides–they only have doors on the left 🙂

  33. Aidan Stanger July 16, 2012 at 10:32 pm #

    Tea Tree Plaza (Modbury) at the end of the Adelaide O-bahn

  34. Paul July 17, 2012 at 6:13 pm #

    In Almere, the Netherlands at Station Centrum: http://maps.google.nl/?ll=52.374928,5.218404&spn=0.002201,0.005659&t=k&z=18
    The buses that use the bus bays on the edges of the station cross over. But the station is also designed so that buses using the bays in the interior of the station do not crossover.

  35. Ari August 1, 2012 at 8:32 am #

    In re left-side doors, the trolleybus fleet in Boston has doors on both sides. The two most-used trolleybus lines (71 73) run through the Harvard busway, along with several other bus lines. On inbound runs, passengers board and alight at the two right-side doors. The buses then loop outside the tunnel and pick passengers up, all of whom board through the left-side door, reducing crowding and fare payment. (With the two lines combined, a full bus leaves approximately every 150 seconds at peak evening rush, so fully boarding each bus through the front door would bog down the system.) Riders then pay their fare upon exiting the bus through the front door.

  36. Tim Slootjes October 19, 2015 at 2:52 pm #

    Regarding systems outside of the USA, I know that the Istanbul Metrobüs has at least three of these kinds of bus platforms and most likely more. Buses have their doors on the right as usual, but drive on the left of the separated bus lane (whereas other traffic in Turkey drives on the right).
    In Veghel, the Netherlands, there is a BRT-branded system (but interestingly, a BRT without separate buslanes, or any other features that would make it a BRT line) that, at only one stop, switches to a very short track of bus lane, parallel to the side of the road, 30 meters long or so. Here, on the Udenseweg, buses cross and drive on the left of the buslane and pass a centre platform (no bridges or tunnels separate this platform though). Passengers can exit or enter the buses through a door on the right of the vehicle. This centre platform allows passengers to transfer easily or to enter the neighbourhood next to the bus stop without crossing the busy road.
    I know this because I have driven on this bit of track myself quite a couple of times, however, I am afraid this information isn’t of much use to you since no pictures can be found on the web anywhere, not even Google Streetview. All I can tell you is that it’s on the Udenseweg, Veghel.

  37. Colin February 3, 2016 at 4:19 pm #

    I’m only 3.5 years too late, but here’s an interesting one if anybody is still reading this.

    Golden Gate Transit (north of San Francisco) has an existing bus terminal in a wide median in Novato, Marin County. Buses travel into the median as per normal conventions and the platforms are on the right side. Pedestrians have to cross the two-lane busway to transfer between the two platforms. They want to replace it with this:

    http://www.marintransit.org/pdf/rgtip/SitePlan2016.pdf

    in which buses would crossover at each end of a common island platform. There was an article in Mass Transit Magazine (now unavailable to me online) saying that the bus drivers don’t think the design is safe. One councilwoman was clearly uninformed when she stated: “There’s no place in the US where buses weave or a criss-crossing of buses occurs.”

    As others have noted, there are several island platform stations along the Transitway in Ottawa where buses cross over at each end of the station. This is on an exclusive-r-o-w busway, not the median of a city street, so it’s a lot easier to control.