Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 14, 2006



The O-Bahn Busway in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide is the world's longest and fastest guided busway. The O-Bahn—from the Latin omnibus and the German bahn ("way" or "road")—design was conceived by Daimler-Benz to enable buses to avoid traffic congestion by sharing tram tunnels in the German city of Essen. The system was introduced in 1986 to service Adelaide's rapidly expanding north-eastern suburbs, replacing an earlier plan for a tramway extension. The design is unique among public transport systems; busways typically use dedicated bus lanes or separate carriageways, but the O-Bahn runs on specially built track, combining elements of both bus and rail systems. The track is 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) long and includes one station and two interchanges: Klemzig Station in Payneham, Paradise Interchange in Campbelltown and Tea Tree Plaza Interchange in Tea Tree Gully. Interchanges allow buses to enter and exit the busway and to continue on suburban routes, avoiding the need for passengers to change. (More...)

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