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.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Bahn_Busway
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1385:
Forces under João I defeated the Castilians in the Battle of
Aljubarrota , ending the 1383–1385 Crisis in Portugal.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aljubarrota)
1842:
Seminole Indians were forced from Florida to Oklahoma, ending the
Second Seminole War.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_Wars)
1941:
After a secret meeting aboard warships in a secure anchorage near
Argentia, Newfoundland, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt
(pictured) issued the Atlantic Charter.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Charter)
1980:
Lech Wałęsa and colleagues at Gdańsk Shipyard began strike actions,
which subsequently led to the founding of the Solidarity movement in
Poland.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech_Wa%C5%82%C4%99sa)
2003:
Widescale power blackout occurred in the northeast United States and
in central Canada.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_North_American_blackout)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress
requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible
things." -- Russell Baker
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Russell_Baker)