Principles
An effective express coach system benefits from:
Coachway stations: New coachway stations are required close to the motorway and trunk road network thereby avoiding the need for vehicles to enter intermediate towns along route. Coachway stations link into local transport systems to allow passengers to complete their journey.
Priority high occupancy lanes: Coaches and other high-occupancy vehicles need priority on the motorways to bypass congestion and to improve journey time reliability. Unfortunately the only place where there was a bus lane on a motorway, the M4 towards London from Heathrow Airport was suspended for 18 months from Jan 2011.
High quality vehicles: Modern coach vehicles also offer a comfortable journey experience, comparable with rail. Coach services now offer reclining seating, seatbelts, power sockets, free WiFi and in some cases free newspapers.
Destination dispatch: Express coach systems are much more flexible than rail networks and can quickly adapt to changing demand. Destination dispatch is a vehicle routing system that matches coach stopping patterns with passenger demand in real time.
