Bus-based transitway or light rail? The engineering view

In a recent article, Hensher (1999) raised some questions about the real advantages of Light Rail Transit (LRT) over bus-based transit on the base of policy, cost, patronage and land use. This note presents some additional evidence to the arguments expressed by Hensher on the basis of the passenger capacities that can be achieved by these two technologies. First, some definitions about the elements that control the capacity of public transport technologies are presented. Then the main approaches and variables to estimate the capacity of stations are discussed. Next, an example based on a study case is developed to compare the passenger capacities of two technologies: a busway and a tram system. Finally, some conclusions about the results of this example are stated.