Magnetic Guidance for São Paulo Buses?
IVsource.net
6 January 2002

Brazilians are interested in both lateral guidance and convoy-type operations to keep the busses moving in this city of 19 million people.

The city of Sao Paulo has recently applied for funds from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) to implement three new busways -- a total of 23 km will connect important bus terminals and metro stations throughout the sprawling city.  The municipality is also revising its existing guided busway system project, to incorporate new technology features like hybrid engines (diesel or gas/electric power) and to try to reduce the costs of implementation.

The city is also testing the use of magnetic guidance instead of the traditional mechanical guiding system, to facilitate more flexible operations and facilitate overtaking maneuvers.  Convoy-type operations are also of interest, which would entail vehicle-vehicle communications and radar-like ranging technology.

If Sao Paulo proceeds with these plans, they may be the first in the Americas and the second worldwide to implement combined lateral and longitudinal control for bus transit.  The first system of this type went into operation in Japan earlier this year (see related article in the IVsource archives).

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