But using Australia's largest-scale bus systems computer simulation, USQ researchers at the Simulation and Statistical Research and Consulting Centre (SimStat) have designed an operating model that should keep buses running smoothly on the 26km-long designated busway between Eight Mile Plains, the city centre and North Brisbane.

Unique to Australia, the SimStat model allows planners to get down to system level where they can work with each individual bus, station, route or intersection and 'see' possible congestion, bottle-necks and hot spots for a busway that is yet little more than a few holes in the ground.

The two-lane SEB, a Queensland Transport project engineered by Connell Wagner, should be in use by 2002 and will run in places on elevated roadway or through tunnels to link with the South Eastern Transit system and a proposed inner-city tram network.

To estimate transit times and delays at each point throughout the system, the Busway Systems Simulation Project looks at passenger demand forecasts, fleet type and capacities, and route details such as stops, schedules and loading/unloading polices. 

Like children's building blocks, information packages representing stations sized to handle different levels of traffic, on-ramps, controlled intersections, smart signals and pedestrian crossings can be plugged in or out of the system.

SimStat Co-ordinator Mike McFarlane said the USQ model was the only information technology to give such a dynamic view.

"Previous attempts at modeling traffic used principles of fluid flow at the macro level but our model can look at what is happening at any point during a proposed operation on the busway, even to arrival or delay times at individual loading bays in the Queen Street station," he said.

He said that seemingly small details had had a big impact on the overall model.

"For instance, to determine how big to make the bus stations we had to first decide how much elbow room to give commuters. During peak hour we expect to have thousands of people getting on and off one innercity station alone so how big the platform will be will depend on how closely we can squeeze people without cutting down on their levels of comfort," he said.

With no similar tools available, the USQ model could be used to help design, manage or improve communication for public transport proposals at interstate or international levels.