A complete ride on Adelaide's O-Bahn Busway: Tea Tree Plaza - City via O-Bahn Tunnel

In this video we take a complete journey on Adelaide's world famous O-Bahn guided busway. Starting at the northern terminus at Tea Tree Plaza Interchange onboard a route 541 bus, we travel along the concrete track towards the city, stopping at Paradise Interchange and Klemzig Interchange. We then return to a conventional road at Hackney Road, where we follow conventional bus lanes before travelling inside the newly opened O-Bahn Tunnel. The tunnel opened in December 2017 to improve journey times for O-Bahn buses in and out of the city. We finish the video at the beginning of Grenfell Street at the edge of Adelaide city.
Adelaide's O-Bahn busway was built as an alternative to a light rail project in order to serve Adelaide's growing northeastern suburbs. Stage 1 from Hackney Road to Paradise Interchange opened on the 9th March 1986, while stage 2 to Tea Tree Plaza Interchange (then known as Modbury Interchange) opened on the 20 August 1989. The O-Bahn tunnel opened on the 10th December 2017.
Originally being conceived by Daimler-Benz, the busway originally utilized a fleet of Mercedes Benz buses, but some MAN SG280s and SL202's were added later on. The original fleet was replaced from the mid - late 2000's onwards and is now a mostly Scania fleet with K230UB/K280UB rigid buses and K320UA articulated bus. The bus we ride on is #1472, a 2009 Scania K230UB with a Custom Coaches 'CB60 Evo II' body.
/ thebusofdooms-transpor...

[@ThebusofdoomFSX]

I have now made a timelapse version of this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6a9YpV7n8iLhZI

[@saimanhussaini2010]

We started travelling on Adelaide metro bus in 2014 and we enjoyed many bus trips.

[@muhammadjayadi6179]

I have been there at Adelaide in 1996 and begin of 2005. I always use this transportation to go anywhere in Adelaide. It is awesome , comfortable and fun. I miss being there again.

[@modesain]

Emang skg udah balik kampung mas?

[@warrenjohnknight.9831]

I am definitely impressed with this system, never seen this system before and why it's not a common opportunity in so many places, strangely enough I am struggling to believe it's possible and how it's working so well, ☺.

[@legass420]

Nice video! I've always been fascinated by the O-bahn. I wish Canberra had something like this.

[@lmlmd2714]

Really clever system, and waaaay ahead of it's time. It's a shame they haven't taken the opportunity to modernise it by electrifying the buses as a modern hybrid battery-trolleybus system, running wires along the O-Bahn stretch to charge the buses, that can then run on batteries on the various distributor routes and in the CBD.

[@andrew_koala2974]

There were electric Trolley-Buses in Leicester City UK where I and David Icke were born born decades ago. It's an old Roman City that dates back well over two thousand years

[@danks8705]

or you could just put a tram or a train there

[@crossleydd42]

@@danks8705 Fr too expensive to build and maintain and also inflexible, reasons why they disappeared in the first place.

[@danks8705]

@@crossleydd42 They didn't dissapear, well they did in America, where they replaced it with cars(fuck cars). They are expensive to build, sure, but it: 1) pays off in the long run, especially with the fuel prices right now 2) It's not gonna break down as much as buses, the engines are electric and don't require as much maintenance as normal engines 3) Trams and trains are MUCH MORE faster, and also provide more comfortable ride, compare a new model of a train or a tram and compare it to a new model of a bus. The tram/train won't be bumpy, there is MUCH more space, and there will be better AC, more screens, etc. 4) Buses and cars have rolling resistance, which slows them down. The trams and trains don't, because the wheels and rails are steel, but it comes with a downside of worse braking during bad conditions. 5) Electric motors don't pollute as much as fossil fuel based engines. You would probably say that electric buses exist, but charging of batteries is slow and wasteful AND batteries aren't exactly environmental friendly when they are dead. Just use a Trolleybus, it's a bus but it runs off of electricity and doesn't need a big battery. But if you put the wires in place, and you have the concrete "rails", wouldn't it be better to just put a tram there? edit: Trams aren't dying, in Europe they are thriving and growing, so where did you get that info?

[@baileyfry7031]

@@crossleydd42 yeah as the other dude said, you're dead wrong, and Adelaide should invest in converting the O'bahn into a tram or train system that actually connects to the existing routes.

[@nevillefernandes6108]

My family and I travelled on this route on the 22nd of November to 26th November 2018. Our travel was very comfortable by the metro buses plying to & fro from Currie street to St. Agnes & beyond.

[@nevillefernandes6108]

Remembering our trip to Adelaide last November and especially our rides on the metro buses.. bus no. 541 to St. Agnes.

[@SparkyOne549]

As a hyper kid, for fun when the tracks were first being used, for a quick buzz, we used to get into the sections of the track as the buses went over us.

[@dr.utkarsh2669]

WTF

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

[@nevillefernandes6108]

We travelled on bus no. 541 & enjoyed the greenery around.

[@welshlyn9097]

Brilliant 🤩👍👍👍👍

[@timosha21]

I'm a tram 🚋 and I approve this video! Ding ding!!

[@ThebusofdoomFSX]

Thank you tram

[@ThebusofdoomFSX]

Just a small error in the video: the start of the guided busway is Tea Tree Plaza in the suburb of Modbury, not Tea Tree Gully which is a different suburb.

[@RoopSingh-qx7qi]

Very nice

[@nurhasan6825]

Mantaap nee solusien transportasi kota2 besar yang udah mulai macet🤔🇮🇩

[@woobyvr9654]

I like the idea of this, seriously this thing is awesome but I feel like a tram would be a more suited for the job

[@adelaideonthego]

+QuebeC VR Yes, I think it would be better if Trams went along it but I guess it’s more flexible because different bus routes can use it.

[@MBCMurrayPlaysRL]

Adelade have a tramline from one of its beach-side suburbs to the city and there were proposals to extend it from the city along what is now the alignment of the busway to Tea Tree Interchange so they did consider it.

[@TrebleSketch]

This was originally going to be a motorway back in the 60s, but then they changed it to a tram line in the 70s... It was never built but we got the O-Bahn instead, a decent solution for what they have atm Still great, tbh

[@SparkyOne549]

Wooby VR tram is slower.

[@scottmcginn2169]

And what happens when you run out of tram line. The O-Bahn operates services beyond Tea tree plaza servicing northern and northeastern suburbs, the busway allows those buses to get out there quicker and frees up the roads. A tram way would need to be extended as such.

[@user-rs1990]

Fact: The Scania L94UB rigid buses with Custom Coaches CB60 body were the first Scania buses to be part of the O-Bahn fleet. And there's even a lone 2002 Mercedes Benz O405NH still using the busway!

[@michaeleverett1479]

RS 1990, Why do you have an obsession with buses on an concrete guideway? A bus is not a train regardless of how fast and reliable the bus service is. In fact, the O'bahn proprietary busway is a steel wheel on steel rail railway on the cheap. The truth is that buses on a concrete guideway have lower capacity, have worse ride quality, noisy when at speed, have significant rolling resistance and are worse than trains in every possible aspect. The point of a bus is to be flexible and operate at low capacity for small passenger demands. When a bus is stuck to a concrete guideway with forced transfers to other buses, then trains will outclass guided buses in every way. The O'bahn has broken the promise of a no transfer system and now has an orphan system of transferring between bus routes. Surely, a major backbone/ high capacity route with high speed from Adelaide to TTP should have been a train line. You get what you paid for. An O'bahn or BRT will never beat an equivalent train line in terms of raw capacity of passengers per hour. The so called cheap busways are not railway substitutes. A suburban or metro train can comfortably carry 20,000 - 50,000 passengers/hr per direction with full grade separation. In contrast, the O'bahn can only carry 1,000 - 5,000 passengers/hr per direction with full grade separation.

[@YaoboyProd2K15]

Wonder if there would be BRT in Singapore based on the O Bahn model in Adelaide.

[@BrettMcS]

Great video. Do they cant the track?

[@michaelmermingis9935]

I am on the O-Bahn while watching this lol

[@fauzirahman3285]

LOL You just needed to look up! I shall try this on my next Adelaide visit.

[@michaelmermingis9935]

@@fauzirahman3285 lol 😂😂😂

[@aysty5951]

how was it even tho it was 2 years ago 🤣

[@chigozieinnocent2782]

@@fauzirahman3285 which country is this ? The name sounds Nigerian

[@fauzirahman3285]

@@chigozieinnocent2782 Australia. Specifically in Adelaide of South Australia.

[@lachlantrainvideos]

How the hell does it stay on the track?

[@kulkarniprabhanjan]

guide wheels connected to steering

[@Robert-cu9bm]

This is more autonomous than the Tesla Loop.

[@andrew_koala2974]

EDITED CORRECTED TEXT: ; In this video we take a complete journey on Adelaide's world famous ; O-Bahn guided busway. ; Starting at the northern terminus at Tea Tree Plaza Interchange onboard ; a route 541 bus - we travel along the concrete track towards the city - ; stopping at Paradise Interchange and Klemzig Interchange. ; We then return to a conventional road at Hackney Road - where we follow ; conventional bus lanes before traveling inside the newly opened O-Bahn ; Tunnel. The tunnel opened in December 2017 to improve journey times for ; O-Bahn buses in and out of the city. ; We finish the video at the beginning of Grenfell Street at the edge of ; Adelaide city. ; Adelaide's O-Bahn busway was built as an alternative to a light rail ; project in order to serve Adelaide's growing northeastern suburbs. ; Stage 1 from Hackney Road to Paradise Interchange opened on the ; 9th March 1986 - while stage 2 to Tea Tree Plaza Interchange (then ; known as Modbury Interchange) opened on the 20 August 1989 - ; The O-Bahn tunnel opened on the 10th December 2017 ; Originally being conceived by DAIMLER-BENZ - the busway originally ; utilized a fleet of MERCEDES BENZ buses - but some MAN SG280s and ; SL202's were added later. The original fleet was replaced from the mid ; to - late 2000's onward and is now a mostly SCANIA fleet with ; K230UB / K280UB rigid buses and K320UA articulated bus. ; The bus we ride on is #1472 - a 2009 SCANIA K230UB with a 'CB60 EVO II' ; body built by CUSTOM COACHES [ Note that CORPORATE names are ALWAYS in the ALL CAPS iteration ] You will notice this when you are paying attention to detail. ZOMBIES never notice anything.

[@leunghoyuen1598]

its like an apm but the bus steering is controlled by the track itself and the driving is controlled by the driver

[@SparkyOne549]

Kind of, the bus driver doesn’t need to use the steering wheel just acceleration, and or braking. The bus has wheel guides that keep it in place.

[@bigtomDW]

@@SparkyOne549 that’s what they said

[@jamiechippett1566]

Correct

[@aragami0686]

Was this trip slower than usual, or it's just how the video looks like? It feels a lot faster in person to me

[@MsetFox]

2X SPEED

[@azure950]

Bus + train= brain

[@bradolufson]

So do only certain buses use this express way? Are these sections automated

[@ihavenocontent9310]

Nothing's automated. Any bus can go on the o'bahn, provided it's part of their scheduled route. EDIT: Slight correction, Adelaide's buses are modified slightly to have guide wheels to make steering easier. So, it's semi-automated. The driver still needs to hold the wheel and put their foot down.

[@anupbhau91]

Speed ?

[@TenOrbital]

Why does it have that track and not a regular road.

[@dasy2k1]

Nice system but should really be electrified with in motion charging trolly busses (wire the guided bit then the busses run on battery power off the guideway)

[@yohanessuryoprabowo8760]

Kalau di terapkan di Indonesia saya jamin bakal banyak mobil dan motor ikut ikutan masuk jalur ini 🤪🤔😂😂😂😂😂

[@ArrowProds]

For those who want to read the comment above but don't understand Bahasa Indo, here's a translation: If this was implemented in Indonesia, I'm sure there'll be many cars and motorbikes following the bus in. ID: Ada 'sump buster' buat sobek oil pan dari mobil. Motor... maybe... ENG: There's a sump buster at the start to rip the oil pan from cars entering. Motorbikes.... Well that's a whole different story.

[@MrPigeonaids]

why are there wholes in the middle of the bus way? or why its designed like that?

[@stormveil]

saves material and cost. No wheels ever need to go there, no need to change lanes or overtake.

[@EarlJohn61]

Also discourages incorrectly fitted vehicles from using the track!

[@elderaarondavis1]

Would the side of the tracks result in too much abrasions on the car tires??

[@robinstewart6510]

The tires never touch the sides of the track. There are guides controlling the steering of the buses, keeping them centered on the track.

[@elderaarondavis1]

@@robinstewart6510 so it’s computerized driving? No need to human to steer the bus?

[@robinstewart6510]

@@elderaarondavis1 .. No, its not computerized. Guides just ride in a track controlling the steering. The bus driver must still operate the gas pedal, brakes, shifting, or similar. There are also speed limits, which drivers must comply with. Once back on normal roads, the bus is a normal bus again.

[@artfuldodger5707]

how do they stay on track? does anybody know the track system? or it's all depending on the driver's skills?

[@Adelaide_Transit]

The busses are modified to have guide wheels on the side, so the driver can just plant his foot down and the tracks will steer for them. However they still tend to use the steering wheel as well as it makes the ride a bit more comfortable.

[@modesain]

Same question here....

[@bump_draft]

No traffic or cross streets to deal with and the speeds are still that low? Strange

[@aguywhodreams]

It looks cool, but I think it was a dumb excuse for not building a tram line or even a train one.

[@kevanhubbard9673]

A broad gauge railway! very broad!

[@daniellafferety4025]

Looks almost like train tracks where is it.

[@cheesyrider6914]

Why not just have a paved right of way for busses only

[@chrisgriffiths2533]

This Busway was Genuine Progress. However it is Overdue for an Upgrade. Battery Electric Buses are Now Needed Plus Solar Panels over the Busway to Charge the Battery/Electric Buses. Go SA Go.

[@benos4x4adventures49]

What pc game is this?... The graphics look real lol

[@captry3196]

There are Chinese on this bus? It seems that I heard someone speaking in a Northeast Chinese accent.

[@kenrichrecksn8256]

Adelaide looks dry up in Queensland it’s all green

[@squidwaan]

g it was literally summer

[@jamiechippett1566]

No kidding South of the country gets bloody hot.

[@morerightrudder9742]

Never lived in north queensland during the summer then have ya lmao

[@mitchellkeil7697]

The thing is I shop at tea tree plaza coles for groceries every week

[@TheHandThatBites]

What if a bus brakes down...

[@ThebusofdoomFSX]

Chaos and anarchy as the world falls apart with no buses being able to move on the O-Bahn. Nah jokes I believe they have a specialised tow truck that can come out and rescue any stranded bus on the busway.

[@jamiechippett1566]

@@ThebusofdoomFSX correct analyses

[@victorianrichard8097]

Adlaide busway

[@victorianrichard8097]

Start obben turnal

[@WalkingSoter001]

Non ne comprendo l'utilità.

[@jamesfrench7299]

Your problem.

[@pilskadden]

Probably cheaper than a tram/train line but also a lot noisier and more shaky and uncomfortable ride. I would prefer a tram/train over this anytime. The trains could even be driverless and run on electricity.

[@paraminmulpho8239]

VTEC

[@davidharbott312]

Why did they choose a busway instead of a railway electric wouldve been better

[@user-pn8nw8fe1d]

Идея хорошая, но не доработанная.

[@jacintaedwards1123]

Stupid idea. Should be running train services along this to Greenwith!

[@CreatorPolar]

And where exactly would the train line go after the section where the busway was? What about cost?

[@kcobley]

Light Rail would have been a lot cheaper than this really expensive system, can't see the point of it.

[@squidwaan]

it's a lot more flexible than rails, all bus routes can use it, it's actually cheaper and it's faster aswell

[@jamesfrench7299]

Squidwaan of course radio silence from OP.

[@michaeleverett1479]

@@squidwaan, The idea of fixed rail for public transport is not a curse, but a blessing. Firstly, conventional steel rail allow trams or trains (best for high capacity and radial route) to remain on the tracks which makes rail services coherent and legible for locals and tourists. These major railway stations encourage transport orientated development with the right policies and allow for integrated connections between active transport (walking and cycling) and feeder or cross town buses. The O'bahn has 21 different bus services operating in the peak hour with lots of route branching (away from the concrete guideway). However, a bus route doesn't have the same development potential as a fixed railway line with much higher capacity. A bus route can be changed immediately. A railway line especially trains are much more permanent and unchanged unlike the O'bahn, guided bus or BRT.

[@Adelaide_Transit]

Adelaide already has a light rail system that’s fairly effective, it takes people from the built up seaside suburb of Glenelg to the city. There’s also talks of a possible underground connection underneath the city that would link the north and south rail lines and provide some level of an underground metro system in the city. The o-Bahn allows for greater flexibility in where busses can go because unlike trains and trams they are not restricted to just the tracks.

[@ArtStoneUS]

@@squidwaan it would save money only if the buses were driverless

[@andrewITstyle]

That's wasting of space. You could build normal street there.